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 31 of 1,536 notable people

0003 LINGUIST

Ferdinand de Saussure

1857 - 1913

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0088 PSYCHOLOGIST

Théodore Flournoy

1854 - 1920

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0137 PHOTOGRAPHER

Frédéric Boissonnas

1858 - 1946

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0236 CHEMIST

Amé Pictet

1857 - 1937

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0285 PAINTER

Charles Giron

1850 - 1914

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0294 PHYSICIST

Charles Soret

1854 - 1904

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0495 WRITER

William Vogt (pamphlétaire)

1859 - 1918

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0523 FEMINIST

Pauline Chaponnière-Chaix

1850 - 1934

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0542 BIOLOGIST

Eugène Penard

1855 - 1954

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0562 HISTORIAN

Adrien de Mortillet

1853 - 1931

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0563 WRITER

Adolphe Chenevière

1855 - 1917

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0615 BOTANIST

Émile Yung

1854 - 1918

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0662 PAINTER

Marcel de Chollet

1855 - 1924

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0718 PAINTER

Frédéric Dufaux

1852 - 1943

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0733 ENGINEER

Auguste Godinet

1853 - 1936

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0800 PAINTER

Elisabeth de Stoutz

1854 - 1917

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0825 PAINTER

Albert Gos

1852 - 1942

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0872 PAINTER

Gustave Henri de Beaumont

1851 - 1922

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0912 ARCHITECT

Jacques Dunant

1858 - 1939

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0920 PHOTOGRAPHER

Alfred Bertrand (géographe)

1856 - 1924

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0946 PAINTER

Louis Dunki

1856 - 1915

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1033 ASTRONOMER

Raoul Gautier

1854 - 1931

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1090 ZOOLOGIST

Maurice Bedot

1859 - 1927

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1092 ILLUSTRATOR

Döes

1859 - 1944

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1232 PAINTER

Horace de Saussure

1859 - 1926

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1286 POLITICIAN

Henry Boveyron

1852 - 1931

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1370 ARCHITECT

Adrien Peyrot

1856 - 1918

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1395 PAINTER

Sophie de Niederhausern

1856 - 1926

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1416 ARCHITECT

Louis Viollier

1852 - 1931

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1459 ENTOMOLOGIST

Charles Theodore Blachier

1859 - 1915

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1518 DIPLOMAT

Charles Piguet (Erzieher)

1859 - 1918

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