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 30 of 1,536 notable people

0008 POLITICIAN

Albert Gallatin

1761 - 1849

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0045 MATHEMATICIAN

Jean-Robert Argand

1768 - 1822

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0048 CHEMIST

Nicolas-Théodore de Saussure

1767 - 1845

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0054 PAINTER

Jacques-Laurent Agasse

1767 - 1849

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0150 EDUCATION

Albertine Necker de Saussure

1766 - 1841

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0217 BOTANIST

Jean Pierre Étienne Vaucher

1763 - 1841

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0239 PAINTER

Wolfgang-Adam Töpffer

1766 - 1847

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0301 PAINTER

Firmin Massot

1766 - 1849

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0366 PAINTER

Jean-Gabriel Prêtre

1768 - 1849

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0559 POLITICIAN

Antoine Odier

1766 - 1853

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0596 OFFICER

Jean-Louis Richter

1769 - 1840

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0759 BOTANIST

Marc Nicolas Puerari

1766 - 1845

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0849 MINIATURIST

Jeanne-Pernette Schenker-Massot

1761 - 1828

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0905 PAINTER

Jean-Antoine Linck

1766 - 1843

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0943 BANK

Henri Hentsch

1761 - 1835

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1051 THEOLOGIAN

Jean Monod (Pastor)

1765 - 1836

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1053 PAINTER

Pierre-Louis Bouvier

1765 - 1836

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1083 MILITAR

Jacques Dutruy

1762 - 1836

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1141 PHILOLOGIST

Henri Boissier

1762 - 1845

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1179 PHARMACIST

Jacques Peschier

1769 - 1832

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1180 PASTEUR

Jean-Frédéric Mestrezat

1760 - 1807

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1239 PAINTER

Gabriel Constant Vaucher

1768 - 1814

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1255 BANK

Peter Urban Sartoris

Born 1767

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1282 PRÉFET

Henri-Zacharie Desgouttes

1762 - 1834

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1315 LAWYER

Jacques Grenus

1760 - 1818

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1353 POLITICIAN

Jean Marc Jules Pictet-Diodati

1768 - 1828

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1427 ARTIST

Marie Gide

1762 - 1821

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1443 POLITICIAN

Jacques Roman (homme politique)

1765 - 1835

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1451 ENGINEER

Isaac-Ami Bordier-Marcet

1768 - 1835

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1512 POLITICIAN

David Charles Odier

1765 - 1850

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