Famous Swiss and notable people from
Switzerland and from
cantons forming present day Switzerland include:
- Jacques-Laurent Agasse (1767-1849), painter
- Cuno Peter Amiet (1868-1961)
- Albert Anker (1831-1910)
- Jean Arp (1886-1966), sculptor, painter, and poet
- Arnold Böcklin (1827-1901), painter
- Karl Bodmer (1809-1893), painter of the American West
- Jean Crotti (1878-1958), painter
- Hans Erni (born 1909)
- Henry Fuseli (Johann Heinrich Füssli) (1741-1825), painter
- Alberto Giacometti (1901-1966), sculptor, painter
- H. R. Giger (born 1940), illustrator
- Anton Graff (1736-1813), painter
- Ferdinand Hodler (1853-1918), painter
- Angelica Kauffmann (1741-1807), painter
- Paul Klee (1879-1940), painter
- Niklaus Manuel (1484-1530), painter
- James Pradier (1790-1852), sculptor
- Jean Tinguely (1925-1991), kinetic artist
- Félix Vallotton (1865-1925), painter
- Firmin Abauzit, (1679-1767), scientist
- Alexander Emanuel Agassiz, (1835-1910), American man of science
- Louis Agassiz (1807-1873), work on ice ages, glaciers
- Jacob Amsler (1823-1912), mathematician and inventor of measuring instruments
- Werner Arber (born 1929), 1978 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
- Johann Georg Baiter (1801-1877), philologist
- Adolph Francis Alphonse Bandelier (1840-1914) archaeologist
- Felix Bloch (born 1905), 1952 Nobel Prize in Physics
- Charles Bonnet (1720-1793), botanist
- Daniel Bovet (born 1907), 1957 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
- Joost Bürgi (28 Feb 1552-31 Jan 1632), mathematician and watchmaker
- Jean-André Deluc (1727 - 1817), geologist
- Albert Einstein, (1879-1955), refugee and scientist
- Richard R. Ernst (born 1933), 1991 Nobel Prize in Chemistry
- Edmond H. Fischer (born 1920), 1992 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
- Conrad Gessner (1516-1565)
- Charles-Edouard Guillaume (1861-1938), 1920 Nobel Prize in Physics
- Walter Hess (1881-1973), 1949 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
- Albert Hofmann (born 1906)
- Paul Karrer (1889-1971), 1937 Nobel Prize in Chemistry
- Emil Theodor Kocher (1841-1917), 1909 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
- K. Alex Müller (born 1927), 1987 Nobel Prize in Physics
- Johannes von Müller (1752-1809), historian
- Paul Müller (1899-1965), 1948 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
- Johann Caspar von Orelli (1787-1849)
- Paracelsus (Theophrastus Bombastus von Hohenheim) (1493-1541), alchemist
- Wolfgang Pauli (1900-1958), 1945 Nobel Prize in Physics
- Auguste Piccard (1884-1962)
- Jacques Piccard
- Jean Piccard (1884-1963)
- Vladimir Prelog (1906-1998), 1975 Nobel Prize in Chemistry
- Tadeus Reichstein (1897-1996), chemist, 1950 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
- Heinrich Rohrer (born 1933), 1986 Nobel Prize in Physics
- Leopold Ruzicka (1887-1976), 1939 Nobel Prize in Chemistry
- Horace-Bénédict de Saussure (1740-1799), botanist
- Johann Jakob Scheuchzer, (1672-1733), Swiss savant
- Jack Steinberger (born 1921), 1988 Nobel Prize in Physics
- Alfred Werner (1866-1919), 1913 Nobel Prize in Chemistry
- Niklaus Wirth (born 1934), computer scientist
- Kurt Wüthrich (born 1938), 2002 Nobel Prize in Chemistry
- Daniel Albert Wyttenbach (1746-1820)
- Rolf M. Zinkernagel (born 1944), 1996 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
- Fritz Zwicky (1898-1974), astronomer
- Theodor Zwinger (1533-1588), scholar
- Paul Accola (born 1967), skiing champion
- Simon Ammann (born 1981), gold medallist in Ski jumping at the 2002 Winter Olympics
- Denise Biellmann (born 1962), World champion figure skater
- Sepp Blatter (born 1935), FIFA president
- Michela Figini (born 1966), Alpine skiing champion
- Arnold Gerschwiler (born ~1914), skater
- Hans Gerschwiler (born ~1921), World champion figure skater
- Jack Gerschwiler (1898-2000), coach
- Erika Hess (born 1962), Alpine skiing champion
- Martina Hingis (born 1980), professional tennis player
- Patrick Hürlimann (born 1963), Olympic curling champion
- Franz Krienbühl (1929-2002), speed skater
- Peter Lüscher (born 1956), Alpine skiing champion
- Lise-Marie Morerod (born 1956), Alpine skiing champion
- Marie-Thérèse Nadig (born 1954)
- Bernhard Russi (born 1948), Alpine skiing champion
- Vreni Schneider (born 1964), Alpine skiing champion
- Maria Walliser (born 1963), Alpine skiing champion
- Pirmin Zurbriggen (born 1963), Alpine skiing champion
- Erich von Däniken (born 1935), Ancient Astronauts writer
- Friedrich Dürrenmatt, (1921-1990), Swiss poet
- Max Frisch, (1911-1991), Swiss poet
- Jeremias Gotthelf, (1797-1854), author
- Hermann Hesse (1877-1962), 1946 Nobel Prize in Literature
- Meinrad Inglin (1893-1971)
- Gottfried Keller, (1819-1890), Swiss author
- Ella Maillart (1903-1997)
- Conrad Ferdinand Meyer (1825-1898)
- Yves Naud
- Suzanne Curchod Necker (1739-1794)
- Blaise Cendrars, (1887-1961), author
- Fritjof Schuon
- Carl Spitteler (1845-1924), 1919 Nobel Prize in Literature
- Johanna Spyri (1827-1901), author of Heidi
- Anne Louise Germaine de Staël (1766-1817), known as Madame de Staël
- Johann David Wyss, (1743-1818), author of The Swiss Family Robinson
- Johann Heinrich Daniel Zschokke (1771-1848)
- Sadruddhin Aga Khan (1933-2003), UN High Commissioner for Refugees, longtime Swiss resident
- Othmar Ammann (1879-1965), civil engineer, bridge engineer to the New York Port Authority
- Ursula Andress (born 1936), actress
- Pierre Victor Besenval de Bronstatt (1721-1791)
- Maximilian Bircher-Benner (1867-1939), physician and Muesli inventor
- Johann Jakob Bodmer (1698-1783)
- Abraham Louis Breguet (1747-1823), watchmaker
- Yul Brynner (1915?-1985), actor
- Jacob Burckhardt (1818-1897), art historian
- Johann Ludwig Burckhardt (1784-1814), traveller and orientalist
- Elias Canetti (1905-1994), 1981 Nobel Prize in Literature
- Louis Chevrolet (1878-1941), automobile engineer
- Étienne Clavière (1735-1793)
- Benjamin Constant (1767-1830)
- Guillaume-Henri Dufour (1787-1875), General, geographer
- Marie Grossholtz (1761-1850), known as Madame Tussaud
- Henri Guisan (1874-1960), General during WWII
- Hans Herzog (1819-1894), General 1870-1871
- Irène Jacob (born 1966), actress
- Carl Gustav (C.G.) Jung (1875-1961), psychiatrist, writer, philosopher
- Johann Kaspar Lavater (1741-1801)
- Max Miedinger (1910-1980), typeface designer, inventor of Helvetica
- Claude Nicollier (born 1944), pilot, astronaut
- Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi (1746-1827), pedagogue
- Bertrand Piccard (born 1958), psychiatrist and balloonist
- Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778), philosopher, author
- Josias Simmler (1530-1576), theologian, historian
- Rudolf Steiner, (1861-1925), mystic, philosopher and educator
- Philippe Suchard (1797-1884), chocolatier
- John Sutter (1803-1880), California settler
- Caterina Valente (born 1931), singer, actress
- Ulrich Wille (1848-1925), General during WWI
See also: List of people by nationality, list of people on stamps of Switzerland
