51.0534° N, 3.7250° E
GENT
Most Famous People Born in Gent, Belgium
- Notable people
- 850
- Peak decade
- 1980s
- Median birth year
- 1897
- Most distinctive
- Rower 9.6×
Charles V's birthplace and a Flemish Primitive stronghold — the Painter bench tracks Van Eyck's altarpiece and the long wake of Hugo van der Goes and Théo van Rysselberghe. The real oddity is a Rower cohort wildly out of proportion to anything else (thank the Watersportbaan) sitting next to a Conductor line that runs from Jacob Obrecht straight through Herreweghe's early-music revival.
One face per century — the most globally famous figure born in Gent during each.
Notable Births by Decade
Click a decade to filter the list below. Peak: 1980s with 64 notable births.
What Gent Is Known For
Click any row to filter the list of people below.
Politician is Gent's biggest profession — 17% of all notables (146).
Gent over-indexes on rower — 9.6× the global rate.
Gent under-produces actor — only 0.4× the global rate.
Profession Mix Over Time
Each band shows a profession family's share of Gent's notable births by decade. Hover the chart for the breakdown at any decade.
- Sports
- Politics & Law
- Art & Design
- Music
- Writing
- Science
- Other
- Field: Rower Clear ×
Polydore Veirman
1881 - 1951
Maurice Verdonck
Born 1873
Jules De Bisschop
1879 - 1955
Frank Odberg
1879 - 1917
Marcel Van Crombrugge
1880 - 1940
Oscar de Somville
1876 - 1938
Prospère Bruggeman
Born 1873
Oscar De Cock
Born 1881
Maurice Hemelsoet
1875 - 1943
Georges Mys
1880 - 1952
Oscar Taelman
1877 - 1945
Marcel Morimont
1886 - 1900
François Vergucht
1887 - 1900
Rodolphe Poma
1884 - 1954
Rita Defauw
Born 1963
Jacques Haller
1897 - 1961
Eveline Peleman
Born 1993
Christophe Raes
Born 1982
Guy Defraigne
Born 1958
Jaak Van Driessche
Born 1969
William Defraigne
Born 1950
Léon Vleurinck
1899 - 1982
Georges Van Den Bossche
1892 - 1966
Oscar Van Den Bossche
1893 - 1927
Robert Demulder
1900 - 1967
Robert Swartelé
1900 - 1967
Arthur D'Anvers
1898 - 1966
Eugène Gabriels
1895 - 1969
August Geinger
Born 1899
Louis Choisy (aviron)
1869 - 1942