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HISTORIAN

Johann Jakob Bachofen

1815 - 1887

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Johann Jakob Bachofen (22 December 1815 – 25 November 1887) was a Swiss antiquarian, jurist, philologist, anthropologist, and professor of Roman law at the University of Basel from 1841 to 1844. Bachofen is most often connected with his theories surrounding prehistoric matriarchy, or Das Mutterrecht, the title of his seminal 1861 book Mother Right: an investigation of the religious and juridical character of matriarchy in the Ancient World. Bachofen assembled documentation demonstrating that motherhood is the source of human society, religion, morality, and decorum. Read more on Wikipedia

Since 2007, the English Wikipedia page of Johann Jakob Bachofen has received more than 145,675 page views. His biography is available in 27 different languages on Wikipedia (up from 26 in 2019). Johann Jakob Bachofen is the 71st most popular historian (down from 66th in 2019), the 88th most popular biography from Switzerland (down from 81st in 2019) and the 3rd most popular Swiss Historian.

Johann Jakob Bachofen is most famous for his book "Das Mutterrecht" which was published in 1861. He argued that archaic societies were matriarchal and that the shift to patriarchy was a result of the introduction of agriculture.

Memorability Metrics

  • 150k

    Page Views (PV)

  • 61.89

    Historical Popularity Index (HPI)

  • 27

    Languages Editions (L)

  • 9.28

    Effective Languages (L*)

  • 1.71

    Coefficient of Variation (CV)

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Among HISTORIANS

Among historians, Johann Jakob Bachofen ranks 71 out of 339Before him are Heinrich Wölfflin, Henri Pirenne, Bernard Lewis, Theophylact Simocatta, Al-Baladhuri, and Nicolaus of Damascus. After him are Joannes Zonaras, Al-Dhahabi, Movses Khorenatsi, Erich Auerbach, Carlo Ginzburg, and Eutropius.

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Contemporaries

Among people born in 1815, Johann Jakob Bachofen ranks 9Before him are George Boole, Ada Lovelace, Karl Weierstrass, Otto of Greece, Adolph Menzel, and Thomas Couture. After him are Louis-Jules Trochu, Julia Margaret Cameron, Ildefons Cerdà, Ľudovít Štúr, Ernest Meissonier, and Josip Juraj Strossmayer. Among people deceased in 1887, Johann Jakob Bachofen ranks 9Before him are Gustav Fechner, Jenny Lind, Eugène Edine Pottier, Aleksandr Ulyanov, Ivan Kramskoi, and Multatuli. After him are Alfred Krupp, Juan, Count of Montizón, Jules Laforgue, Doc Holliday, Friedrich von Amerling, and Carolyne zu Sayn-Wittgenstein.

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Others Deceased in 1887

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In Switzerland

Among people born in Switzerland, Johann Jakob Bachofen ranks 88 out of 876Before him are Humbert I, Count of Savoy (980), Werner Arber (1929), Jean Tinguely (1925), Louis, Duke of Savoy (1413), Abraham-Louis Breguet (1747), and Brother Roger (1915). After him are Kurt Wüthrich (1938), Rudolf II, Duke of Austria (1270), Albrecht von Haller (1708), Alfred Cortot (1877), Jakob Steiner (1796), and Bernardino Luini (1475).

Among HISTORIANS In Switzerland

Among historians born in Switzerland, Johann Jakob Bachofen ranks 3Before him are Jacob Burckhardt (1818) and Heinrich Wölfflin (1864). After him are Florian Cajori (1859).