HISTORIAN

Johann Jakob Bachofen

1815 - 1887

Photo of Johann Jakob Bachofen

Icon of person Johann Jakob Bachofen

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 154,101 page views. His biography is available in 29 different languages on Wikipedia (up from 27 in 2019). Johann Jakob Bachofen is the 69th most popular historian (up from 71st in 2019), the 86th most popular biography from Switzerland (up from 88th 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)

  • 62.98

    Historical Popularity Index (HPI)

  • 29

    Languages Editions (L)

  • 9.68

    Effective Languages (L*)

  • 1.77

    Coefficient of Variation (CV)

Among HISTORIANS

Among historians, Johann Jakob Bachofen ranks 69 out of 561. Before him are Poggio Bracciolini, Al-Baladhuri, Theopompus, Heinrich Wölfflin, Gaston Maspero, and Benzion Netanyahu. After him are Bernard Lewis, Al-Dhahabi, Emmanuel Le Roy Ladurie, Joannes Zonaras, Movses Khorenatsi, and Justin.

Most Popular Historians in Wikipedia

Go to all Rankings
Load previousLoad previous

Contemporaries

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

Others Born in 1815

Go to all Rankings
Load previousLoad previous

Others Deceased in 1887

Go to all Rankings
Load previousLoad previous

In Switzerland

Among people born in Switzerland, Johann Jakob Bachofen ranks 86 out of 1,015. Before him are Félix Vallotton (1865), Kurt Wüthrich (1938), Max Frisch (1911), Heinrich Wölfflin (1864), Alfred Cortot (1877), and Humbert I, Count of Savoy (980). After him are Roger Federer (1981), Mario Botta (1943), Jean Tinguely (1925), Gianni Infantino (1970), Johann Kaspar Lavater (1741), and François Vatel (1631).

Others born in Switzerland

Go to all Rankings
Load previousLoad previous

Among HISTORIANS In Switzerland

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

Swiss born Historians

Go to all Rankings
Load previousLoad previous