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
Sort By

Showing 65 of 1,536 notable people

0027 EXPLORER

Paul-Émile Victor

1907 - 1995

Preview
0034 PHOTOGRAPHER

Ella Maillart

1903 - 1997

Preview
0036 POLITICIAN

C. Douglas Dillon

1909 - 2003

Preview
0084 PSYCHIATRIST

Enrique Pichon-Rivière

1907 - 1977

Preview
0178 PAINTER

Émile Chambon

1905 - 1993

Preview
0213 ACADEMIC

Jean Tschumi

1904 - 1962

Preview
0221 EDITOR

Albert Skira

1904 - 1973

Preview
0224 CONDUCTOR

Samuel Baud-Bovy

1906 - 1986

Preview
0232 RUNNER

Paul Martin (athlete)

1901 - 1987

Preview
0270 LAWYER

Pierre Jaccoud

1905 - 1996

Preview
0281 PASTOR

Jean Lasserre

1908 - 1983

Preview
0290 WRITER

Roger Duvoisin

1904 - 1980

Preview
0311 LAWYER

Frank Soskice

1902 - 1979

Preview
0320 FOOTBALL

Frank Séchehaye

1907 - 1982

Preview
0328 GEOGRAPHER

Edgar Aubert de la Rüe

1901 - 1991

Preview
0331 ACTOR

Jean Gehret

1900 - 1956

Preview
0357 FOOTBALL

Edmond Kramer

1906 - 1945

Preview
0379 PHOTOGRAPHER

Lucienne Bloch

1909 - 1999

Preview
0386 NAZI

Roland de Pury

1907 - 1979

Preview
0391 WRITER

Robert Hainard

1906 - 1999

Preview
0411 BOTANIST

Charles Baehni

1906 - 1964

Preview
0429 POLITICIAN

Jean Filippi

1905 - 1993

Preview
0451 POLITICIAN

Charles Bosson

1908 - 2001

Preview
0465 SECRETARY

Ernest Perron

1908 - 1961

Preview
0475 FOOTBALL

Raymond Passello

1905 - 1987

Preview
0493 CONDUCTOR

Blanche Honegger Moyse

1909 - 2011

Preview
0504 COMPOSER

Walter Rehberg

1900 - 1957

Preview
0545 ACTOR

Myno Burney

1907 - 1996

Preview
0640 LUTENIST

Suzanne Bloch

1907 - 2002

Preview
0644 ARCHITECT

Henri Copponex

1907 - 1970

Preview
0670 EGYPTOLOGIST

Charles Maystre

1907 - 1993

Preview
0709 PUBLISHER

René Julliard

1900 - 1962

Preview
0726 FOOTBALL

Maurice Gallay

1902 - 1982

Preview
0732 PAINTER

Albert Chavaz

1907 - 1990

Preview
0767 ECONOMIST

Georges Lasserre (économiste)

1902 - 1985

Preview
0814 ACTOR

Germaine Épierre

1908 - 1997

Preview
0829 PHYSICIST

Jean Weigle

1901 - 1968

Preview
0859 NOVELIST

Jan Van Dorp

1908 - 1988

Preview
0913 PUBLISHER

Edmond Buchet

1907 - 1997

Preview
0935 FILM

Adrien Porchet

1907 - 2008

Preview
1002 ACTOR

Camille Fournier

1905 - 1989

Preview
1006 SPELEOLOGIST

Georges Amoudruz

1900 - 1975

Preview
1009 THEOLOGIAN

Marcelle Bard

1903 - 1988

Preview
1018 TEACHER

Jacques de Beaumont (zoologiste)

1901 - 1985

Preview
1031 ACTOR

Fernand Bercher

1904 - 1980

Preview
1040 ACADEMIC

Robert Godel

1902 - 1984

Preview
1041 LAWYER

Jean Vincent (homme politique)

1906 - 1989

Preview
1046 ART CRITIC

Pierre Courthion

1902 - 1988

Preview
1048 HISTORIAN

Denis van Berchem

1908 - 1994

Preview
1078 WRITER

Paul André (écrivain suisse)

1905 - 1993

Preview
1115 COMPOSER

Robert Bernard (compositeur)

1900 - 1971

Preview
1127 LAWYER

Albert Dupont-Willemin

1903 - 1977

Preview
1157 POLITICIAN

Jean Dutoit

1908 - 1985

Preview
1173 PIANIST

Lottie Morel

1909 - 1973

Preview
1190 POLITICIAN

André Ehrler

1900 - 1949

Preview
1202 ENTREPRENEUR

Georges Filipinetti

1907 - 1973

Preview
1311 ACTOR

André Talmès

1906 - 1979

Preview
1332 POLITICIAN

Raymond Bertholet

1909 - 1979

Preview
1369 FOOTBALL

Jean Lutz

Born 1904

Preview
1388 ARTIST

Violette Goehring

1900 - 1984

Preview
1432 ATHLETIC

Joseph Réal

1903 - 1990

Preview
1492 HISTORIAN

Fernand-Lucien Mueller

1903 - 1978

Preview
1494 POLITICIAN

Coelho Rodrigues

1905 - 1959

Preview
1526 DIPLOMAT

Robert Maurice

1906 - 1998

Preview
1531 LAWYER

Roger Gallopin

1909 - 1986

Preview