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 for Roman law at the University of Basel from 1841 to 1845. 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 109,714 page views. His biography is available in 26 different languages on Wikipedia (up from 25 in 2019). Johann Jakob Bachofen is the 66th most popular historian (down from 63rd in 2019), the 81st most popular biography from Switzerland (up from 84th 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

  • 110k

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  • 70.94

    Historical Popularity Index (HPI)

  • 26

    Languages Editions (L)

  • 8.78

    Effective Languages (L*)

  • 1.66

    Coefficient of Variation (CV)

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Among HISTORIANS

Among historians, Johann Jakob Bachofen ranks 66 out of 341. Before him are Theopompus, Theophylact Simocatta, Bernard Lewis, Francesco Guicciardini, Movses Khorenatsi, and Quintus Curtius Rufus. After him are Nicolaus of Damascus, Gaston Maspero, Geoffrey of Villehardouin, Al-Baladhuri, Erich Auerbach, and Carlo Ginzburg.

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Contemporaries

Among people born in 1815, Johann Jakob Bachofen ranks 8. Before him are John Bosco, Ada Lovelace, George Boole, Karl Weierstrass, Otto of Greece, and Adolph Menzel. After him are Thomas Couture, Ildefons Cerdà, Louis-Jules Trochu, Julia Margaret Cameron, Ľudovít Štúr, and Lorenz von Stein. Among people deceased in 1887, Johann Jakob Bachofen ranks 9. Before him are Gustav Fechner, Jenny Lind, Eugène Edine Pottier, Multatuli, Aleksandr Ulyanov, and Ivan Kramskoi. After him are Juan, Count of Montizón, Doc Holliday, Carolyne zu Sayn-Wittgenstein, Jules Laforgue, Friedrich von Amerling, and Jean-Baptiste Boussingault.

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Others Deceased in 1887

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In Switzerland

Among people born in Switzerland, Johann Jakob Bachofen ranks 81 out of 749. Before him are Roger Federer (1981), Johann Ludwig Burckhardt (1784), Brother Roger (1915), Augustin Pyramus de Candolle (1778), Daniel Bovet (1907), and Félix Vallotton (1865). After him are Jost Bürgi (1552), Albrecht von Haller (1708), Alfred Cortot (1877), Mario Botta (1943), Jean Tinguely (1925), and Rudolf II, Duke of Austria (1270).

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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

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