The Most Famous
INVENTORS from Netherlands
This page contains a list of the greatest Dutch Inventors. The pantheon dataset contains 354 Inventors, 4 of which were born in Netherlands. This makes Netherlands the birth place of the 19th most number of Inventors behind Poland and Slovakia.
Top 4
The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the most legendary Dutch Inventors of all time. This list of famous Dutch Inventors is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography’s online popularity.
1. Cornelis Drebbel (1572 - 1633)
With an HPI of 62.27, Cornelis Drebbel is the most famous Dutch Inventor. His biography has been translated into 29 different languages on wikipedia.
Cornelis Jacobszoon Drebbel (Dutch pronunciation: [kɔrˈneːlɪ ˈʃaːkɔbzoːn ˈdrɛbəl]; 1572 – 7 November 1633) was a Dutch engineer and inventor. He was the builder of the first operational submarine in 1620 and an innovator who contributed to the development of measurement and control systems, optics and chemistry.
2. Zacharias Janssen (1585 - 1635)
With an HPI of 60.45, Zacharias Janssen is the 2nd most famous Dutch Inventor. His biography has been translated into 21 different languages.
Zacharias Janssen; also Zacharias Jansen or Sacharias Jansen; 1585 – pre-1632) was a Dutch spectacle-maker who lived most of his life in Middelburg. He is associated with the invention of the first optical telescope and/or the first truly compound microscope, but these claims (made 20 years after his death) may be fabrications put forward by his son.
3. Lou Ottens (1926 - 2021)
With an HPI of 54.06, Lou Ottens is the 3rd most famous Dutch Inventor. His biography has been translated into 21 different languages.
Lodewijk Frederik Ottens (21 June 1926 – 6 March 2021) was a Dutch engineer and inventor, best known as the inventor of the cassette tape, and for his work in helping to develop the compact disc. Ottens was employed by Philips for the entirety of his career.
4. Boyan Slat (1994 - )
With an HPI of 33.52, Boyan Slat is the 4th most famous Dutch Inventor. His biography has been translated into 19 different languages.
Boyan Slat (born 27 July 1994) is a Dutch inventor and entrepreneur. A former aerospace engineering student, he is the CEO of The Ocean Cleanup.
Pantheon has 4 people classified as inventors born between 1572 and 1994. Of these 4, 1 (25.00%) of them are still alive today. The most famous living inventors include Boyan Slat. The most famous deceased inventors include Cornelis Drebbel, Zacharias Janssen, and Lou Ottens. As of April 2022, 1 new inventors have been added to Pantheon including Lou Ottens.
Living Inventors
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Cornelis Drebbel
1572 - 1633
HPI: 62.27
Zacharias Janssen
1585 - 1635
HPI: 60.45
Lou Ottens
1926 - 2021
HPI: 54.06
