47.5606° N, 7.5906° E

BASEL

Most Famous People Born in Basel, Switzerland

Notable people
1,646
Peak decade
1950s
Median birth year
1922
Most distinctive
Art Historian 8.0×

A Rhine city whose distinctive professions are art historians, philologists, theologians, historians, and mathematicians — the trades of a humanist university town that published Erasmus, Holbein, and the first printed Greek New Testament. Euler was born here, so were both Bernoulli brothers, and Jacob Burckhardt more or less invented art history at the university. The 15th- and 16th-century bench is one of the heaviest in Switzerland, and Roger Federer is the most recent addition.

Through the Centuries

One face per century — the most globally famous figure born in Basel during each.

What Basel Is Known For

Click any row to filter the list of people below.

Politician is Basel's biggest profession — 10% of all notables (157).

Basel over-indexes on art historian8.0× the global rate.

Basel under-produces football — only 0.4× the global rate.

  1. Politician157
  2. Actor100
  3. Painter83
  4. Football70
  5. Writer70
  6. Historian69
  7. Author46
  8. Academic42
  1. Art Historian258.0×
  2. Philologist167.4×
  3. Theologian274.5×
  4. Historian694.0×
  5. Mathematician293.5×
  6. Author463.2×
  7. Entrepreneur162.9×
  8. Botanist172.6×
  1. Football700.4×
  2. Singer210.6×

Profession Mix Over Time

Each band shows a profession family's share of Basel's notable births by decade. Hover the chart for the breakdown at any decade.

1500155016001650170017501800185019001950
  • Writing
  • Science
  • Politics & Law
  • Art & Design
  • Film & TV
  • Sports
  • Other
All1,646
Sort By

Showing 150 of 1,646 notable people

0023 FILM

Dani Levy

Born 1957

Preview
0031 ACTIVIST

Bruno Manser

1954 - 2005

Preview
0036 ACTOR

Charlotte Schwab

Born 1952

Preview
0069 ARCHITECT

Jacques Herzog

Born 1950

Preview
0084 TEACHER

Jürgen Graf

Born 1951

Preview
0085 ARCHITECT

Pierre de Meuron

Born 1950

Preview
0086 ACTOR

Christian Kohlund

Born 1950

Preview
0097 PSYCHOLOGIST

Carlo Strenger

1958 - 2019

Preview
0110 SURGEON

Paolo Macchiarini

Born 1958

Preview
0130 ACTOR

Gilles Tschudi

Born 1957

Preview
0148 DIPLOMAT

Thomas Borer

Born 1957

Preview
0154 DIPLOMAT

Heidi Tagliavini

Born 1950

Preview
0164 COMPOSER

Fritz Hauser

Born 1953

Preview
0173 BUSINESS

Marcel Ospel

1950 - 2020

Preview
0182 SPORT

Stefan Mutter

Born 1956

Preview
0202 PUBLISHER

Vera Michalski

Born 1954

Preview
0225 COLLECTOR

Maja Hoffmann

Born 1956

Preview
0232 POLITICIAN

Daniel Vischer

1950 - 2017

Preview
0272 PSYCHOLOGIST

Rolf Reber

Born 1959

Preview
0296 POLITICIAN

Anita Fetz

Born 1957

Preview
0298 ACTOR

Verena Peter

Born 1954

Preview
0302 LAWYER

Caspar Baader

Born 1953

Preview
0338 HISTORIAN

Philipp Sarasin

Born 1956

Preview
0342 POLITICIAN

Silva Semadeni

Born 1952

Preview
0343 ACTOR

Sabine Berg (Schauspielerin)

Born 1958

Preview
0347 PRODUCER

Alex Buess

Born 1954

Preview
0356 ACADEMIC

Mark Pieth

Born 1953

Preview
0357 ARTIST

Roberto Giobbi

Born 1959

Preview
0367 ART HISTORIAN

Markus Brüderlin

1958 - 2014

Preview
0368 OPERA

Marcel Lang

1956 - 2009

Preview
0397 THEATRE

Stephan Müller

Born 1951

Preview
0401 HISTORIAN

Francine-Dominique Liechtenhan

Born 1956

Preview
0408 COLLECTOR

Silvio Denz

Born 1956

Preview
0424 MATHEMATICIAN

Christine Riedtmann

Born 1952

Preview
0456 POLITICIAN

Rudolf Rechsteiner

Born 1958

Preview
0470 HISTORIAN

Thomas D Meier

Born 1958

Preview
0496 PAINTER

Stephan Spicher

Born 1950

Preview
0501 SCREENWRITER

Claude Cueni

Born 1956

Preview
0502 ART DEALER

Simon de Pury

Born 1951

Preview
0510 POLITICIAN

Ralph Lewin

Born 1953

Preview
0516 JOURNALIST

Thomas Meyer (Anthroposoph)

Born 1950

Preview
0531 ACTOR

László I. Kish

Born 1957

Preview
0542 CHESS

Heinz Wirthensohn

Born 1951

Preview
0551 POLITICIAN

Christoph Eymann

Born 1951

Preview
0597 ACTOR

Ursula Andermatt

Born 1957

Preview
0604 PHOTOGRAPHER

Beat Presser

Born 1952

Preview
0605 JOURNALIST

Christoph Neidhart

Born 1954

Preview
0618 FILM

Andres Brütsch

Born 1951

Preview
0621 ACTOR

Pia Hänggi

Born 1957

Preview
0627 AUTHOR

Martin Heller

Born 1952

Preview
0642 WRITER

Gabrielle Alioth

Born 1955

Preview
0660 LAWYER

Carlo Conti (Politiker)

Born 1954

Preview
0662 WRITER

Jean-Pierre Rochat

Born 1953

Preview
0665 PAINTER

Rosa Lachenmeier

Born 1959

Preview
0680 ECONOMIST

Dieter Pfister

Born 1955

Preview
0706 ACTOR

Agnes Dünneisen

Born 1955

Preview
0708 INTERNIST

Edouard Battegay

Born 1956

Preview
0719 MISSING

Maja Oeri

Born 1955

Preview
0720 AUTHOR

Johannes Gruntz-Stoll

Born 1952

Preview
0746 ACTOR

Olga Strub

Born 1950

Preview
0750 COMPOSER

Christoph Delz

1950 - 1993

Preview
0762 COOK

Daniel Bumann

Born 1958

Preview
0772 ACTOR

Hans Schenker

Born 1952

Preview
0775 WRITER

Elisabeth Masé

Born 1959

Preview
0776 BADMINTON

Liselotte Blumer

Born 1957

Preview
0784 ACTOR

Barbara Melzl

Born 1957

Preview
0798 JOURNALIST

Andreas Isenschmid

Born 1952

Preview
0802 SCULPTOR

Pascal Bettex

Born 1953

Preview
0805 HISTORIAN

Bernard Degen

Born 1952

Preview
0811 FILM

Matthias von Gunten

Born 1953

Preview
0813 ORNITHOLOGIST

Lukas Jenni

Born 1955

Preview
0816 ACADEMIC

Leonhard Burckhardt

Born 1953

Preview
0833 WRITER

Urs Schaub

Born 1951

Preview
0834 HISTORIAN

Jacques Picard (Historiker)

Born 1952

Preview
0836 THEATRE

Katharina Rupp

Born 1959

Preview
0852 RACING

Jean-Pierre Frey

Born 1955

Preview
0856 HISTORIAN

Christian Simon (Historiker)

Born 1951

Preview
0864 THEOLOGIAN

Beat Dietschy

Born 1950

Preview
0881 HISTORIAN

Lukas Thommen

Born 1958

Preview
0894 AUTHOR

Peter Haffner

Born 1953

Preview
0896 WRITER

Alexandra Lavizzari

Born 1953

Preview
0903 JOURNALIST

Martin Alioth

Born 1954

Preview
0912 POLITICIAN

Peter Schmid (Politiker, 1951)

Born 1951

Preview
0918 ACTOR

Dorothée Reize

Born 1954

Preview
0929 POLITICIAN

Markus Lehmann

Born 1955

Preview
0930 WRITER

Lorenzo Ravagli

Born 1957

Preview
0931 ACADEMIC

Thomas Sutter-Somm

Born 1956

Preview
0932 THEATRE

Peter Theiler

Born 1956

Preview
0941 ARTIST

Stephan Melzl

Born 1959

Preview
0950 WRITER

Hansjörg Betschart

Born 1955

Preview
0958 AUTHOR

Lucas Rosenblatt

Born 1954

Preview
0977 PHILOSOPHER

Urs Thurnherr

Born 1956

Preview
0982 PHILOSOPHER

Andreas Cesana

1951 - 2019

Preview
0987 ARTIST

Miriam Tinguely

Born 1950

Preview
0997 ACADEMIC

Stephan Breitenmoser

Born 1955

Preview
1007 POLITICIAN

Andreas Zivy

Born 1955

Preview
1013 AUTHOR

Niklaus Starck

Born 1956

Preview
1022 JOURNALIST

Cornelia Kazis

Born 1952

Preview
1024 ARCHAEOLOGIST

Dorothee Rippmann

Born 1951

Preview
1029 THEATRE

Marcus Mislin

Born 1951

Preview
1063 DANCER

Christine Brodbeck

Born 1950

Preview
1073 ACTOR

Michael Goldberg (Schauspieler)

Born 1959

Preview
1078 PHILOLOGIST

Thomas Wilhelmi (Germanist)

Born 1955

Preview
1082 GUITAR

Thomas Moeckel

Born 1950

Preview
1089 ACTOR

Charlotte Heinimann

Born 1956

Preview
1090 ENTREPRENEUR

Harald Link

Born 1955

Preview
1092 CINEMA

Martin Fuhrer

Born 1956

Preview
1112 TRANSLATOR

Lukas Dettwiler

Born 1954

Preview
1115 ARCHAEOLOGIST

Felix Blocher

Born 1956

Preview
1119 CHEMIST

Jürg Tschopp

1951 - 2011

Preview
1123 LAWYER

Ulrich Vischer

Born 1951

Preview
1142 JOURNALIST

Claude Jaermann

Born 1958

Preview
1150 CINEMA

Nicolas Joray

Born 1952

Preview
1154 CLARINET

Philippe Micol

Born 1955

Preview
1166 MEDIEVALIST

Kurt Weissen

Born 1953

Preview
1167 WRITER

Freddy Allemann

Born 1957

Preview
1177 ART HISTORIAN

Lukas Gloor

Born 1952

Preview
1191 RABBINER

David Bollag

Born 1958

Preview
1192 ACTOR

Cornelia Bernoulli

Born 1955

Preview
1212 WRITER

Andreas Niedermann

Born 1956

Preview
1228 COMPOSER

Stéphane Tsapis

Born 1950

Preview
1249 BASSIST

Stephan Kurmann

Born 1958

Preview
1290 PAINTER

Karl A. Meyer

Born 1958

Preview
1338 SAXOPHONIST

Heiner Althaus

Born 1953

Preview
1346 POLITICIAN

Sabine Pegoraro

Born 1958

Preview
1348 SCREENWRITER

Niklaus Schlienger

Born 1950

Preview
1349 PRIEST

Monika Wyss

Born 1959

Preview
1351 CHESS

Matthias Rüfenacht

Born 1956

Preview
1359 BIOLOGIST

Gregor Eichele

Born 1952

Preview
1387 ACTOR

Marco Käppeli

Born 1951

Preview
1392 ACADEMIC

Felix Hafner (Jurist)

Born 1956

Preview
1394 PHOTOGRAPHER

Friedel Ammann

Born 1959

Preview
1414 CANOE

Robert Platt (canoeist)

1952 - 2014

Preview
1421 RADIOLOGIST

Stephan Bodis

Born 1958

Preview
1445 PRESENTER

Andreas Moser (Biologe)

Born 1956

Preview
1474 POLITICIAN

Hanspeter Gass

Born 1955

Preview
1476 MEDIEN

Bernhard Burgener

Born 1957

Preview
1481 POLITICIAN

Anita Lachenmeier-Thüring

Born 1959

Preview
1491 ACADEMIC

Verena Keller (Autorin)

Born 1952

Preview
1502 POLITICIAN

Andreas Burckhardt (Politiker)

Born 1951

Preview
1511 POLITICIAN

Adriano Imfeld

Born 1954

Preview
1514 POLITICIAN

Antoinette Eckert

Born 1956

Preview
1564 POLITICIAN

Barbara Schneider

Born 1953

Preview
1576 POLITICIAN

Peter Zwick

1950 - 2013

Preview
1584 POLITICIAN

Urs Müller-Walz

Born 1950

Preview
1587 COMPOSER

PJ Wassermann

Born 1951

Preview
1597 POLITICIAN

Christophe Haller

Born 1957

Preview
1600 ARTIST

Maria Magdalena Z’Graggen

Born 1958

Preview
1612 POLITICIAN

Heiner Vischer

Born 1956

Preview
1645 POLITICIAN

Thomas Strahm

Born 1957

Preview