46.2001° N, 6.1500° E

GENEVE

Most Famous People Born in Geneve, Switzerland

Notable people
1,536
Peak decade
1960s
Median birth year
1917
Most distinctive
Bank 6.0×

A Protestant republic that became, in the 19th century, the world's capital of banking and international diplomacy. Geneva's distinctive professions are bankers, theologians, botanists, pianists, photographers, and physicists — a combination that exists almost nowhere else. Rousseau was born here, Calvin made it the Protestant Rome, Henri Dunant founded the Red Cross here, and Saussure essentially invented modern linguistics at the university.

Through the Centuries

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

What Geneve Is Known For

Click any row to filter the list of people below.

Politician is Geneve's biggest profession — 9% of all notables (138).

Geneve over-indexes on bank6.0× the global rate.

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

  1. Politician138
  2. Writer106
  3. Painter105
  4. Actor67
  5. Football64
  6. Artist43
  7. Lawyer35
  8. Architect34
  1. Bank156.0×
  2. Theologian244.3×
  3. Botanist243.9×
  4. Pianist153.6×
  5. Driver163.4×
  6. Photographer243.2×
  7. Physicist203.1×
  8. Artist432.7×
  1. Football640.4×
  2. Singer200.6×

Profession Mix Over Time

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

1550160016501700175018001850190019502000
  • Art & Design
  • Writing
  • Science
  • Politics & Law
  • Sports
  • Film & TV
  • Other
All1,536
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Showing 12 of 1,536 notable people

0015 ZOOLOGIST

Charles Bonnet

1720 - 1793

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0060 WRITER

Antoine Court de Gébelin

1725 - 1784

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0061 NATURALIST

Jean-André Deluc

1727 - 1817

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0075 PHYSICIST

Georges-Louis Le Sage

1724 - 1803

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0235 EDITOR

Marc-Michel Rey

1720 - 1780

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0287 THEOLOGIAN

Jacob Vernes

1728 - 1791

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0295 OFFICER

Augustine Prévost

1723 - 1786

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0500 PAINTER

Théodore Gardelle

1722 - 1761

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0614 ACTOR

Aufresne

1728 - 1804

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0843 PUBLISHER

Gabriel Cramer (éditeur)

1723 - 1793

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0969 BANK

Jacques-Louis de Pourtalès

1722 - 1814

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1533 GOLDSMITH

Jean Jacques Coulin

1723 - 1763

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