List of people from Zürich

Many of notable people were either born or adopted in the Swiss city of Zürich.

Native people from Zürich

The following were born or adopted in Zürich. Some became famous after they moved away.

This is a dynamic list and may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness. You can help by expanding it with reliably sourced entries.

• Richard Avenarius (1843–1896), philosopher, died in Zürich
• Diego Benaglio (* 1983), footballer, born in Zürich
• Severin Blindenbacher (* 1983), ice hockey player, born in Zürich
• Felix Bloch (1905–1983), physicist, born in Zürich
• Alain de Botton (* 20 December 1969), philosoph
• Heinrich Bullinger (1504–1575), reformer and theologian, died in Zürich
• René Burri (9 April 1933 - 20 October 2014), photographer
• Elias Canetti (1905–1994), novelist, died in Zürich
• Gottlieb Duttweiler (15 August 1888 - 8 June 1962 in Rüschlikon), entrepreneur and politician (founder of Migros)
• Alfred Escher (1819–1882), politician, business leader and railways pioneer, born and died in Zürich
• Lydia Escher (1858–1891), daughter of Alfred Escher, patron of the arts and founder of the Gottfried Keller Stiftung
• Wilhelm Filchner (1877–1957), explorer, died in Zürich
• Peter Fischli (* 8 June 1952 in Zürich), artist, part of artistic duo Fischli and Weiss
• Robert Frank (* 9 November 1924), photographer
• Max Frisch (1911–1991), major Swiss playwright and novelist, born and died in Zürich
• Christoph Froschauer (c. 1490/1–1564), printer of the Froschauer Bible, died in Zürich
• Bruno Ganz (1941–), Swiss actor known for playing Adolf Hitler in the German film Downfall
• Patrick Geering (* 1990), ice hockey player, born in Zürich
• Ueli Gegenschatz (1971–2009), Swiss BASE jumper, died in Zürich after a failed jump from the Sunrise Tower
• Conrad Gessner (1516–1565), naturalist, born and died in Zürich
• HR Giger (* 5 February 1940 - 12 May 2014), artist, designer of the Alien aliens
• Marcel Grossmann (1878–1936), mathematician, died in Zürich
• Max Holzmann (1899–1994), cardiologist, born and died in Zürich
• Andy Hug (1964–2000), karateka and kickboxer, born in Zürich
• Otto Hunziker (1873–1959), pioneer in the international dairy industry, born in Zürich
• Philippe Jordan (*1974), current Music Director of the Opéra National de Paris, and current chief conductor of the Wiener Symphoniker (Vienna Symphony Orchestra)
• James Joyce (1882–1941), Irish novelist, died in Zürich (buried at Fluntern Cemetery in Zürich)
• Carl Jung (1875–1961), psychiatrist, lived and died in Zürich
• Raynold Kaufgetz (1797–1869), economist, born and died in Zürich
• Gottfried Keller (1819–1890), poet, born and died in Zürich
• Otto Klemperer (1885–1973), German conductor, died in Zürich (buried at Israelitischer Friedhof Oberer Friesenberg)
• Hugo Koblet (1925–1964), cycling champion, born in Zürich
• Ursula Koch (* 1941), Swiss politician
• Johann Kaspar Lavater (1741–1801), poet and physiognomist, born in Zürich
• Antonio Ligabue (1899–1965), Italian painter, born in Zürich
• Hugo Loetscher (1929–2009), writer, born and died in Zürich
• Rolf Lyssy (* 25 February 1936), movie director
• Erika Mann (9 November 1905 in München - 27 August 1969 in Zurich), German actress, cabaretist and novelist
• Thomas Mann (6 June 1875 in Lübeck - 1 August 1955 in Zurich), German novelist, exilant in Zürich during WWII
• Dieter Meier (* 1945), conceptual artist and musician with electronica group Yello, born in Zürich
• Conrad Ferdinand Meyer (1825–1898), poet, born in Zürich
• Walter Andreas Müller (* 1945), actor and comedian, born in Zürich
• Harald Naegeli (* 4 December 1939), artist, renowned as "Sprayer von Zürich"
• Ernst Nobs (14 July 1886 - 15 March 1957), trade unionist, publicist, politician, Alt-Bundesrat (former Swiss president and member of the Swiss Federal Council), Social Party
• Wolfgang Pauli (1900–1958), physicist, died in Zürich
• Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi (1746–1827), educational reformer, born in Zürich
• Theo Pinkus (21 August 1909 - 5 May 1991), bokkseller, publicist
• James Sadleir (c. 1815–1881), fugitive swindler, murdered in Zürich
• Johann Jakob Scheuchzer (1672–1733), scholar, born in Zürich
• Hanna Scheuring (1965), actress and theatre director, native in Zürich
• Roland Scholl (1865–1945), chemist, born in Zürich
• Nadja Sieger (* 1967), comedian (Ursus & Nadeschkin), born and raised in Zürich
• Johanna Spyri (1827–1901), author of Heidi, died in Zürich
• Tobias Stephan (* 1984), ice hockey player, born in Zürich
• Stefi Talman (* 1958), Swiss shoe designer, born in Zürich
• King Tribhuvan Shah (1906–1955), King of Nepal, died in Zürich
• Shefqet Vërlaci (1877–1946), 12th Prime Minister of Albanian Kingdom (1939–1943)
• Pancho Vladigerov (1899–1978), Bulgarian composer, born in Zürich
• Max Weber (2 August 1897 - 2 December 1974), trade unionist and politician, Alt-Bundesrat (former Swiss president and member of the Swiss Federal Council), Social Party
• Ernst Ulrich von Weizsäcker (* 25 June 1939 in Zurich), German politician and scientist
• Hermann Klaus Hugo Weyl (9 November 1885 – 8 December 1955), mathematician
• Heidi Wunderli-Allenspach (* 1947), Swiss biologist and first women rector of ETH Zurich
• Katharina von Zimmern (1478-1547), last abbess of the Fraumünster Abbey

Famous residents:

• Geza Anda, Swiss-Hungarian classical pianist
• Maria Becker (28 January 1920 in Berlin - 5 September 2012 in Uster), actress and director
• Sibylle Berg (* 2 June 1962 in Weimar), German novelist and essayist
• Max Bill (22 December 1908 in Winterthur - 9 December 1994 in Berlin), Swiss architect, designer and member of the Swiss National Council
• Anne-Marie Blanc (2 September 1919 in Vevey - 5 February 2009 in Zurich), Swiss actress
• Boris Blank, musician with Yello
• Georg Büchner (17 October 1813 in Goddelau - 19 February 1837 in Zurich), German revolutionary, dramatist and writer of poetry and prose, and physician
• Albert Einstein (1896–1900, 1909–1911, 1912–1914)
• Stephanie Glaser (22 February 1920 in Neuchâtel - 14 January 2011 in Zollikerberg), Swiss actress, lived in Zürich-Witikon
• Herman Greulich (9 April 1842 in Breslau - 8 November 1925 in Zurich), politician, founder of the first Social Party in Switzerland
• Franz Hohler (* 1 March 1943 in Biel), Swiss novelist, cabaretist and songwriter
• James Joyce (1915–1919)
• Udo Jürgens, German singer
• Patricia Kaas, singer
• Jonas Kaufmann, opera singer
• Erich Kleiber (1890–1956), conductor, died in Zürich
• Mark Knopfler
• Vladimir Lenin (1917)
• Moritz Leuenberger (* 21 September 1946 in Biel), Swiss politician, Alt-Bundesrat (former Swiss president and member of the Swiss Federal Council), Social Party
• Thomas Mann (1933–1942)
• Grand Duchess Marie Alexandrovna of Russia (1853–1920), Duchess of Edinburgh, died in Zürich
• Mileva Maric, Serbian mathematician and the first wife of Albert Einstein
• Alina Popa, IFBB professional bodybuilder
• Elisabeth von Rapperswil (around 1251 or 1261 – † 1309 probably in Rapperswil, Burgrecht of Zürich), last Countess of the House of Rapperswil
• Manuel Rivera-Ortiz
• Roger Sablonier (1941–2010)
• Ernst Sieber (* 24 February 1927 in Horgen), pastor, member of the Swiss National Council, works together with homeless and drug addicts
• Kurt Tucholsky (1932–1933)
• Tina Turner
• Tristan Tzara (1896–1963)
• Gregor Vogel artist (*1993)
• Richard Wagner (1849–1861)
• Urs Widmer (21 May 1938 in Basel - 2 April 2014 in Zurich), Swiss novelist

See also

• List of mayors of Zürich

External links

• Prominente Verstorbene on stadt-zuerich.ch (German)