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 60 of 1,536 notable people

0051 PHILOSOPHER

Jeanne Hersch

1910 - 2000

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0055 WRITER

Robert Pinget

1919 - 1997

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0070 MEDIEVALIST

Paul Zumthor

1915 - 1995

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0106 ACTOR

François Simon (actor)

1917 - 1982

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0122 LAWYER

Jean Pictet

1914 - 2002

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0129 TEACHER

Jean Rousset

1910 - 2002

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0155 ACTOR

Miranda Campa

1914 - 1984

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0158 SINGER

Fernando Corena

1916 - 1984

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0169 WRITER

Georges Haldas

1917 - 2010

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0198 FOOTBALL

Roger Courtois

1912 - 1972

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0257 COMPOSER

Pierre Wissmer

1915 - 1992

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0262 EDITOR

François Lachenal

1918 - 1997

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0302 HISTORIAN

David Feuerwerker

1912 - 1980

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0304 MOUNTAINEER

Raymond Lambert

1914 - 1997

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0342 MATHEMATICIAN

Marc Zamansky

1916 - 1996

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0374 ORNITHOLOGIST

Paul Géroudet

1917 - 2006

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0416 IMMUNOLOGIST

Deborah Doniach

1912 - 2004

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0480 ACADEMIC

Henri Morier

1910 - 2004

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0486 PHILOLOGIST

Olivier Reverdin

1913 - 2000

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0502 MUSIC

Pierre Segond

1913 - 2000

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0511 WRITER

Maria Le Hardouin

1914 - 1967

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0580 WRITER

Jean-Georges Lossier

1911 - 2004

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0588 PHILOLOGIST

Willy Borgeaud

1913 - 1989

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0604 ARCHITECT

Anne Torcapel

1916 - 1988

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0650 HARPIST

Denise Mégevand

1917 - 2004

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0668 JOURNALIST

Maurice Pianzola

1917 - 2004

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0694 POLITICIAN

Roger Dafflon

1914 - 1996

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0725 PLAYER

Boris Maneff

1916 - 1960

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0755 WRITER

Pernette Chaponnière

1915 - 2008

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0821 ACTOR

Jacques Provins

1914 - 1979

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0824 LINGUIST

Carl Theodor Gossen

1915 - 1983

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0832 ANTHROPOLOGIST

Marc Sauter

1914 - 1983

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0907 INTELLECTUEL

Philippe Mottu

1913 - 2010

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0933 JOURNALIST

Georges-Henri Martin

1916 - 1992

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0939 JOURNALIST

Paul Alexandre (écrivain suisse)

1917 - 2005

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0957 POLITICIAN

Mario Soldini

1913 - 1993

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0963 SCREENWRITER

Rodolphe-Maurice Arlaud

1911 - 2002

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1050 DOCENT

Aleksandr Lebedinski

1913 - 1967

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1054 THEATRE

Daniel Fillion

1912 - 1999

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1057 FILM

Claude Jaeger

1917 - 2004

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1064 COMPOSER

Liberato Firmino Sifonia

1917 - 1996

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1118 DIPLOMAT

Raymond Probst

1919 - 2001

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1145 DIPLOMAT

Taha Carım

1914 - 1977

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1150 WRITER

Claude Fornerod

1913 - 2008

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1198 WRITER

Julia Chamorel

1916 - 2009

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1209 WRITER

Charles-André Vaucher

1915 - 1997

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1246 WRITER

Alfred Werner (Pfarrer)

1914 - 2005

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1264 PHILOSOPHER

Michel Koch (philosophe)

1913 - 2005

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1272 EDUCATOR

Shulamit Katznelson

1919 - 1999

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1297 BANK

Jean-Jacques Gautier (Bankier)

1912 - 1986

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1309 DRAUGHTSWOMAN

Theo Lauritzen

1911 - 1978

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1323 ARBITRE

Marcel Pfeuti

1913 - 2007

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1336 SCULPTOR

Yavuz Görey

1912 - 1995

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1343 POLITICIAN

Raymond Deonna

1910 - 1972

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1348 POLITICIAN

Marc Oltramare

1916 - 2003

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1383 ARCHITECT

Jean-Marie Ellenberger

1913 - 1988

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1433 HISTORIAN

Paul-Frédéric Geisendorf

1910 - 1965

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1442 POLITICIAN

Jean de Toledo

1911 - 2012

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1505 TEACHER

Germaine Will

1913 - 1995

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1520 MISSIONARY

Geneviève Barnaud

1913 - 2003

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