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 33 of 1,536 notable people

0085 NEUROLOGIST

Joseph Jules Dejerine

1849 - 1917

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0099 PHYSICIST

Raoul Pictet

1846 - 1929

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0111 PAINTER

Pierre-Georges Jeanniot

1848 - 1934

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0120 ARCHAEOLOGIST

Édouard Naville

1844 - 1926

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0188 POLITICIAN

Adrien Lachenal

1849 - 1918

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0212 PAINTER

Auguste Baud-Bovy

1848 - 1899

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0349 ENGINEER

Théodore Turrettini

1845 - 1916

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0472 PAINTER

Jean-Baptiste Arthur Calame

1843 - 1919

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0478 PASTOR

Louis-Lucien Rochat

1849 - 1917

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0560 POLITICIAN

Georges Favon

1843 - 1902

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0565 ARCHITECT

John Camoletti

1848 - 1894

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0566 PHYSICIAN

Frédéric Ferrière

1848 - 1924

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0645 ENGINEER

Gustave Naville

1848 - 1929

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0656 BOTANIST

Caroline Barbey-Boissier

1847 - 1918

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0663 DIPLOMAT

Alfred de Claparède

1842 - 1922

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0666 HISTORIAN

Théophile Dufour (juriste)

1844 - 1922

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0679 POLITICIAN

William Favre

1843 - 1918

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0702 PHYSICIST

Edouard Sarasin

1843 - 1917

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0721 LAWYER

Édouard Odier (1844-1919)

1844 - 1919

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0743 POLITICIAN

Eugène Richard

1843 - 1925

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0766 PAINTER

Pauline Bouthillier de Beaumont

1846 - 1904

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0903 TEACHER

Édouard Sayous

1842 - 1898

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0995 HELLENIST

Jules Nicole

1842 - 1921

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1101 SPORT

Georges de Saint-Clair

1845 - 1910

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1128 POLITICIAN

Alexandre Gavard

1845 - 1898

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1154 PAINTER

François Furet (Maler)

1842 - 1919

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1155 ARCHITECT

Émile Reverdin

1845 - 1901

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1205 POET

Édouard Tavan

1842 - 1919

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1222 ARCHITECT

Léon Fulpius

1840 - 1927

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1292 POLITICIAN

Wilhelm von Douglas

1849 - 1908

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1299 LAWYER

Jacques Rutty

1849 - 1927

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1362 POLITICIAN

Jean-Étienne Dufour

1840 - 1893

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1367 PHYSICIAN

François-Auguste Ladé

1841 - 1908

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