This is a list of people associated with the modern Switzerland and the Old Swiss Confederacy. Regardless of ethnicity or emigration, the list includes notable natives of Switzerland and its predecessor states as well as people who were born elsewhere but spent most of their active life in Switzerland. For more information see the articles Swiss people and Demographics of Switzerland.
Archaeology
Eric Breuer, archaeologist Ferdinand Keller (1800–1881), archaeologist Heinrich Menu von Minutoli (1772–1846), archaeologist
Jean-Marc Moret (born 1942), archaeologist and art historian Fritz Puempin (1901–1972), archeologist and painter Karl Schefold (1905–1999), classical archaeologist
Architecture
Actors
Pasquale Aleardi (born 1971), actor and musician Lukas Ammann (1928–2017), actor Ursula Andress (born 1936), actress Peter Arens (1928–2015), actor and stage director Joel Basman (born 1990), actor Giuseppe Bausilio (born 1997), actor, dancer and singer Jean-Luc Bideau (born 1940), comedian Anne-Marie Blanc (1919–2009), actress Ursula Cantieni (1947–2023), actress Ettore Cella (1913–2004), actor and director Dimitri (1935–2016), clown Annemarie Düringer (1925–2014), film, television and stage actress Bruno Ganz (1941–2019), actor Kat Graham (born 1989), actress, singer, model Viktor Giacobbo (born 1952), actor and comedian Mathias Gnädinger (1941–2015), actor Curt Goetz (1888–1960), actor and film director Heinrich Gretler (1897–1977), actor Grock (1880–1959), clown Gardi Hutter (born 1953), clown, entertainer and actress Rebecca Indermaur (born 1976), actress Irène Jacob (born 1966), actress Roger Jendly (born 1938), actor
Carla Juri (born 1985), actress Marthe Keller (born 1945), actress and opera director Christian Kohlund (born 1950), actor Mathis Künzler (born 1978), film, television and stage actor Stefan Kurt (born 1959), actor Ursina Lardi (born 1970), actress Max Loong (born 1980), actor and producer Walo Lüönd (1927–2012), actor Andreas Matti (born 1959), actor Ursela Monn (born 1950), actress and singer Vincent Perez (born 1964), actor and director Liselotte Pulver (born 1929), actress Alfred Rasser (1907–1977), actor and comedian Maximilian Schell (1930–2014), actor and producer Hannes Schmidhauser (1926–2000), actor, screenwriter and film director Michel Simon (1895–1975), actor and comedian Emil Steinberger (born 1933), comedian Sigfrit Steiner (1906–1988), actor Sabine Timoteo (born 1975), actress Renée Weibel (born 1989), actor Roeland Wiesnekker (born 1967), actor
Art
Arthur Aesbacher (1923–2020), poster artist Jacques-Laurent Agasse (1767–1849), painter Cuno Peter Amiet (1868–1961) Thomas Ammann (1950–1993), art dealer and collector Albert Anker (1831–1910) Jean Arcelin (born 1962), painter Jean Arp (1886–1966), sculptor, painter and poet René Auberjonois (1872–1957), painter John Bernhard (born 1957), photographer Klaus Bietenholz (1924–2015), cubist painter François Bocion (1828–1890), painter Arnold Böcklin (1827–1901), painter Karl Bodmer (1809–1893), painter of the American West Ferdinand Brader (1833–1901), folk art sketch artist of rural farm life in USA Mark Staff Brandl (born 1955), painter, installation artist, and critic Sonam Dolma Brauen (born 1953), Swiss-Tibetan sculptor and painter Frank Buchser (1828–1890), painter Alexandre Calame (1810–1864), painter Eugène Cattin (1866–1947), photographer Jean Crotti (1878–1958), painter Adèle d'Affry (1836–1879), artist and sculptor Jean Dunand (1877–1942), decorative artist, sculptor Carl Durheim (1810–1890), lithographer and photographer Hans Erni (1909–2015) Fischli & Weiss (born 1946 & 1952), artist duo Adrian Frutiger (1928–2015), typeface designer Henry Fuseli (Johann Heinrich Füssli) (1741–1825), painter Johann Caspar Füssli (1706–1782), portrait painter Johann Kaspar Füssli (1743–1786), entomologist Karl Gerstner (1930–2017), graphic designer and painter Salomon Gessner (1730–1788) Alberto Giacometti (1901–1966), sculptor, painter H. R. Giger (1940–2014), illustrator Anton Graff (1736–1813), painter Eugène Grasset (1845–1917), decorative artist Willi Gutmann (1927–2013), sculptor Stefan Haenni (born 1958), painter Peter Hartmann (1921–2007), sculptor Andreas Heusser (1976), conceptual artist and curator Ferdinand Hodler (1853–1918), painter
Max Huber (1919–1992), graphic designer Anna Indermaur (1894–1980), painter and sculptor Robert Indermaur (born 1947), painter and sculptor Angelica Kauffman (1741–1807), painter Jorg Khun (1940–1964), wildlife artist and illustrator Paul Klee (1879–1940), painter Rudolf Koller (1828–1905), painter Josef Benedikt Kuriger (1754–1819), sculptor Rosa Lachenmeier (born 1959), contemporary artist Catherine Leutenegger (born 1983), visual artist Albert "Lindi" Lindegger (1904–1991), illustrator and painter Rochus Lussi (born 1965), artist Niklaus Manuel (1484–1530), painter Auguste de Niederhausern-Rodo (1863–1913), sculptor Sibylle Pasche (born 1976), sculptor Roger Pfund (1943-2024), painter, graphic designer James Pradier (1790–1852), sculptor Marc Raymond (born 1968), sculptor Joseph Reinhart (1749–1824), painter Oskar Reinhart (1885–1965), collector Iris von Roten-Meyer (1917–1990), lawyer and artist
Jacques Sablet (1749–1803), painter Niki de Saint Phalle (1930–2002), sculptor, became Swiss in 1971 Albin Schweri (1885–1946), painter, glass painter Peter Schweri (1939–2016), painter, illustrator Nadja Sieger (born 1968), comedian, actress, jazz-vocalist, known as Nadeschkin Gerold Späth (born 1939), Swiss poet and writer Théophile Steinlen (1859–1923), painter and printmaker Harald Szeemann (1933–2005), curator Sophie Taeuber-Arp (1889–1943), painter, sculptor Myriam Thyes (born 1963), new media artist Jean Tinguely (1925–1991), kinetic artist Rodolphe Toepffer (1799–1846) Félix Vallotton (1865–1925), painter Isabelle Waldberg (1911–1990), sculptor Ricco Wassmer (1915–1972), painter Marianne von Werefkin (1860–1938), painter
Aviation
Oskar Bider (1891–1919), aviation pioneer Alfred Comte (1895–1965), pilot, co-director Ad Astra Aero, engineer Raphaël Domjan (born 1972), explorer, founder and pilot of SolarStratos Armand Dufaux (1883–1941) Henri Dufaux (1879–1980) Ernest Failloubaz (1892–1919), pilot, instructor, Swiss pilot's brevet number 1 René Grandjean (1884–1963), pilot, engineer Else Haugk (1889–1973), first Swiss woman to earn a pilot's licence in May 1914 Walter Mittelholzer (1894–1937), pilot, director of Ad Astra Aero, Swissair
Claude Nicollier (born 1944), pilot, astronaut Bertrand Piccard (born 1958), psychiatrist, balloonist, founder and pilot of Solar Impulse Yves Rossy (born 1959), pilot, "jet-man" Eduard Spelterini (1852–1931), balloonist Emile Taddéoli (1879–1920), pilot, Swiss pilot's brevet number 2, chief pilot on seaplanes Ad Astra Aero
Business
Daniel Aegerter (born 1969), investor and entrepreneur Carl Franz Bally (1821–1899), founder of the Bally Shoe company Ernesto Bertarelli (born 1965), entrepreneur, founder of Team Alinghi Daniel Borel (born 1950), founder of Logitech Abraham-Louis Breguet (1747–1823), watchmaker François-Louis Cailler (1796–1852), chocolatier Arthur Chevrolet (1884–1946), automobile engineer, race car driver, entrepreneur Louis Chevrolet (1878–1941), automobile engineer, race car driver, founder of Chevrolet Claudio Cisullo (born 1964), entrepreneur Raphael H. Cohen (born 1953), serial entrepreneur and business angel Yomi Denzel (born 1996), entrepreneur and YouTuber Rolf Dobelli (born 1966), entrepreneur, author and founder of the World Minds foundation Gottlieb Duttweiler (1888–1962), entrepreneur, founder of Migros Alfred Escher (1819–1882), statesman, businessman and railway constructor Hans Conrad Escher von der Linth (1767–1823), architect of the Lint melioration Marc Faber (born 1946), investment analyst and entrepreneur Louis Favre (1826–1879), engineer of the Gotthard tunnel
Elsa Gasser (1896–1967), economist, business executive Nessim Gaon (1922–2022), financier, founder of the Noga company Adolf Guyer-Zeller (1839–1899), railway entrepreneur Nicolas Hayek (1928–2010), entrepreneur, chairman, Swatch Group
Pierre Hemmer (1950–2013), one of the Internet pioneers in Switzerland Baron Jean-Conrad Hottinguer (1764–1841), banker Henri Nestlé (1814–1890), founder of Nestlé S.A. Daniel Peter (1836–1919), inventor of milk chocolate Georges Edouard Piaget (1855–1931), watchmaker Beat Fischer von Reichenbach (1641–1698), held postal monopoly in Bern Werner Reinhart (1884–1951), industrialist, philanthropist, music and literature patron Tibor Rosenbaum (1923–1980), businessman Guy Spier (born 1966), investor, author Philippe Suchard (1797–1884), chocolatier Ernst Thomke (born 1939) in Biel/Bienne, turnaround manager, e.g. Swatch Daniel Vasella (born 1953), chairman of Swiss pharmaceutical company Novartis AG Reto Wittwer, hotelier, former hotel president and CEO Martin Schlegel (born 1976), economist, chairman of the Swiss National Bank
Dancers
Giuseppe Bausilio (born 1997), performs on Broadway in the titular role in the Tony Award-winning musical Billy Elliot Flore Revalles (1889–1966), principal dancer with Ballets Russes c. 1915–1918
Filmmakers
Arthur Cohn (1927-2025), film producer, received six Oscars Marc Forster (born 1969), film director, Monster's Ball, Finding Neverland, and the James Bond movie Quantum of Solace Jean-Luc Godard (1930–2022), director, screenwriter and critic Claude Goretta (1929–2019), director Moritz de Hadeln (born 1940), director, film festival director
Markus Imhoof (born 1941), director Xavier Koller (born 1944), director Juerg Neuenschwander (born 1953), director Daniel Schmid (1941–2006), director Alain Tanner (1929–2022), director Ruth Waldburger (born 1951), producer
Mathematics
Paul Bernays (1888–1977), made significant contributions to mathematical logic, axiomatic set theory, and the philosophy of mathematics Daniel Bernoulli (1700–1782), mathematician and physicist Jakob Bernoulli (1654–1705), Swiss mathematician Johann Bernoulli (1667–1748), Swiss mathematician Daniel Bleichenbacher (born 1964), mathematician and cryptographer Armand Borel (1923–2003), mathematician
Leonhard Euler (1707–1783), mathematician and geometer Hugo Hadwiger (1908–1981), mathematician Marius Lacombe (1862-1938), mathematician Edward Kofler (1911–2007), mathematician Konrad Osterwalder (born 1942), mathematician and physicist Michel Plancherel (1885–1967), mathematician Georges de Rham (1903–1990), mathematician Ludwig Schläfli (1814–1895), mathematician Jakob Steiner (1796–1863), mathematician and physicist Ernst Specker (1920–2011), mathematician Eduard Stiefel (1909–1978), mathematician
Military
Pierre Victor Besenval de Bronstatt (1721–1791) Guillaume-Henri Dufour (1787–1875), General, geographer Henri Guisan (1874–1960), General during World War II Hans Herzog (1819–1894), General 1870–1871 Antoine-Henri Jomini (1779–1869), General, military writer
Christophe Keckeis (born 1945), Chief of the Armed Forces (2004–2007) Elmar Mäder, commander of the Swiss Guard (2002–) Pius Segmüller (born 1952), commander of the Swiss Guard (1998–2002) Theophil Sprecher von Bernegg (1850–1927) Ulrich Wille (1848–1925), General during World War I
Music
Mia Aegerter (born 1976), pop musician Martin Eric Ain (born 1967), Celtic Frost bassist Ernest Ansermet (1883–1969), conductor Lys Assia (1924–2018), singer Chiara Banchini (born 1946), violinist, conductor Manon Bannerman (born 2002), singer, model, member of Katseye Rene Baumann (born 1968), musician, dancer, known as DJ Bobo Bertrand Bitz (born 1978), singer and songwriter Daniel Boemle (1960–2007), DJ and radio personality Urs Bühler (born 1971), tenor, member of Il Divo Dominik Burkhalter (born 1975), bandleader, composer, drummer Caroline Charrière (1960–2018), composer, flautist, choir director, educator Michel Corboz (1934–2021), conductor