The Most Famous
LINGUISTS from Switzerland
This page contains a list of the greatest Swiss Linguists. The pantheon dataset contains 214 Linguists, 8 of which were born in Switzerland. This makes Switzerland the birth place of the 7th most number of Linguists behind France, and Denmark.
Top 8
The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the most legendary Swiss Linguists of all time. This list of famous Swiss Linguists is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography’s online popularity.
1. Ferdinand de Saussure (1857 - 1913)
With an HPI of 77.78, Ferdinand de Saussure is the most famous Swiss Linguist. His biography has been translated into 93 different languages on wikipedia.
Ferdinand de Saussure (; French: [fɛʁdinɑ̃ də sosyʁ]; 26 November 1857 – 22 February 1913) was a Swiss linguist, semiotician and philosopher. His ideas laid a foundation for many significant developments in both linguistics and semiotics in the 20th century. He is widely considered one of the founders of 20th-century linguistics and one of two major founders (together with Charles Sanders Peirce) of semiotics, or semiology, as Saussure called it.One of his translators, Roy Harris, summarized Saussure's contribution to linguistics and the study of "the whole range of human sciences. It is particularly marked in linguistics, philosophy, psychoanalysis, 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. As Leonard Bloomfield stated after reviewing the Cours: "he has given us the theoretical basis for a science of human speech".
2. Charles Bally (1865 - 1947)
With an HPI of 58.17, Charles Bally is the 2nd most famous Swiss Linguist. His biography has been translated into 22 different languages.
Charles Bally (French: [bɑji]; 4 February 1865, Geneva – 10 April 1947, Geneva) was a Swiss linguist from the Geneva School. He lived from 1865 to 1947 and was, like Ferdinand de Saussure, from Switzerland. His parents were Jean Gabriel, a teacher, and Henriette, the owner of a cloth store. Bally was married three times: first to Valentine Leirens, followed by Irma Baptistine Doutre, who was sent into a mental institution in 1915, and finally with Alice Bellicot. In addition to his edition of de Saussure's lectures, Course in General Linguistics (co-edited by Albert Sechehaye), Charles Bally also played an important role in linguistics. From 1883 to 1885 he studied classical languages and literature in Geneva. He continued his studies from 1886 to 1889 in Berlin where he was awarded a Ph.D. After his studies he worked as a private teacher for the royal family of Greece from 1889 to 1893. Bally returned to Geneva and taught at a business school from 1893 on and moved to the Progymnasium, a grammar school, from 1913 to 1939. He also worked as PD at the university from 1893 to 1913. From 1913 to 1939 he had a professorship for general linguistic and comparative Indo-European studies which he took over from Ferdinand de Saussure. Besides his works about subjecthood in the French language he also wrote about the crisis in French language and language classes. He was active in interlinguistics, serving as a consultant to the research association that presented Interlingua in 1951. Today Charles Bally is regarded as the founding-father of linguistic theories of style and much honored for his theories of phraseology. In terms of modern stylistics he dealt with the expressive function of signs.
3. Wilhelm Meyer-Lübke (1861 - 1936)
With an HPI of 54.68, Wilhelm Meyer-Lübke is the 3rd most famous Swiss Linguist. His biography has been translated into 22 different languages.
Wilhelm Meyer-Lübke (Swiss Standard German: [ˈvɪlhɛlm ˈmaɪər ˈlʏpkə]; 30 January 1861 – 4 October 1936) was a Swiss philologist of the Neogrammarian school of linguistics.
4. Albert Sechehaye (1870 - 1946)
With an HPI of 53.05, Albert Sechehaye is the 4th most famous Swiss Linguist. His biography has been translated into 16 different languages.
Albert Sechehaye (French: [se.ʃə.ɛ]; 4 July 1870, Geneva – 2 July 1946, Geneva) was a Swiss linguist. He is known for editing Ferdinand de Saussure's lectures, Course in General Linguistics.
5. Jules Gilliéron (1854 - 1926)
With an HPI of 50.82, Jules Gilliéron is the 5th most famous Swiss Linguist. His biography has been translated into 17 different languages.
Jules Gilliéron (21 December 1854 – 26 April 1926) was a Swiss-French linguist and dialectologist. From 1883 until his death, he taught dialectology at the École pratique des hautes études in Paris. In 1887, he co-founded the Revue des patois gallo-romans (Journal of Gallo-Romance dialects), which was published until 1893. His most notable work was the monumental Atlas Linguistique de la France (Linguistic Atlas of France), published between 1902 and 1910.
6. Walther von Wartburg (1888 - 1971)
With an HPI of 49.58, Walther von Wartburg is the 6th most famous Swiss Linguist. His biography has been translated into 15 different languages.
Walther von Wartburg (-Boos) (18 May 1888; Riedholz – 15 August 1971; Basel) was a Swiss philologist and lexicographer. He was the editor-in-chief of the Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch (FEW). After studying at the universities of Berne, Zurich, Florence and Paris (The Sorbonne), in 1918 he presented his doctoral thesis Zur Benennung des Schafes in den romanischen Sprachen ("Names for sheep in Romance languages"). In 1921 he became Privatdozent at Berne. He worked in the method of Lausanne, and later studied, from 1929 to 1939, at the University of Leipzig. From 1940 to 1959, he was Professor of French Philology at the University of Basle. His chief work is without a doubt the "Etymological French Dictionary" (whose original German title is Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch). Von Wartburg had honorary doctorates from the University of Lausanne and the University of Leeds. In 1963 he received the German Order of Merit for Science and the Arts. Today, a literary award, the Prix Wartburg de Littérature, is awarded each 25 April in recognition of a défenseur de la langue française, remarquable pour l'élégance de son écriture et/ou pour son anticonformisme. Il ne récompense pas nécessairement un ouvrage paru dans l'année précédente : il peut aussi marquer l'ensemble d'une œuvre ou un livre plus ancien: "Defender of the French language, remarkable for the elegance of his writing and/or for his non-conformity. It is not necessarily given for a work published in the previous year: it can also mark the completion of a work or a much older book". He was married four times, the last to the Swiss German debutante Fräulein Gisela von Richthoffen.
7. Heinrich Schmid (1921 - 1999)
With an HPI of 48.48, Heinrich Schmid is the 7th most famous Swiss Linguist. His biography has been translated into 16 different languages.
Heinrich Schmid (6 April 1921 – 23 February 1999) was a Swiss linguist and "father" of the Rhaeto-Romance Dachsprachen ("umbrella languages") Rumantsch Grischun and Ladin Dolomitan.
8. Rudolf Thurneysen (1857 - 1940)
With an HPI of 39.51, Rudolf Thurneysen is the 8th most famous Swiss Linguist. His biography has been translated into 15 different languages.
Eduard Rudolf Thurneysen (March 14, 1857 – 9 August 1940) was a Swiss linguist and Celticist.
People
Pantheon has 8 people classified as Swiss linguists born between 1854 and 1921. Of these 8, none of them are still alive today. The most famous deceased Swiss linguists include Ferdinand de Saussure, Charles Bally, and Wilhelm Meyer-Lübke. As of April 2024, 1 new Swiss linguists have been added to Pantheon including Walther von Wartburg.
Deceased Swiss Linguists
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Ferdinand de Saussure
1857 - 1913
HPI: 77.78
Charles Bally
1865 - 1947
HPI: 58.17
Wilhelm Meyer-Lübke
1861 - 1936
HPI: 54.68
Albert Sechehaye
1870 - 1946
HPI: 53.05
Jules Gilliéron
1854 - 1926
HPI: 50.82
Walther von Wartburg
1888 - 1971
HPI: 49.58
Heinrich Schmid
1921 - 1999
HPI: 48.48
Rudolf Thurneysen
1857 - 1940
HPI: 39.51
Newly Added Swiss Linguists (2024)
Go to all RankingsOverlapping Lives
Which Linguists were alive at the same time? This visualization shows the lifespans of the 8 most globally memorable Linguists since 1700.
