51.9225° N, 4.4793° E
ROTTERDAM
Most Famous People Born in Rotterdam, Netherlands
- Notable people
- 1,222
- Peak decade
- 1980s
- Median birth year
- 1938
- Most distinctive
- Swimmer 5.9×
The port-city blend: a theologian index of 2.7× that starts with Erasmus and never quite stops, a mathematician footprint in the Dijkstra tradition, and a painter lineage running from Willem de Kooning back through four centuries of Dutch light. The swimmer, rower, and boxer over-indexes are a different Rotterdam entirely — the concrete port city rebuilt after the 1940 Blitz, not the medieval town that didn't survive it.
One face per decade — the most globally famous figure born in Rotterdam during each.
Notable Births by Decade
Click a decade to filter the list below. Peak: 1980s with 132 notable births.
What Rotterdam Is Known For
Click any row to filter the list of people below.
Football is Rotterdam's biggest profession — 24% of all notables (290).
Rotterdam over-indexes on swimmer — 5.9× the global rate.
Rotterdam under-produces politician — only 0.6× the global rate.
Profession Mix Over Time
Each band shows a profession family's share of Rotterdam's notable births by decade. Hover the chart for the breakdown at any decade.
- Sports
- Art & Design
- Politics & Law
- Science
- Music
- Writing
- Other
- Field: Politician Clear ×
Ruud Lubbers
1939 - 2018
Joseph Luns
1911 - 2002
Euclid Tsakalotos
Born 1960
Neelie Kroes
Born 1941
Gijsbert Karel van Hogendorp
1762 - 1834
Hans van Baalen
Born 1960
Norbert Schmelzer
1921 - 2008
Willem Witteveen
1952 - 2014
Ivo Samkalden
1912 - 1995
Ivo Opstelten
Born 1944
Louis Bontes
Born 1956
Wil Albeda
1925 - 2014
Gijs van Aardenne
1930 - 1995
Cornelis Speelman
1628 - 1684
Kathalijne Buitenweg
Born 1970
Marja van Bijsterveldt
Born 1961
Alexander Willem Frederik Idenburg
1861 - 1935
Karin Adelmund
1949 - 2005
Marcel de Graaff
Born 1962
Kees van Dijk
1931 - 2008
Tjerk Westerterp
Born 1930
Ancilla van de Leest
Born 1985
Dirk Donker Curtius
1792 - 1864
Hendrick Zwaardecroon
1667 - 1728
Benk Korthals
Born 1944
Carel Polak
1909 - 1981
Vicky Maeijer
Born 1986
Ina Brouwer
Born 1950
Gerard Helders
1905 - 2013
Astrid Oosenbrug
Born 1968
Roelf de Boer
Born 1949
Adriaan Dijxhoorn
1889 - 1953
Martin van Rijn
Born 1956
Lousewies van der Laan
Born 1966
Johan Gijsbert Verstolk van Soelen
1776 - 1845
Jacques Monasch
Born 1962
Paul Zimmerman (politician)
Born 1958
Nicolas-Jean Rouppe
1769 - 1838
Philip Julius van Zuylen van Nijevelt
1743 - 1826
Roald van der Linde
Born 1968
Til Gardeniers-Berendsen
1925 - 2019
Alexander Gillon
1741 - 1794
Frans Jozef van der Heijden
1938 - 2016
Ronald Sørensen
Born 1947
Charles van Rooy
1912 - 1996
Marnix van Rij
Born 1960
Corinne Ellemeet
Born 1976
Jo Schouwenaar-Franssen
1909 - 1995
Louis Hymans
1829 - 1884
Wassila Hachchi
Born 1980
Dirk Spierenburg
1909 - 2001
José María González Santos
Born 1975
Johann Heinrich Adolf Logemann
1892 - 1969
Hugo van Zuylen van Nijevelt
1781 - 1853
Daniël Théodore Gevers van Endegeest
1793 - 1877
Jim de Booy
1885 - 1969
René Dercksen
Born 1962
Engelbert François van Berckel
1726 - 1796
Jacob Adriaan Nicolaas Patijn
1873 - 1961
Wim Dik
Born 1939
Hugo Gevers
1765 - 1852
Ad van den Berg
Born 1944
Gerard Jacob Theodoor Beelaerts van Blokland
1843 - 1897
Anthoon Johan Koejemans
1903 - 1982
Nell Ginjaar-Maas
1931 - 2012
Johannes Siberg
1740 - 1817
Ivar Asjes
Born 1970
Gerard van As
Born 1944
Pieter Johan van Berckel
1725 - 1800
Khee Liang Phoa
Born 1955
Johan George Gleichman
1834 - 1906
Henricus Midderigh
1753 - 1800
Arnold Kerdijk
1846 - 1905
Geert Ruygers
1911 - 1970
Jan Adriaan van Zuylen van Nijevelt
1776 - 1840
Severinus Desiré Emanuels
1910 - 1981
Arie Heijkoop
1883 - 1929
Albertine van Vliet-Kuiper
Born 1951
Jan Zoon
1923 - 2016
Corneille Osy de Zegwaart
1757 - 1831
Marc Réville
1863 - 1920
Jan van Tilburg
1900 - 1977
Georg Jung (Politiker, 1814)
1814 - 1886
Harald Bergmann
Born 1965
Ludwig Gerstein
1928 - 1994
Jules Bijl
Born 1958
Tony Mulder
Born 1955
Craig Baumann
Born 1953
Francesco Conelli de' Prosperi
1801 - 1877