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 16 of 1,536 notable people

0005 POLITICIAN

Jacques Necker

1732 - 1804

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0092 POLITICIAN

Étienne Clavière

1735 - 1793

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0144 PHILOSOPHER

Pierre Eugene du Simitiere

1737 - 1784

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0179 HISTORIAN

Paul Henri Mallet

1730 - 1807

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0263 WRITER

Marc-Théodore Bourrit

1739 - 1819

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0310 MATHEMATICIAN

Louis Necker

1730 - 1804

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0387 THEOLOGIAN

Antoine-Jacques Roustan

1734 - 1808

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0521 THEOLOGIAN

Jean-Edme Romilly

1739 - 1779

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0536 PASTOR

Pierre Mouchon

1733 - 1797

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0696 MILITAR

Jacques Marcus Prevost

1736 - 1781

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0947 MERCHANT

Pierre Peschier

1739 - 1812

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1097 POLITICIAN

Henri Rabinel

1731 - 1808

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1249 NATURALIST

Jean-Louis Pictet

1739 - 1781

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1308 ARTISAN

Jaques Paul

1733 - 1796

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1532 GOLDSMITH

Jean Coulin (Goldschmied)

Born 1733

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1534 GOLDSMITH

Vincent Coulin

1735 - 1809

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