Famous people from Switzerland
Here is a list of famous people from Switzerland. Curious if anybody from Switzerland made it our most famous people in the world list? Read the aformentioned article in order to find out.
Jean-Jacques Rousseau
Philosopher
Jean-Jacques Rousseau was a Genevan philosopher, writer, and composer of the 18th-century. His political philosophy influenced the French Revolution as well as the overall development of modern political, sociological, and educational thought. Rousseau's novel Émile, or On Education is a treatise on the education of the whole person for citizenship. His sentimental novel Julie, or the New Heloise was of importance to the development of pre-romanticism and romanticism in fiction. Rousseau's autobiographical writings—his Confessions, which initiated the modern autobiography, and his Reveries of a Solitary Walker—exemplified the late 18th-century movement known as the Age of Sensibility, and featured an increased focus on subjectivity and introspection that later characterized modern writing. His Discourse on the Origin of Inequality and his On the Social Contract are cornerstones in modern political and social thought. Rousseau was a successful composer of music, who wrote seven operas as well as music in other forms, and made contributions to music as a theorist. During the period of the French Revolution, Rousseau was the most popular of the philosophes among members of the Jacobin Club. Rousseau was interred as a national hero in the Panthéon in Paris, in 1794, 16 years after his death.
Carl Jung
Philosopher
Carl Gustav Jung, often referred to as just C. G. Jung, was a Swiss psychiatrist and psychotherapist who founded analytical psychology. Jung proposed and developed the concepts of extraversion and introversion; archetypes, and the collective unconscious. His work has been influential in psychiatry and in the study of religion, philosophy, archeology, anthropology, literature, and related fields. The central concept of analytical psychology is individuation—the psychological process of integrating the opposites, including the conscious with the unconscious, while still maintaining their relative autonomy. Jung considered individuation to be the central process of human development. Jung created some of the best known psychological concepts including the archetype, the collective unconscious, the complex, and synchronicity. The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, a popular psychometric instrument, has been developed from Jung's theory of personality typology. Jung saw the human psyche as "by nature religious" and made this religiousness the focus of his explorations. Jung is one of the best known contemporary contributors to dream analysis and symbolization.
Le Corbusier
Architect
Charles-Édouard Jeanneret-Gris, better known as Le Corbusier, was an architect, designer, painter, urban planner, writer, and one of the pioneers of what is now called modern architecture. He was born in Switzerland and became a French citizen in 1930. His career spanned five decades, with his buildings constructed throughout Europe, India, and America. Dedicated to providing better living conditions for the residents of crowded cities, Le Corbusier was influential in urban planning, and was a founding member of the Congrès International d'Architecture Moderne.
Stanislas Wawrinka
Tennis Player
Stanislas Wawrinka is a Swiss professional tennis player. His career-high singles ranking is World No. 8, achieved in October 2013. He considers clay his best surface and his serve and volley his best shot. He won a Gold medal for Switzerland in the men's doubles event at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, partnering Roger Federer, by beating Swedish team Simon Aspelin/Thomas Johansson in the final. They were also honoured with the 2008 Swiss Team of the Year Award. John McEnroe believes Wawrinka has one of the most powerful backhands he has ever seen and describes him as having "the best one-handed backhand in the game today".
Jean Piaget
Psychologist
Jean Piaget was a Swiss developmental psychologist and philosopher known for his epistemological studies with children. His theory of cognitive development and epistemological view are together called "genetic epistemology". Piaget placed great importance on the education of children. As the Director of the International Bureau of Education, he declared in 1934 that "only education is capable of saving our societies from possible collapse, whether violent, or gradual." Piaget created the International Center for Genetic Epistemology in Geneva in 1955 and directed it until his death in 1980. The number of collaborations that its founding made possible, and their impact, ultimately led to the Center being referred to in the scholarly literature as "Piaget's factory." According to Ernst von Glasersfeld, Jean Piaget was "the great pioneer of the constructivist theory of knowing."
Leonhard Euler
Mathematician
Leonhard Euler was a pioneering Swiss mathematician and physicist. He made important discoveries in fields as diverse as infinitesimal calculus and graph theory. He also introduced much of the modern mathematical terminology and notation, particularly for mathematical analysis, such as the notion of a mathematical function. He is also renowned for his work in mechanics, fluid dynamics, optics, and astronomy. Euler is considered to be the pre-eminent mathematician of the 18th century and one of the greatest mathematicians ever. He is also one of the most prolific mathematicians ever; his collected works fill 60–80 quarto volumes. He spent most of his adult life in St. Petersburg, Russia, and in Berlin, Prussia. A statement attributed to Pierre-Simon Laplace expresses Euler's influence on mathematics: "Read Euler, read Euler, he is the master of us all."
Fabian Cancellara
Professional Road Racing Cyclist
Fabian Cancellara, nicknamed "Spartacus", is a Swiss professional road bicycle racer for UCI ProTeam RadioShack-Leopard. Cancellara has achieved great success in the sport of cycling since becoming a professional cyclist. He is known for being a quality time trialist, a classics specialist, and being a workhorse for his teammates that have general classification aspirations. Cancellara began cycling after falling in love with an old bike at the age of thirteen. After that, he then began to take the sport more seriously and he won two consecutive World Junior Time Trial Championships in 1998 and 1999. At age nineteen he turned professional and signed with the Mapei-Quick Step team, where he rode as a stagiaire. Since turning professional, Cancellara has ridden for four professional teams. He has achieved great success in the classics; he has won Paris–Roubaix three times, the Milan – San Remo once, and the Tour of Flanders twice. Cancellara has won the opening stage of the Tour de France five times and has led the race for 28 days total, which is the most of any rider who has not won the Tour. His success has not been limited to just time trials and classics, as he has won general classification of the Tirreno–Adriatico, Tour de Suisse, and the Tour of Oman. In 2008, he won gold in the individual time trial and silver in the men's road race at the Summer Olympics. In addition that, Cancellara has been the time trial world champion four times in his career.
DJ BoBo
Eurodance Artist
Peter René Cipiriano Baumann, better known as DJ BoBo, is a Swiss singer, songwriter, dancer and music producer. He has sold 14 million records worldwide and has released 10 studio albums as well as a few compilation albums which have included his previous hits in a reworked format. DJ BoBo has also released as many as 34 singles to date, some of which have charted quite high, not only in German speaking countries, but also in other European territories. As a dance music producer, his first big success came with the single "Somebody Dance with Me", which borrows its melody from Rockwell's Somebody's Watching Me. After this, he charted well with the singles "Keep on Dancing", "Take Control", "Everybody", "Let the Dream Come True", "Love Is All Around", "Freedom", "Pray" and "What a Feeling", as well as "Chihuahua", almost all of which comprised fast-paced Eurodance techno sound with female catchy refrains and rap performed by René. Between 1992 through 2007, he had 27 single chart-hits in Switzerland and Germany, and has won 10 World Music Awards for being Switzerland's best selling artist. René has received numerous Gold and Platinum certifications for his singles and albums and has found success in Europe, Asia and South America.
Paul Klee
Painting Artist
Paul Klee was a painter born in Münchenbuchsee, Switzerland, and is considered to be a German-Swiss. His highly individual style was influenced by movements in art that included expressionism, cubism, and surrealism. He was also a student of orientalism. Klee was a natural draftsman who experimented with and eventually got deep into color theory, writing about it extensively; his lectures Writings on Form and Design Theory, published in English as the Paul Klee Notebooks, are held to be as important for modern art as Leonardo da Vinci's A Treatise on Painting for the Renaissance. He and his colleague, the Russian painter Wassily Kandinsky, both taught at the German Bauhaus school of art, design and architecture. His works reflect his dry humour and his sometimes childlike perspective, his personal moods and beliefs, and also his musicality.
Romain Grosjean
Racing driver
Romain Grosjean is a racing driver, currently racing for the Lotus F1 Team. He races under the French flag in Formula One although he was born in Geneva and holds dual Franco-Swiss nationality. He was the 2007 Formula Three Euroseries drivers' champion and the inaugural GP2 Asia Series champion and first drove in Formula One in 2009. He is the 2011 GP2 Asia Series and GP2 Series champion and is the first – and as of July 2013, only – two-time GP2 Asia champion and the only driver to hold both the GP2 Asia series and main GP2 series titles simultaneously.. In 2012, Grosjean returned to Formula One with the Lotus F1 Team, alongside Kimi Räikkönen.
Dieter Bohlen
Euro disco Artist
Dieter Günter Bohlen is a German songwriter, singer, musician, producer, entertainer, and TV personality. Bohlen is best known for being part of popular pop-duo Modern Talking during 1984 –1987 and 1998 – 2003.
Paracelsus
Astrologer
Paracelsus was a German-Swiss Renaissance physician, botanist, alchemist, astrologer, and general occultist. He founded the discipline of toxicology. He is also known as a revolutionary for insisting upon using observations of nature, rather than looking to ancient texts, in open and radical defiance of medical practice of his day. He is also credited for giving zinc its name, calling it zincum, and for the terms "gas", "chemistry", and "alcohol". Modern psychology often also credits him for being the first to note that some diseases are rooted in psychological illness. His personality was stubborn and independent. He grew progressively more frustrated and bitter as he became more embattled as a reformer. "Paracelsus", meaning "equal to or greater than Celsus", refers to the Roman encyclopedist Aulus Cornelius Celsus from the 1st century, known for his tract on medicine.
Katerina Graham
Actor
Katerina Graham is an actress, model, singer, dancer.
Augustin Pyramus de Candolle
Botanist
Augustin Pyramus de Candolle also spelled Augustin Pyrame de Candolle was a Swiss botanist. René Louiche Desfontaines launched Candolle's botanical career by recommending him at an herbarium. Within a couple of years Candolle had established a new genus, and he went on to document hundreds of plant families and create a new natural plant classification system. Although Candolle's main focus was botany, he also contributed to related fields such as phytogeography, agronomy, paleontology, medical botany, and economic botany. Candolle originated the idea of "Nature's war", which influenced Charles Darwin and the principle of natural selection. Candolle recognized that multiple species may develop similar characteristics that did not appear in a common evolutionary ancestor; this was later termed analogy. During his work with plants, Candolle noticed that plant leaf movements follow a near-24-hour cycle in constant light, suggesting that an internal biological clock exists. Though many scientists doubted Candolle's findings, experiments over a century later demonstrated that ″the internal biological clock″ indeed exists. Candolle's descendants continued his work on plant classification. Alphonse de Candolle and Casimir Pyrame de Candolle contributed to the Prodromus Systematis Naturalis Regni Vegetabilis, a catalog of plants begun by Augustin Pyramus de Candolle.
Aga Khan IV
Noble person
Prince Shah Karim Al Hussaini Aga Khan, NPk, NI, KBE, CC, GCC, GCIH, GCM, born 13 December 1936, in Geneva, Switzerland; is a British business magnate, racehorse owner and breeder, as well as the 49th and current Imam of Nizari Ismailism – a denomination of Ismailism within Shia Islam consisting of approximately 15 million adherents. He has held this position of Imam, under the title of Aga Khan IV, since 11 July 1957, when, at the age of 20, he succeeded his grandfather, Sir Sultan Muhammad Shah Aga Khan III. The Aga Khan claims to be a direct descendant of Prophet Muhammad through the Prophet's cousin and son-in-law, Ali, considered the first Imam in Shia Islam, and Ali's wife Fatima az-Zahra, the Prophet’s daughter from his first marriage. As the Imam of Nizari Ismailism, the Aga Khan IV is considered by his followers to be the proof or hujjah of God on earth as well as infallible and immune from sin. He is further considered by his followers to be the carrier of the eternal Noor of Allah. In 1986, the Aga Khan ordained the current version of the Ismailia Constitution – an ecclesiastical decree affirming to Nizari Ismailis his "sole right to interpret the Qur'an and provide authoritative guidance on [all] matters of faith" and formalising his sole discretion, power and authority for the governance of Nizari Ismaili jamats and institutions.
Antonio Cesaro
TV Actor
Claudio Castagnoli, also known by the ring name Antonio Cesaro, is a Swiss professional wrestler. He is currently signed with WWE. He was previously known for his work in Ring of Honor, various independent promotions, and the Japan-based Pro Wrestling Noah. Castagnoli is an accomplished tag team wrestler, being a two-time ROH World Tag Team Champion with his partner Chris Hero as the Kings of Wrestling, as well various independent tag team titles both with Hero and with Ares as Swiss Money Holding, such as the Chikara Campeonatos de Parejas, the JCW Tag Team Championship and the CZW World Tag Team Championship. Castagnoli and Hero were voted as the 2010 Tag Team of the Year by Wrestling Observer Newsletter readers. He has also had success as a singles wrestler, having won the WWE United States Championship along with numerous independent singles titles, most notably the PWG World Championship. Particularly in the United States, Castagnoli emphasizes his European origin as part of his wrestling gimmick to proclaim a superior intellect and fashion sensibility, not only by speaking five languages, but also by regularly using the European uppercut.
Tariq Ramadan
Philosopher
Tariq Ramadan is a Swiss academic and writer. He is also a Professor of Contemporary Islamic Studies in the Faculty of Oriental Studies at Oxford University. He also teaches at the Oxford Faculty of Theology. He is Visiting Professor at the Faculty of Islamic Studies, and Director of the Research Centre of Islamic Legislation and Ethics. He advocates the study and re-interpretation of Islamic texts, and emphasizes the heterogeneous nature of Western Muslims. In 2008, an open online poll, Tariq Ramadan was voted the 8th on the list of Top 100 Public Intellectuals in the world by Prospect Magazine.
Roberto Di Matteo
Soccer
Roberto Di Matteo is an Italian former footballer and manager. During his playing career as a midfielder, he played for Swiss clubs Schaffhausen, Zürich and Aarau before joining Lazio of Italy and Chelsea of England. He was capped 34 times for Italy, scoring two goals, and played in Euro 1996 and the 1998 World Cup. He retired as a player in February 2002 at the age of 31 following injury problems. He has since managed Milton Keynes Dons, West Bromwich Albion and Chelsea. As interim manager of Chelsea, he steered the club to double title success, winning both the FA Cup and the club's first UEFA Champions League in 2012.
Ursula Andress
Actor
Ursula Andress is a Swiss-American actress and sex symbol of the 1960s. She is known for her role as Bond girl Honey Rider in the first James Bond film, Dr. No, for which she won a Golden Globe. She later starred as Vesper Lynd in the Bond-parody Casino Royale.
Michelle Hunziker
Actor
Michelle Yvonne Hunziker is a Swiss-Italian television hostess, actress, model and singer.
Ferdinand de Saussure
Author
Ferdinand de Saussure was a Swiss linguist and semiotician whose ideas laid a foundation for many significant developments both in linguistics and semiotics in the 20th century. He is widely considered one of the fathers of 20th-century linguistics and one of two major fathers of semiotics. One of his translators Roy Harris, summarized Saussure's contribution to linguistics and the study of language in the following way: "Language is no longer regarded as peripheral to our grasp of the world we live in, but as central to it. Words are not mere vocal labels or communicational adjuncts superimposed upon an already given order of things. They are collective products of social interaction, essential instruments through which human beings constitute and articulate their world. This typically twentieth-century view of language has profoundly influenced developments throughout the whole range of human sciences. It is particularly marked in linguistics, philosophy, psychology, sociology and anthropology." Although they have undergone extension and critique over time, the dimensions of organization introduced by Saussure continue to inform contemporary approaches to the phenomenon of language. Prague school linguist Jan Mukařovský writes that Saussure's "discovery of the internal structure of the linguistic sign differentiated the sign both from mere acoustic 'things' ... and from mental processes", and that in this development "new roads were thereby opened not only for linguistics, but also, in the future, for the theory of literature." Ruqaiya Hasan argues that "the impact of Saussure’s theory of the linguistic sign has been such that modern linguists and their theories have since been positioned by reference to him: they are known as pre-Saussurean, Saussurean, anti-Saussurean, post-Saussurean, or non-Saussure."
Alberto Giacometti
Painting Artist
Alberto Giacometti was a Swiss sculptor, painter, draughtsman, and printmaker. Alberto Giacometti was born in the canton Graubünden's southerly alpine valley Val Bregaglia and came from an artistic background; his father, Giovanni, was a well-known post-Impressionist painter. Alberto was the eldest of four children and was interested in art from an early age.
Patty Schnyder
Tennis Player
Patty Schnyder is a former Swiss professional tennis player. She played on the WTA tour from 1993 to 2011 and reached number 7 in the world rankings. She twice defeated a reigning world no. 1 player in her career: Martina Hingis at the 1998 Grand Slam Cup and Jennifer Capriati at the 2002 Family Circle Cup. In addition, she defeated former number 1's Lindsay Davenport, Serena Williams, Arantxa Sánchez Vicario, Steffi Graf, Kim Clijsters, Justine Henin, Amélie Mauresmo, Jelena Janković, Ana Ivanovic, Caroline Wozniacki and Maria Sharapova. During her career she reached six Grand Slam singles quarterfinals and one Grand Slam singles semifinal. She won 11 WTA singles titles and 5 WTA doubles titles and earned over US$8.4 million in prize money.
Sepp Blatter
Soccer
Joseph "Sepp" Blatter is a Swiss football administrator, who serves as the 8th and current President of FIFA. He was elected on 8 June 1998, succeeding João Havelange. He was re-elected as President in 2002, 2007 and 2011.
Huldrych Zwingli
Founding Figure
Huldrych Zwingli was a leader of the Reformation in Switzerland. Born during a time of emerging Swiss patriotism and increasing criticism of the Swiss mercenary system, he attended the University of Vienna and the University of Basel, a scholarly centre of humanism. He continued his studies while he served as a pastor in Glarus and later in Einsiedeln, where he was influenced by the writings of Erasmus. In 1518, Zwingli became the pastor of the Grossmünster in Zurich where he began to preach ideas on reforming the Catholic Church. In his first public controversy in 1522, he attacked the custom of fasting during Lent. In his publications, he noted corruption in the ecclesiastical hierarchy, promoted clerical marriage, and attacked the use of images in places of worship. In 1525, Zwingli introduced a new communion liturgy to replace the Mass. Zwingli also clashed with the Anabaptists, which resulted in their persecution. The Reformation spread to other parts of the Swiss Confederation, but several cantons resisted, preferring to remain Catholic. Zwingli formed an alliance of Reformed cantons which divided the Confederation along religious lines. In 1529, a war between the two sides was averted at the last moment. Meanwhile, Zwingli's ideas came to the attention of Martin Luther and other reformers. They met at the Marburg Colloquy and although they agreed on many points of doctrine, they could not reach an accord on the doctrine of the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist. In 1531 Zwingli's alliance applied an unsuccessful food blockade on the Catholic cantons. The cantons responded with an attack at a moment when Zurich was badly prepared. Zwingli was killed in battle at the age of 47. His legacy lives on in the confessions, liturgy, and church orders of the Reformed churches of today.
Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi
Politician
Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi was a Swiss pedagogue and educational reformer who exemplified Romanticism in his approach. He founded several educational institutions both in German- and French-speaking regions of Switzerland and wrote many works explaining his revolutionary modern principles of education. His motto was "Learning by head, hand and heart". Thanks to Pestalozzi, illiteracy in 18th-century Switzerland was overcome almost completely by 1830.
Jean-Paul Marat
Politician
Jean-Paul Marat, born in the Principality of Neuchâtel, was a physician, political theorist and scientist best known for his career in France as a radical journalist and politician during the French Revolution. His journalism became renowned for its fierce tone, uncompromising stance toward the new leaders and institutions of the revolution, and advocacy of basic human rights for the poorest members of society. Marat was one of the most radical voices of the French Revolution. He became a vigorous defender of the sans-culottes, publishing his views in pamphlets, placards and newspapers, notably his "L'Ami du peuple", which helped make him their unofficial link with the radical, republican Jacobin group that came to power after June 1793. Marat was assassinated by Charlotte Corday, a Girondist sympathizer, while in his specialized bowel room. In his death Marat became an icon to the Jacobins, a sort of revolutionary martyr, as portrayed in David's famous painting of his death.
Henry Dunant
Businessperson
Jean Henri Dunant, also known as Henry Dunant, was a Swiss businessman and social activist. During a business trip in 1859, he was witness to the aftermath of the Battle of Solferino in modern day Italy. He recorded his memories and experiences in the book A Memory of Solferino which inspired the creation of the International Committee of the Red Cross in 1863. The 1864 Geneva Convention was based on Dunant's ideas. In 1901 he received the first Nobel Peace Prize together with Frédéric Passy.
Erich von Däniken
Author
Erich Anton Paul von Däniken is a Swiss author of several books which make controversial claims about extraterrestrial influences on early human culture, including the best-selling Chariots of the Gods?, published in 1968. Von Däniken is one of the main figures responsible for popularizing the "paleo-contact" and ancient astronauts hypotheses. The ideas put forth in his books are largely rejected by scientists and academics, who categorize his work as pseudohistory and pseudoarchaeology. Von Däniken wrote his first book while working as manager of the Hotel Rosenhügel in Davos, Switzerland. He was convicted of several financial crimes, including fraud, shortly after its publication. The revenue from the sales of his book allowed him to repay his debts and leave the hotel business. Von Däniken wrote his second book, Gods from Outer Space, while in prison. Von Däniken later became a co-founder of the Archaeology, Astronautics and SETI Research Association. He designed Mystery Park, a theme park located in Interlaken, Switzerland, that opened on 23 May 2003.
Karl Barth
Theologian
Karl Barth was a Swiss Reformed theologian. Barth is often regarded as the greatest Protestant theologian of the twentieth century. His influence expanded well beyond the academic realm to mainstream culture, leading him to be featured on the cover of Time on April 20, 1962. Beginning with his experience as a pastor, Barth rejected his training in the predominant liberal theology typical of 19th-century European Protestantism. Instead he embarked on a new theological path initially called dialectical theology, due to its stress on the paradoxical nature of divine truth. Barth's unease with the dominant theology which characterized Europe led him to become a leader in the Confessing Church in Germany, which actively opposed Adolf Hitler and the Nazi regime. In particular, Barth and other members of the movement vigorously attempted to prevent the Nazis from taking over the existing church and establishing a state church controlled by the regime. This culminated in Barth's authorship of the Barmen Declaration, which fiercely criticized Christians who supported the Nazis.
Clay Regazzoni
Racing driver
Gianclaudio Giuseppe "Clay" Regazzoni was a Swiss racing car driver. He competed in Formula One races from 1970 to 1980, winning five Grands Prix. His first win was the Italian Grand Prix at Monza in his debut season, driving for Ferrari. He remained with the Italian team until 1972. After a single season with BRM, Regazzoni returned to Ferrari for a further three years, 1974 to 1976. After finally leaving Ferrari at the end of 1976, Regazzoni joined the Ensign and Shadow teams, before moving to Williams in 1979, where he took the British team's first ever Grand Prix victory, the 1979 British Grand Prix at Silverstone. He was replaced by Carlos Reutemann at Williams for 1980 and moved back to Ensign. Following an accident at the 1980 United States Grand Prix West he was left paralyzed from the waist down, ending his career in Formula One. Regazzoni did not stop racing, however; he competed in the Paris-Dakar rally and Sebring 12 hours using a hand controlled car during the late 1980s and early 1990s. In 1996, Regazzoni became a commentator for Italian TV. He died in a car accident in Italy on 15 December 2006.
Stefanie Vögele
Tennis Player
Stefanie Vögele is a professional Swiss tennis player. Her highest WTA singles ranking is no. 51, which she reached on June 10th 2013. Her career high in doubles is no. 131, which she reached on 2 March 2009.
Andreas Vollenweider
Classical Artist
Andreas Vollenweider is a Swiss musician. His music has been categorized as World Music, Jazz, New Age, and even Classical; two of his albums were No.1 on the Billboard charts simultaneously in the categories Classical, Jazz, Pop, and Crossover for more than 11 weeks. His primary instrument is an electrically modified harp of his own design, but he also plays a wide variety of instruments from around the world, including the Chinese guzheng. His albums feature many musicians performing his compositions with him, ranging from simple solos to suites for orchestra and soloists. His music is mostly instrumental but he has occasionally forayed into vocal music as well. His past collaborators include Bobby McFerrin, Carly Simon, Djivan Gasparyan, Eliza Gilkyson, Luciano Pavarotti, Ladysmith Black Mambazo, Carlos Núñez, Ray Anderson, and Milton Nascimento. Politically, Andreas Vollenweider is an outspoken pacifist and follower of the principles of non-violent conflict management of Mohandas Gandhi. On his website he features quotes from Gandhi, and in an effort to spread awareness of the American war in Iraq, he has also posted a ticker reflecting the current number of casualties in the conflict, both American and Iraqi.
Marc Rosset
Tennis Player
Marc Rosset is a former professional tennis player from Switzerland who is best remembered for winning the Men's Singles Gold medal at the 1992 Olympic Games. He also won one Grand Slam doubles title at the French Open in 1992 partnering compatriot Jakob Hlasek.
Stephan Eicher
Singer
Stephan Eicher is a Swiss singer. He is of Alsatian mother and Yeniche father, also a musician. His songs are sung in a variety of languages, including French, German, English, Italian, Swiss-German, and Romanche. Sometimes he even uses different languages in the same piece. His success started in German-speaking countries in the 1980s when as part of the band Grauzone he had a hit single "Eisbär". With hit songs such as "Combien de Temps" and "Oh Ironie", his popularity spread Europe-wide with various albums, tours, and chart success in France and Switzerland.
Andy Hug
Man
Andreas "Andy" Hug was a Swiss Seidokaikan and Kyokushin karateka and kickboxer from Wohlen. Hug was the K-1 World Grand Prix 1996 champion and runner up in 1997 and 1998.
Max Frisch
Playwright
Max Rudolf Frisch was a Swiss playwright and novelist, regarded as highly representative of German-language literature after World War II. In his creative works Frisch paid particular attention to issues relating to problems of human identity, individuality, responsibility, morality and political commitment. His use of irony is a significant feature of his post-war publications. Frisch was a member of the Gruppe Olten. He was awarded the Neustadt International Prize for Literature in 1986.
Bruno Ganz
Actor
Bruno Ganz is a Swiss actor, known for his roles as Damiel in Wings of Desire, as Adolf Hitler in Downfall and as Professor Rohl in The Reader.
Eren Derdiyok
Soccer
Eren Derdiyok is a footballer who plays as a striker for German Bundesliga club Bayer 04 Leverkusen and the Switzerland national team.
Alain de Botton
Essayist
Alain de Botton, FRSL is a Swiss/British writer, philosopher, television presenter and entrepreneur, resident in the United Kingdom. His books and television programmes discuss various contemporary subjects and themes, emphasizing philosophy's relevance to everyday life. At 23, he published Essays In Love, which went on to sell two million copies. Other bestsellers include How Proust Can Change Your Life, Status Anxiety and The Architecture Of Happiness. In August 2008, he was a founding member of a new educational establishment in central London called The School of Life. In May 2009, he was a founding member of a new architectural organization called "Living Architecture". In October that year, de Botton was appointed an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects, in recognition of his services to architecture. In 2011, de Botton was elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature.
Alejo Carpentier
Novelist
Alejo Carpentier y Valmont was a Cuban novelist, essayist, and musicologist who greatly influenced Latin American literature during its famous "boom" period. Born in Lausanne, Switzerland, Carpentier grew up in Havana, Cuba, and despite his European birthplace, he strongly self-identified as Cuban throughout his life. He traveled extensively, particularly in France, and to South America and Mexico, where he met prominent members of the Latin American cultural and artistic community. Carpentier took a keen interest in Latin American politics and often aligned himself with revolutionary movements, such as Fidel Castro's Communist Revolution in Cuba in the mid-20th century. Carpentier was jailed and exiled for his leftist political philosophies. With a developed knowledge of music, Carpentier explored musicology, publishing an in-depth study of the music of Cuba, La música en Cuba and integrated musical themes and literary techniques throughout his works. He explored elements of Afro-Cubanism and incorporated the cultural aspects into the majority of his writings. Although Carpentier wrote in a myriad of genres, such as journalism, radio drama, playwrighting, academic essays, opera and libretto, he is best known for his novels. He was among the first practitioners of magical realism using the technique, lo real maravilloso to explore the fantastic quality of Latin American history and culture. The most famous example of Afro-Cuban influence and use of lo real maravilloso is Carpentier's 1949 novel El reino de este mundo about the Haitian revolution of the late 18th century.
Ivan Rakitić
Soccer Midfielder
Ivan Rakitić is a Croatian footballer who captains Spanish La Liga club Sevilla FC. He plays for the Croatian national team on international level. Rakitić started his professional career at Basel and spent two seasons with them before establishing popularity for his time in the German Bundesliga with Schalke 04. After spending three and a half seasons in Bundesliga, he was signed by Spanish La Liga club Sevillla in January 2011. Two years later, Rakitić was confirmed as the club captain. Although naturally a product of Switzerland's youth level, Rakitić pledged his international career to his native parentage of Croatia instead. He made his debut for the Croatian national team in 2007 and has since represented the country at UEFA Euro 2008 and UEFA Euro 2012.
Jakob Fuglsang
Professional Road Racing Cyclist
Jakob Diemer Fuglsang is a Danish professional racing cyclist for UCI ProTeam Astana. Before turning professional for Team Saxo Bank, he was a mountain biker racing for Team Cannondale-Vredestein. He has won the U23 World Cup. He got his contract with Team Saxo Bank during the 2008 Danmark Rundt.
Stephan Lichtsteiner
Soccer Midfielder
Stephan Lichtsteiner is a Swiss footballer, currently playing for Italian club Juventus and the Switzerland national team. An attacking right back, he is known for his energetic runs down the right wing and athleticism, which earned him the nicknames "Forrest Gump", Kurt Angle and "The Swiss Express".
Elisabeth Kübler-Ross
Psychiatrist
Elisabeth Kübler-Ross, M.D. was a Swiss American psychiatrist, a pioneer in near-death studies and the author of the groundbreaking book On Death and Dying, where she first discussed her theory of the five stages of grief. She is a 2007 inductee into the American National Women's Hall of Fame. She was the recipient of twenty honorary degrees and by July 1982 had taught, in her estimation, 125,000 students in death and dying courses in colleges, seminaries, medical schools, hospitals, and social-work institutions. In 1970, she delivered the The Ingersoll Lectures on Human Immortality at Harvard University, on the theme, On Death and Dying.
Alexander Frei
Soccer
Alexander Frei is a former Swiss footballer who last played for Swiss Super League club FC Basel. He first played for Basel, then for various other clubs in Switzerland, France and Germany before returning to his home club, where he won his first Championship title. Frei was the captain of the Swiss national team and is all-time leading scorer of the Swiss national football team with 42 goals in 84 games. He is of no relation to club and country team mate Fabian Frei. However, he is the second-cousin of Toronto FC keeper and former Swiss youth international Stefan Frei. His younger sister is Andrea and she plays football for the Basel ladies team. He's married to Nina and on 26 June 2012 they welcomed a daughter named Lia.
Sébastien Buemi
Racing driver
Sébastien Olivier Buemi is a Swiss racing driver, who formerly competed for Scuderia Toro Rosso in Formula One. Buemi is currently a reserve driver for Scuderia Toro Rosso's sister team, Red Bull Racing, as well as being a member of Toyota's 24 Hours of Le Mans squad.
Shkelzen Gashi
Soccer Midfielder
Shkëlzen Gashi is a Albanian footballer who plays as a midfielder for Grasshopper Club Zürich in the Swiss Super League.
Myria Benedetti
Actor
Myria Alexandra Benedetti is a Thai singer, actress, model, and MC.
Peter Benedict
Actor
Peter Benedict is an actor.
Reto Ziegler
Soccer Midfielder
Reto Pirmin Ziegler is a Swiss footballer who plays for Serie A club Sassuolo on loan from Juventus. He has played top-flight football in six different countries, and earned 32 international caps for Switzerland, playing at the 2010 FIFA World Cup.
Francesco Borromini
Architect
Francesco Borromini, byname of Francesco Castelli, was an architect from Ticino who, with his contemporaries Gian Lorenzo Bernini and Pietro da Cortona, was a leading figure in the emergence of Roman Baroque architecture. A keen student of the architecture of Michelangelo and the ruins of Antiquity, Borromini developed an inventive and distinctive, if somewhat idiosyncratic, architecture employing manipulations of Classical architectural forms, geometrical rationales in his plans and symbolic meanings in his buildings. He seems to have had a sound understanding of structures, which perhaps Bernini and Cortona, who were principally trained in other areas of the visual arts, lacked. His soft lead drawings are particularly distinctive. He appears to have been a self-taught scholar, amassing a large library by the end of his life. His career was constrained by his personality. Unlike Bernini who easily adopted the mantle of the charming courtier in his pursuit of important commissions, Borromini was both melancholic and quick in temper which resulted in him withdrawing from certain jobs, and his death was by suicide. Probably because his work was idiosyncratic, his subsequent influence was not widespread but is apparent in the Piedmontese works of Camillo-Guarino Guarini and, as a fusion with the architectural modes of Bernini and Cortona, in the late Baroque architecture of Northern Europe. Later critics of the Baroque, such as Francesco Milizia and the English architect Sir John Soane, were particularly critical of Borromini’s work. From the late nineteenth century onwards, interest has revived in the works of Borromini and his architecture has become appreciated for its inventiveness.
Zdravko Kuzmanović
Soccer
Zdravko Kuzmanović is a Serbian footballer who plays as a central midfielder for Internazionale in the Italian Serie A. He represented Serbia in the 2010 FIFA World Cup.
Gökhan Inler
Soccer
Gökhan İnler is a Swiss-Turkish footballer who plays as a central midfielder for Serie A side Napoli.
Alain Menu
Racing driver
Alain Menu is a Swiss racing driver. He was one of the most successful touring car drivers of the 1990s, winning the prestigious British Touring Car Championship twice. He drove for Chevrolet in the World Touring Car Championship between 2005 and 2012 with a best finish of second in 2012. As of 2013 Menu is racing in the Porsche Supercup for his own team.
Jo Siffert
Racing driver
Joseph Siffert was a Swiss racing driver. Affectionately known as "Seppi" to his family and close friends, Siffert was born in Fribourg, Switzerland, the son of a dairy owner. He initially made his name in racing on two wheels, powering his way to the Swiss 350 cc motorcycle championship in 1959, before switching to four wheels with a Formula Junior Stanguellini. Siffert graduated to Formula One as a privateer in 1962, with a four-cylinder Lotus-Climax. He later moved to Swiss team Scuderia Filipinetti, and in 1964 joined Rob Walker's private British Rob Walker Racing Team. Early successes included victories in the non-Championship 1964 and 1965 Mediterranean Grands Prix, both times beating Jim Clark by a very narrow margin. Siffert was married twice and to his second wife Simone during the height of his career in the late 1960s and at the time of his death in 1971. They had two children together, Véronique and Philippe.
Vincent Pérez
Actor
Vincent Pérez is a Swiss-born French-speaking actor and director of Spanish and German heritage. He is best known internationally for playing the title character Ashe Corven in The Crow: City of Angels, and for starring in Queen of the Damned, playing Marius de Romanus. Some of his notable films in French cinema include Cyrano de Bergerac, Le bossu, La Reine Margot and Indochine. In 1995, he was named one of People magazine's 50 Most Beautiful People in the World.
Niklaus Wirth
Computer Scientist
Niklaus Emil Wirth is a Swiss computer scientist, best known for designing several programming languages, including Pascal, and for pioneering several classic topics in software engineering. In 1984 he won the Turing Award for developing a sequence of innovative computer languages.
Blaise Cendrars
Novelist
Frédéric-Louis Sauser, better known as Blaise Cendrars, was a Swiss novelist and poet who became a naturalized French citizen in 1916. He was a writer of considerable influence in the European modernist movement.
Luuk de Jong
Soccer
Luuk de Jong is a Dutch footballer, currently playing for Borussia Mönchengladbach in Germany. Born in Aigle, Switzerland, a son of two Dutch volleyball players who played professionally in that country. The family moved to the Netherlands when de Jong was four years old, and his brother Siem six.
Henry Fuseli
Painting Artist
Henry Fuseli was a Swiss painter, draughtsman and writer on art who worked and spent most of his life in Britain.
Hans Küng
Priest
Hans Küng is a Swiss Catholic priest, theologian, and author. Since 1995 he has been President of the Foundation for a Global Ethic. Küng identifies himself as "a Catholic priest in good standing", but the Vatican has rescinded his authority to teach Catholic theology. In 1979, he had to leave the Catholic faculty, but remained at the University of Tübingen as a professor of ecumenical theology, serving as an emeritus professor since 1996. Although Küng is not officially allowed to teach Catholic theology, neither his bishop nor the Holy See have revoked his priestly faculties.
Robert Frank
Photographer
Robert Frank is an important figure in American photography and film. His most notable work, the 1958 book titled The Americans, was influential, and earned Frank comparisons to a modern-day de Tocqueville for his fresh and nuanced outsider's view of American society. Frank later expanded into film and video and experimented with manipulating photographs and photomontage.
Jacques Necker
Politician
Jacques Necker was a French statesman of Swiss birth and finance minister of Louis XVI, a post he held in the lead-up to the French Revolution in 1789.
Oliver Neuville
Soccer
Oliver Patric Neuville is a German retired footballer who played as a striker. During an 18-year professional career he played mainly for Bayer Leverkusen and Borussia Mönchengladbach, amassing Bundesliga totals of 334 games and 91 goals. Neuville gained almost 70 caps for the German national team during one full decade, representing his adopted nation in two World Cups and at Euro 2008.
Mark Streit
Professional Ice hockey Player
Mark Streit is a Swiss professional ice hockey defenceman for the Philadelphia Flyers of the National Hockey League. He was the captain of both the New York Islanders and the Swiss national team. He is one of nine current players in the NHL from Switzerland. Streit is one of the few swingmen in the NHL who is able to play both as a defenceman and as a forward. He was featured on the front cover of the Swiss versions of the NHL series of hockey games, from NHL 08 to NHL 11 and was replaced by Jonas Hiller for NHL 12.
Simona de Silvestro
Athlete
Simona de Silvestro is a Swiss race car driver from Thun, Switzerland. She is currently competing for KV Racing Technology in the IZOD IndyCar Series. One nickname which has been applied to her is "The Iron Maiden".
Sophie Hunger
Singer
Sophie Hunger is a jazz pop singer-songwriter, film composer, multi-instrumentalist and bandleader, living in Zurich, Switzerland.
Alfonsina Storni
Poet
Alfonsina Storni was one of the most important Latin-American poets of the modernist period.
Philippe Senderos
Soccer
Philippe Sylvain Senderos is a Swiss footballer who plays as a defender for Premier League club Fulham and the Switzerland national football team. Previously he has played for Servette, Arsenal, A.C. Milan and Everton. He is described in the Fulham website as being "[t]ough and often uncompromising in the tackle and cultured on the ball."
Romina Oprandi
Tennis Player
Romina Sarina Oprandi is a professional tennis player. She has dual Swiss-Italian citizenship and represented Italy from her professional debut in 2005 until January 2012, when she joined the Swiss tennis federation. Her highest singles ranking was no. 36, achieved on 27 May 2013. She has won 22 ITF singles titles and 10 ITF doubles titles and has yet to win a WTA title of any kind.
Emanuele Filiberto, Prince of Venice and Piedmont
Noble person
Emanuele Filiberto di Savoia, also referred to as Emanuele Filiberto of Savoy or simply as Emanuele Filiberto, is an Italian television personality, a member of the House of Savoy and the son and heir of Vittorio Emanuele, Prince of Naples. He is the only male-line grandson of Umberto II, the last King of Italy. Emanuele Filiberto uses the titles "Principe di Venezia", prince of Venice, and "Principe di Piemonte", prince of Piedmont. These titles are not recognized by the Italian republic. Filiberto grew up as an exile from Italy, in accordance with the provision of the Italian constitution prohibiting the male issue of the Savoy kings of Italy from entering or staying on Italian territory. Since returning to Italy he has made many appearances on national television, including his participation as a contestant in Ballando con le stelle, and the Sanremo Music Festival. He is married to French actress Clotilde Courau.
Mario Adorf
Actor
Mario Adorf is one of the most famous German film and stage actors who played leading roles in numerous films, among them the 1978 film The Tin Drum. Additionally, he is the author of several successful mostly autobiographical books.
Stéphane Lambiel
Professional Figure Skater
Stéphane Lambiel is a Swiss figure skater and a choreographer. He is a two-time World Champion, the 2006 Olympic silver medalist, a two-time Grand Prix Champion and a nine-time Swiss national champion. Lambiel is known for his spins and is credited with popularizing some spin positions.
Michel Simon
Actor
Michel Simon, was a Swiss actor. He appeared in the notable films La Chienne, Boudu Saved from Drowning, L'Atalante, Port of Shadows and The Train. The actor François Simon is his son.
Sofia Milos
Actor
Sofia Milos is a Swiss-born Italian/Greek actress. She is best known for her role as Yelina Salas on CSI: Miami. She has also had recurring roles on The Sopranos as Camorra Boss Annalisa Zucca, as well as Curb your Enthusiasm, Friends, ER and many more. Milos was born in Zurich, Switzerland, to an Italian father and a Greek mother. The family moved to Rome, Italy when she was a child. In her teens she entered a local beauty pageant, and after winning first prize went on to win the provincial, regional and national contests as well. Milos studied acting at the Beverly Hills Playhouse in the United States under acting coach Milton Katselas. Milos speaks English, Italian, French and German fluently, and can also carry a basic conversation in Greek and Spanish.
Marc Faber
Investor
Marc Faber is a Swiss investor. Faber is publisher of the Gloom Boom & Doom Report newsletter and is the director of Marc Faber Ltd which acts as an investment advisor and fund manager. Faber also serves as director, advisor and shareholder of a number of investment funds that focus on emerging and frontier markets, including Leopard Capital’s Leopard Cambodia Fund and Asia Frontier Capital Ltd.'s AFC Asia Frontier Fund. Faber has a reputation for being a contrarian investor and has been called "Doctor Doom" for a number of years. He was the subject of a book written by Nury Vittachi in 1998 entitled Doctor Doom - Riding the Millennial Storm - Marc Faber's Path to Profit in the Financial Crisis. Faber has become a frequent speaker in various forums and makes numerous appearances on television around the world including various CNBC and Bloomberg outlets, as well as on internet venues like Jim Puplava's internet radio show. Faber has also engaged the Barron's Roundtable and the Manhattan Mises Circle.
Benjamin Constant
Author
Henri-Benjamin Constant de Rebecque, or simply Benjamin Constant, was a Swiss-born French politician, writer on politics and religion. He was the author of a partly biographical psychological novel, Adolphe. He was a fervent liberal of the early 19th century who influenced the Trienio Liberal movement in Spain, the Liberal Revolution of 1820 in Portugal, the Greek War of Independence, the November Uprising in Poland, the Belgian Revolution, and Liberalism in Brazil and Mexico.
Alfred Cortot
Classical Artist
Alfred Denis Cortot was a Franco-Swiss pianist and conductor. He is one of the most renowned 20th-century classical musicians, especially valued for his poetic insight in Romantic period piano works, particularly those of Chopin and Schumann.
Simon Ammann
Ski jumper
Simon Ammann is a Swiss ski jumper, and double Olympic Champion at both 2002 and 2010 Winter Olympics. Ammann was born in Grabs, Switzerland, to Margit and Heinrich Ammann and raised in Unterwasser, Switzerland. He has two brothers and three sisters. He married Yana Yanovskaya on 25 June 2010. He made his debut as a 16-year-old unknown during the 1997–1998 Ski jumping World Cup season. Ammann qualified for the 1998 Olympic Games in Nagano, Japan, where he finished 35th. Prior to the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States, he crashed and suffered injuries. Despite this, he won the gold medal in both the Individual Normal Hill and Individual Long Hill events, only the second person to accomplish this feat.. Following the games, Ammann became a star in Switzerland and also made appearances on American talk shows, such as the Late Show with David Letterman. Ammann also won the ski jumping event at the Holmenkollen Ski Festival in 2002 and 2007. This would earn him the Holmenkollen medal in 2007.
Francine Lehmann
Pop Artist
Francine Jordi is a Swiss pop singer. As a young child she was already singing songs for the Japanese tourists in Interlaken. With this musical background she won the German Grand Prix der Volksmusik in 1998 with the song Das Feuer der Sehnsucht. From that moment on Jordi became a real star in Switzerland with golden discs, successes in the charts and tours throughout the German speaking countries. She also hosted two TV shows at the ARD. In 2002, she represented Switzerland at the Eurovision Song Contest in Tallinn with a French language song "Dans le jardin de mon âme". In the autumn of that year she made a solo tour with her band throughout Switzerland.
Jean Tinguely
Painting Artist
Jean Tinguely was a Swiss painter and sculptor. He is best known for his sculptural machines or kinetic art, in the Dada tradition; known officially as metamechanics. Tinguely's art satirized the mindless overproduction of material goods in advanced industrial society.
Hakan Yakin
Soccer Midfielder
Hakan Yakin is a Swiss footballer. Since January 2012 he plays for Swiss Challenge League club AC Bellinzona. He was member of the Swiss national team for eleven years.
Angelica Kauffman
Painting Artist
Angelica Kauffman in full Maria Anna Angelika/Angelica Katharina Kauffman RA was a Swiss-born Austrian Neoclassical painter who had a successful career in London and Rome. Though born as "Kauffmann", Kauffman is the preferred spelling of her name in English; it is the form she herself used most in signing her correspondence, documents and paintings.
Haris Seferović
Soccer
Haris Seferović is a Swiss professional footballer player who plays for La Liga side Real Sociedad.
Joan Gamper
Soccer
Joan Gamper previously known as Hans Kamper was a Swiss football pioneer, player and club president. He founded football clubs in Switzerland and Spain, most notably FC Basel, FC Zürich and FC Barcelona.
Valentin Stocker
Soccer Midfielder
Valentin Stocker is a Swiss international footballer who plays as a left midfielder for FC Basel in the Swiss Super League.
Jacob Bernoulli
Mathematician
Jacob Bernoulli was one of the many prominent mathematicians in the Bernoulli family. He was an early proponent of Leibnizian calculus and had sided with Leibniz during the Leibniz–Newton calculus controversy. He is known for his numerous contributions to calculus, and along with his brother Johann, was one of the founders the calculus of variations. However, his most important contribution was in the field of probability, where he derived the first version of the law of large numbers in his work Ars Conjectandi.
Paolo Meneguzzi
Alternative rock Artist
Paolo Meneguzzi is a Swiss Italian singer. He is the son of Loredana Pacchiani and Gomez Meneguzzi.
Damien Brunner
Professional Ice hockey Player
Damien Brunner is a Swiss professional ice hockey forward currently playing with the New Jersey Devils.
Hans Urs von Balthasar
Theologian
Hans Urs von Balthasar was a Swiss theologian and Catholic priest who was to be created a cardinal of the Catholic Church but died before the ceremony. He is considered one of the most important Roman Catholic theologians of the 20th century.
Ernest Bloch
Composer
Ernest Bloch was a 20th-century Swiss-born American composer.