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 146 of 1,646 notable people

0050 ATHLETE

Natascha Badmann

Born 1966

Preview
0061 ECONOMIST

Beatrice Weder di Mauro

Born 1965

Preview
0072 SINGER

David Brandes

Born 1968

Preview
0088 BIOLOGIST

Mathis Wackernagel

Born 1962

Preview
0198 FOOTBALL

Dominique Herr

Born 1965

Preview
0200 SPORT

Patrick Baumann (basketball)

1967 - 2018

Preview
0213 PAINTER

Christoph Büchel

Born 1966

Preview
0215 ARCHITECT

Andreas Vogler

Born 1964

Preview
0229 AUTHOR

Michael Theurillat

Born 1961

Preview
0254 ACTOR

Martin Schenkel

1968 - 2003

Preview
0277 FENCER

Gianna Hablützel-Bürki

Born 1969

Preview
0280 FILM

Stina Werenfels

Born 1964

Preview
0282 BUSINESS

Andreas Meyer (manager)

Born 1961

Preview
0311 WRITER

Daniel Zahno

Born 1963

Preview
0319 ACTOR

Benoît Lestang

1964 - 2008

Preview
0348 HOCKEY

Kevin Schläpfer

Born 1969

Preview
0376 LAWYER

Bernhard Heusler

Born 1963

Preview
0382 HISTORIAN

Peter Haber (Historiker)

1964 - 2013

Preview
0383 MANAGER

Domenico Scala (manager)

Born 1965

Preview
0394 WRITER

Adrian Geiges

Born 1960

Preview
0414 FOOTBALL

Massimo Ceccaroni

Born 1968

Preview
0429 ASTRONOMER

Bruno Leibundgut

Born 1960

Preview
0450 ART HISTORIAN

Stefan Hess

Born 1965

Preview
0451 ACTOR

Birthe Wingren

Born 1967

Preview
0455 ENTREPRENEUR

Fiona Swarovski

Born 1965

Preview
0465 SOMMELIER

Markus Del Monego

Born 1966

Preview
0476 POLITICIAN

Thomas Weber (homme politique)

Born 1961

Preview
0480 POLITICIAN

Elisabeth Schneider-Schneiter

Born 1964

Preview
0492 AUTHOR

Thomas Blubacher

Born 1967

Preview
0503 POLITICIAN

Eric Weber

Born 1963

Preview
0520 ACTOR

Emanuela von Frankenberg

Born 1961

Preview
0524 SINGER

Alejandro Marco-Buhrmester

Born 1964

Preview
0526 POLITICIAN

Thomas de Courten

Born 1966

Preview
0537 DRAUGHTSWOMAN

Thomas Ruch

Born 1963

Preview
0556 ECONOMIST

Aymo Brunetti

Born 1963

Preview
0579 ECONOMIST

Thomas Bieger

Born 1961

Preview
0582 COMPOSER

David Klein (Komponist)

Born 1961

Preview
0583 THERAPIST

Gregor Hasler

Born 1968

Preview
0585 AUTHOR

Kathrin Schärer

Born 1969

Preview
0587 SINGER

Martin Bruns

Born 1960

Preview
0590 WRITER

Ferenc Rákóczy

Born 1967

Preview
0591 ACTOR

Patrick Elias

Born 1966

Preview
0606 ACTOR

Naomi Krauss

Born 1967

Preview
0607 FOOTBALL

Patrick Rahmen

Born 1969

Preview
0608 POLITICIAN

Beat Jans

Born 1964

Preview
0614 ACTOR

Marcello de Nardo

Born 1963

Preview
0617 LITERARY

Alfred Bodenheimer

Born 1965

Preview
0619 MEDIEVALIST

Gabriela Signori

Born 1960

Preview
0623 PLAYER

Dominik Utzinger

Born 1963

Preview
0630 JOURNALIST

Kurt Pelda

Born 1965

Preview
0631 COMPOSER

Wolfgang Heiniger

Born 1964

Preview
0637 THEATRE

Barbara Frey (Regisseurin)

Born 1963

Preview
0646 PHILOLOGIST

Andreas Kilcher

Born 1963

Preview
0649 ESSAYIST

Stefan Zenklusen

Born 1966

Preview
0661 ACTOR

João Camargo

Born 1960

Preview
0667 FILM

Andreas Senn

Born 1965

Preview
0668 ARTIST

Nives Widauer

Born 1965

Preview
0674 ART HISTORIAN

Marc Fehlmann

Born 1965

Preview
0678 ACADEMIC

Felix Stalder

Born 1968

Preview
0679 ACTOR

Therese Lohner

Born 1967

Preview
0712 MUSEUM DIRECTOR

Sam Keller

Born 1966

Preview
0727 JOURNALIST

Alex Reichmuth

Born 1968

Preview
0728 MATHEMATICIAN

Hansjörg Geiges

Born 1966

Preview
0730 ARCHITECT

Regula Lüscher

Born 1961

Preview
0731 MUSIC

Reto Müller

Born 1964

Preview
0740 PHYSICIST

Roland Wiesendanger

Born 1961

Preview
0745 POLITICIAN

Kathrin Amacker

Born 1962

Preview
0749 ACTOR

Andreas Krämer (Schauspieler)

Born 1963

Preview
0752 FOOTBALL

Peter Nadig

Born 1965

Preview
0754 DRUMMER

Michael Ehret

Born 1969

Preview
0777 COMPOSER

Christian Henking

Born 1961

Preview
0780 SCULPTOR

Erik Steinbrecher

Born 1963

Preview
0797 JOURNALIST

Markus Spillmann

Born 1967

Preview
0806 PRESENTER

Mike Shiva

1964 - 2020

Preview
0807 MUSIC

Ivo (Musiker)

Born 1969

Preview
0809 ACTOR

Bettina Dieterle

Born 1965

Preview
0823 PROFESSOR

Marc Saner

Born 1961

Preview
0838 ACTOR

Mia Martin

Born 1965

Preview
0840 MEDIEVALIST

Lucas Burkart

Born 1967

Preview
0865 ACADEMIC

Felix Uhlmann

Born 1969

Preview
0874 ARTIST

Fränzi Madörin

Born 1963

Preview
0878 AUTHOR

Brigitte Hürlimann

Born 1963

Preview
0892 FOOTBALL

Damien Ott

Born 1965

Preview
0900 PRESENTER

Heinz Margot

Born 1962

Preview
0919 DRAMA

Xavier Zuber

Born 1967

Preview
0920 THEATRE

Jarg Pataki

Born 1962

Preview
0942 ART HISTORIAN

Stephan G. Schmid

Born 1967

Preview
0947 PHYSICIAN

Ludwig Theodor Heuss

Born 1961

Preview
0953 RACER

Niggi Schmassmann

Born 1960

Preview
0963 SINGER

Rudolf Berger (Theaterintendant)

Born 1960

Preview
0965 FILM

Maximilian Geller

Born 1964

Preview
0966 FOOTBALL

Stefano Ceccaroni

Born 1961

Preview
0969 ACTOR

Judith Keller (Schauspielerin)

Born 1961

Preview
0978 COSTUME DESIGNER

Muriel Gerstner

Born 1962

Preview
0985 FILM

Jeanne Waltz

Born 1962

Preview
0989 POLITICIAN

Isaac Reber

Born 1961

Preview
0999 ARCHIVIST

André Salvisberg

Born 1965

Preview
1015 MANAGER

Riet Cadonau

Born 1961

Preview
1042 JAZZ

Hans Feigenwinter

Born 1965

Preview
1046 HISTORIAN

Christian Windler

Born 1960

Preview
1060 AUTHOR

Jacqueline Moser

Born 1965

Preview
1062 ART HISTORIAN

Othmar Jäggi

Born 1967

Preview
1079 ARTIST

Dare (Graffitikünstler)

1968 - 2010

Preview
1093 PAINTER

Maurizio Delvecchio

Born 1962

Preview
1113 WRITER

Alfonso Pecorelli

Born 1960

Preview
1117 JOURNALIST

Stefan Keller (Unternehmer)

Born 1960

Preview
1138 ARTIST

Bernd Goering

Born 1962

Preview
1158 RELIGIOUS

Christian Meyer (Benediktiner)

Born 1967

Preview
1173 MUSEUM DIRECTOR

Gudrun Piller

Born 1968

Preview
1182 PAINTER

Stefan à Wengen

Born 1964

Preview
1183 COMPOSER

Peter Philippe Weiss

Born 1962

Preview
1232 HISTORIAN

Nicole Bettlé

Born 1969

Preview
1252 WRITER

Sandra Ravioli

Born 1962

Preview
1256 MISSING

Mjps

Born 1962

Preview
1267 SINGER

Esther Bächlin

Born 1965

Preview
1294 POLITICIAN

Daniel Stolz

Born 1968

Preview
1312 ACTOR

Marcello Montecchi

Born 1962

Preview
1317 ANTHROPOLOGIST

Laurent Dousset

Born 1965

Preview
1354 ACADEMIC

Roland Fankhauser

Born 1967

Preview
1405 BOOKSELLER

Felix Werner (Buchhändler)

Born 1961

Preview
1464 SOCIOLOGIST

Francis Müller

Born 1968

Preview
1475 SINGER

Christine Schmid

Born 1969

Preview
1488 ACTOR

Matthias Klausener

Born 1962

Preview
1490 POLITICIAN

Anton Lauber

Born 1961

Preview
1504 OFFICER

Dino Bellasi

Born 1960

Preview
1522 BADMINTON

Bettina Gfeller

Born 1969

Preview
1523 ILLUSTRATOR

Fidel Peugeot

Born 1969

Preview
1530 WRITER

Martin Diller

Born 1962

Preview
1531 PARSON

Michel Müller

Born 1964

Preview
1537 MISSING

Matthias Müller (Konzertveranstalter)

1964 - 2016

Preview
1543 SCULPTOR

Stefan Saxen

Born 1963

Preview
1545 PAINTER

Marianne Hollenstein

Born 1964

Preview
1556 ACTOR

Fred Büchel

Born 1962

Preview
1557 LAWYER

Stephan Reinhardt (Rechtsanwalt)

Born 1966

Preview
1572 POLITICIAN

Christine Koch (Politikerin)

Born 1963

Preview
1582 THEATRE

Sandrine Kuster

Born 1966

Preview
1588 INTENDANT

Thomas Pfiffner

Born 1965

Preview
1593 AUTHOR

Patrick Tschan

Born 1962

Preview
1601 CHOREOGRAPHER

Parwin Hadinia

Born 1965

Preview
1609 MUSIC

Katrin Mettler

Born 1969

Preview
1611 SCIENTIST

Sabine Ziegler

Born 1965

Preview
1620 KICKBOXER

Dave Turkalj

Born 1966

Preview
1623 COMPOSER

Stephan Sieber (Musiker)

Born 1962

Preview
1628 POLITICIAN

Kathrin Schweizer

Born 1969

Preview
1632 POLITICIAN

Sabine Suter

Born 1966

Preview
1635 SKELETON

Jürg Geiser

Born 1967

Preview