ATHLETE

Dora Ratjen

1918 - 2008

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Heinrich Ratjen (20 November 1918 – 22 April 2008), born Dora Ratjen, was a German athlete who competed for Germany in the women's high jump at the 1936 Summer Olympics at Berlin, finishing fourth, but was later determined to be male and/or intersex. Read more on Wikipedia

Since 2007, the English Wikipedia page of Dora Ratjen has received more than 363,797 page views. His biography is available in 19 different languages on Wikipedia. Dora Ratjen is the 98th most popular athlete (down from 53rd in 2019), the 2,510th most popular biography from Germany (down from 2,017th in 2019) and the 7th most popular German Athlete.

Dora Ratjen, also known as Heinrich Ratjen, was a German athlete who is most famous for her controversial participation in the women's high jump event at the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin. Ratjen was later revealed to be a male athlete who had been forced to compete as a woman by the Nazi government in order to promote their ideology of Aryan superiority. The incident remains a notable example of the use of sports for political propaganda, and Ratjen's story is often cited as an example of the exploitation and mistreatment of athletes under totalitarian regimes.

Memorability Metrics

  • 360k

    Page Views (PV)

  • 54.91

    Historical Popularity Index (HPI)

  • 19

    Languages Editions (L)

  • 6.44

    Effective Languages (L*)

  • 1.84

    Coefficient of Variation (CV)

Among ATHLETES

Among athletes, Dora Ratjen ranks 98 out of 6,025. Before him are Armin Hary, Heather Armitage, Gustav Flatow, Elvīra Ozoliņa, Niels Holst-Sørensen, and Ralph Rose. After him are Frank Jarvis, Viktor Mamatov, Robert Hichens, John Flanagan, Inese Jaunzeme, and Theagenes of Thasos.

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Contemporaries

Among people born in 1918, Dora Ratjen ranks 117. Before him are Tāufaʻāhau Tupou IV, Robert Walker, Bobby Riggs, Raimon Panikkar, Adolfo Pedernera, and Willi Graf. After him are Ángel Labruna, Antonín Mrkos, Alejandro Agustín Lanusse, Humaira Begum, Kevin A. Lynch, and George Mosse. Among people deceased in 2008, Dora Ratjen ranks 106. Before him are Pak Song-chol, Arthur Chung, Mitch Mitchell, Albert Cossery, Vice Vukov, and Charles Tilly. After him are Suzanne Pleshette, Géza Kalocsay, Joseph Weizenbaum, Maila Nurmi, Jean-Daniel Cadinot, and Donald E. Westlake.

Others Born in 1918

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Others Deceased in 2008

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In Germany

Among people born in Germany, Dora Ratjen ranks 2,510 out of 7,253. Before him are Willi Graf (1918), Manfred Wörner (1934), Theo Albrecht (1922), Dorothea of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg (1636), Prince George William of Hanover (1915), and Louise Catherine Breslau (1856). After him are Gustave Whitehead (1874), Jürgen Sparwasser (1948), Ulrich Graf (1878), Duchess Marie Gabrielle in Bavaria (1878), Bernhard III, Duke of Saxe-Meiningen (1851), and Adolf I, Prince of Schaumburg-Lippe (1817).

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Among ATHLETES In Germany

Among athletes born in Germany, Dora Ratjen ranks 7. Before him are Marita Koch (1957), Luz Long (1913), Walter Schröder (1932), Jürgen Schult (1960), Fritz Hofmann (1871), and Armin Hary (1937). After him are Friedrich Traun (1876), Tilly Fleischer (1911), Waldemar Cierpinski (1950), Lina Radke (1903), Paula Mollenhauer (1908), and Bernhard Lehmann (1948).

German born Athletes

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