- Roger Federer
Roger Federer (born August 8, 1981) is a Swiss tennis professional, currently ranked World No. 1. Many experts and many of his own tennis peers believe Federer may be the best player in the history of the game. Federer has won eleven Grand Slam men's singles titles in 33 appearances (all eleven coming in a record 17 consecutive appearances), three Tennis Masters Cup titles, and 13 ATP Masters Series titles.
- Jamy Ian Swiss
Jamy Ian Swiss is an American close-up magician. Working primarily with cards, he is a highly praised prestidigitator.
- Alain Delon
Alain Delon is a French actor, one of the best known outside his native country. Delon’s star rose quickly, and by the age of twenty-three he was garnering comparisons to French screen legends such as Gérard Philipe and Jean Marais, as well as American actor James Dean. He was even called the male Brigitte Bardot. Not wanting to fall back on his looks, Delon tried to take roles that presented him with more of a challenge.
- Stanislas Wawrinka
Stanislas Wawrinka (born March 28, 1985 in Lausanne) is a Swiss male tennis player. As of April 2007, he is one of two Swiss players in the ATP top 40 (the other being Roger Federer). The surname Wawrinka is of Polish decent but Stanislas is only Polish by ancestry. His nickname is 'Stan'. His father Wolfram is German, and his mother Isabelle is Swiss. Both work on a biological farm helping handicapped people. Wawrinka's grandparents are Czech.
- Martina Hingis
Martina Hingis (born September 30, 1980 in Košice, Czechoslovakia, now Slovakia) is a former World No. 1 Swiss tennis player. Known as the "Swiss Miss", she has won five Grand Slam singles titles (three Australian Open, one Wimbledon, and one US Open). She has also won nine Grand Slam women's doubles titles, winning a calendar year Grand Slam in 1998, and one Grand Slam mixed doubles title. She spent a total of 209 weeks as World No.
- Patty Schnyder
Patty Schnyder (born December 14 1978, Basel, Switzerland) is one of the most popular players in women's professional tennis. She has been playing on the WTA tour since the mid-1990s and is a former World "No.7". She has had significant wins over World No. 1's. During her long career, she has reached four Grand Slam quarterfinals, and one Grand Slam semifinal.
- Micheline Calmy-Rey
Micheline Calmy-Rey (born July 8, 1945) is a Swiss politician, member of the Swiss Federal Council since 2003. She is head of the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (the Swiss foreign minister) and President of the Confederation for 2007.
- Le Corbusier
Charles-Edouard Jeanneret, who chose to be known as Le Corbusier, was a Swiss and later French, (Swiss-born) architect and writer, who is famous for his contributions to what now is called Modern Architecture. He was a pioneer in theoretical studies of modern design and was dedicated to providing better living conditions for the residents of crowded cities. His career spanned five decades, with his iconic buildings constructed throughout central Europe, …
- Paul Klee
Paul Klee (December 18, 1879 to June 29, 1940) was a Swiss painter of German nationality. He was influenced by many different art styles in his work, including expressionism, cubism, and surrealism. He and his friend, the Russian painter Wassily Kandinsky, were also famous for teaching at the Bauhaus school of art and architecture.
- Doris Leuthard
Doris Leuthard is a Swiss politician and lawyer. Since 1 August 2006, she has been a member of the Swiss Federal Council and head of the Federal Department of Economic Affairs. Previously, she was a member of the Swiss National Council (1999–2006) and President of the Christian Democratic People's Party (CVP/PDC) (2004–2006). Following the resignation of Joseph Deiss from the Swiss Federal Council, Leuthard was elected as his successor on 14 June, 2006.
- Caran D'Ache
Caran d'Ache was the pseudonym of the 19th century French satiric and political cartoonist Emmanuel Poiré. "Caran d'Ache" comes from the Russian word "karandash" (карандаш), meaning lead-pencil (of Turkic origin; "kara dash" meaning black stone). The Swiss art products company Caran d'Ache is named after him. While his first work glorified the Napoleonic era, …
- Pascal Couchepin
Pascal Couchepin (born April 5, 1942) is a Swiss politician who has been a member of the Swiss Federal Council since 1998. He was elected to the Swiss Federal Council on March 11, 1998 as a member of the Free Democratic Party (FDP/PRD) and French speaking Valais. During his office time he has held the following departments: *Federal Department of Economic Affairs (1998 - 2002) *Federal Department of Home Affairs (Swiss interior minister, …
- Paul Scherrer
Paul Scherrer was a Swiss physicist. He was born in Herisau, Switzerland. He studied at Göttingen, Germany, before becoming a lecturer there. Later, Scherrer became head of the Department of Physics at ETH Zurich.
- Sepp Blatter
Joseph "Sepp" Blatter is the 8th and current president of FIFA. He was elected on June 8, 1998, succeeding Dr. João Havelange (Brazil).
- Carl Jung
Carl Gustav Jung (July 26, 1875, Kesswil – June 6, 1961, Küsnacht) was a Swiss psychiatrist, influential thinker, and founder of analytical psychology. Jung's unique and broadly influential approach to psychology has emphasized understanding the psyche through exploring the worlds of dreams, art, mythology, world religion and philosophy. Although he was a theoretical psychologist and practicing clinician for most of his life, …
- Max Bill
Swiss artist, architect, designer, typographer, and theorist Max Bill (1908-94) was one of the most important exponents of concrete and constructive art and a key figure in European applied arts and design history. Educated by such prominent teachers as Paul Klee , Wassily Kandisky, and Walter Gropius at the Bauhaus, at the start of his career in the 1930s.
- Fabian Cancellara
Fabian Cancellara (born March 18, 1981) is a Swiss Italian professional road bicycle racer. A time trial specialist, he is the current World Time Trial Champion. In 2006 he also became the only second Swiss winner of the Classic one-day race Paris-Roubaix, following Heiri Suter in 1923.
- Moritz Leuenberger
Moritz Leuenberger is a Swiss politician, lawyer, member of the Swiss Federal Council since 1995 and President of the Confederation for the years 2001 and 2006. Leuenberger was elected to the Federal Council on September 27, 1995 as a member of the Social Democratic Party (SPS/PSS) from the Canton of Zürich. From 1991 to 1995, he was a member of the government of the Canton of Zurich. Since 1995, Leuenberger has headed the Federal Department of Environment, Transport, …
- Christoph Blocher
Christoph Blocher is a conservative Swiss politician, industrialist and member of the Swiss Federal Council. As head of the Federal Department of Justice and Police, he is the Swiss minister of justice. He was born in Schaffhausen and has a doctorate in jurisprudence. He is married to Silvia Blocher ("née" Kaiser) with three daughters and a son. As an industrialist, he made a fortune in the chemical industry with the EMS-Chemie corporation.
- Jean-Jacques Rousseau
Jean-Jacques Rousseau, (June 28, 1712 - July 2, 1778) was a Genevan philosopher of the Enlightenment whose political ideas influenced the French Revolution, the development of socialist theory, and the growth of nationalism. Rousseau also made important contributions to music both as a theorist and as a composer.
- Valon Behrami
Valon Behrami (born 19 April 1985 in Kosovska Mitrovica, Kosovo, Serbia, SFR Yugoslavia) is a Swiss midfielder currently playing professional football for S.S. Lazio of Italian Serie A. Born in Kosovo to Albanian parents, Behrami moved to Stabio, a village in the Italian-speaking part of Switzerland, due to war when he was only a child, and he then obtained the Swiss nationality. Behrami started playing football in Swiss sides FC Stabio, FC Chiasso and FC Lugano.
- Paracelsus
Paracelsus (11 November or 17 December 1493 in Einsiedeln, Switzerland - 24 September 1541) was an alchemist, physician, astrologer, and general occultist. Born Phillip von Hohenheim, he later took up the name Philippus Theophrastus Aureolus Bombastus von Hohenheim, and still later took the title Paracelsus, meaning "equal to or greater than Celsus", a Roman encyclopedist from the first century known for his tract on medicine.
- Alberto Giacometti
Alberto Giacometti was a Swiss sculptor, painter, draftsman and printmaker.
- Ernesto Bertarelli
Ernesto Bertarelli (born 22 September 1965) is a Swiss / Italian businessman and yachtsman. Born in Rome, Bertarelli was CEO and Deputy Chairman of Serono, a Swiss biotechnology company he inherited from his father. Serono was sold to Merck KGaA of Germany in September 2006 for US$13.3 billion, forming a new company Merck-Serono. His personal wealth was estimated by Forbes' List of billionaires (2007) at US$8.8 billion.
- Dj Bobo
René Baumann better known as DJ BoBo, is a successful Swiss singer, songwriter, dancer and music producer.
- Tariq Ramadan
Tariq Said Ramadan (born 26 August 1962 in Geneva, Switzerland) is a Swiss Muslim academic and theologian. He advocates a reinterpretation of Islamic texts, and emphasizes the heterogeneous nature of Islamic society. He believes that Muslims in Europe have to establish a new "European Islam" (see also Euroislam) and emphasizes the necessity for their engagement in European society.
- Marcel Ospel
Marcel Ospel (born August 2, 1950 in Basel) is the Chairman of the Board of Directors of UBS AG, the largest bank in Switzerland. Marcel Ospel had an income in 2005 of around 24 million CHF.
- Paul Martin
Paul Martin (born August 11, 1901 - died April 28, 1987) was a Swiss athlete who competed mainly in the 800 metres. He competed for Switzerland in the 1924 Summer Olympics held in Paris, France in the 800 metres where he won the silver medal.
- Albert Hofmann
Albert Hofmann (January 11, 1906 – April 29, 2008) was a Swiss scientist best known for synthesizing Lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD). Hofmann authored more than 100 scientific articles and wrote a number of books, including LSD: My Problem Child.
- Judith Leiber
Judith Leiber (born Judith Peto in 1921 in Budapest, Hungary) is a world-renowned designer of haute couture handbags. Judith Peto was the first woman to join the handbag-makers guild in Budapest. A Jew, she escaped the Holocaust of World War II to the safety of the Swiss house when her father was able to obtain a Swiss schutzpass, a document that gave the bearer safe passage(this pass is on view at the Holocaust Museum in Washington DC).
- Alexander Frei
Alexander Frei (born July 15, 1979 in Basel) is a Swiss footballer. He signed a 4-year contract with Borussia Dortmund on June, 29th. Dortmund paid a transfer fee of approximately 5 million euros for him. He played for Switzerland at Euro 2004 and at the FIFA World Cup 2006 in Germany. Until now he has been capped 54 times for his country (as of September 2006). Frei is only 3 goals short from being Switzerland's all time top scorer.
- Philippe Senderos
Philippe Sylvain Senderos (born February 14, 1985 in Geneva) is a Swiss football player of Serbian and Spanish descent who currently plays for Arsenal of the English Premier League as a defender.
- Mario Botta
Mario Botta (born April 1, 1943) is a famous modern architect born in Mendrisio, Ticino canton, Switzerland. He designed his first house at age 16, although no-one mentions if it was built, and studied at the Liceo Artistico in Milan and the Istituto Universitario di Architettura in Venice. His ideas were influenced by Le Corbusier, Carlo Scarpa, Louis Kahn. He opened his own practice in 1970 in Lugano. He designed his first buildings at age 16, …
- Black Tiger
Black Tiger, born Urs Baur, is the first rapper to rap in a Swiss German dialect, namely Basel German. Those now legendary rhymes appeared on the track "Murder by Dialect" (1991), by P27 featuring Black Tiger. Later, Black Tiger recorded an album with MC Rony and established the group Skeltigeron with Skelt from P27 and MC Rony.
- Tranquillo Barnetta
Tranquillo Barnetta (born 22 May 1985 in St. Gallen) is a Swiss football player who currently plays as a midfielder for Bayer Leverkusen. His father and mother are Italian but he grew up near by St. Gallen, Switzerland and has played since 21 for the Swiss national team. Barnetta started his career with FC St. Gallen in Switzerland, but he was soon snapped up by the German side Leverkusen. He has also enjoyed a loan spell at Hannover 96.
- Jean Piaget
Jean Piaget (August 9, 1896 - September 16, 1980) was a Swiss philosopher, natural scientist and developmental psychologist, well known for his work studying children and his theory of cognitive development. According to Ernst von Glasersfeld, Jean Piaget is also "the great pioneer of the constructivist theory of knowing"
- Philipp Degen
Philipp Degen (born 15 February 1983) is a Swiss national currently playing football for the German Borussia Dortmund team.
- H. R. Giger
Hans Ruedi Giger (born at Chur, Grisons canton, February 5, 1940) is an Academy Award-winning Swiss painter, sculptor, and set designer best known for his design work on the film "Alien".
- Yves Rossy
Yves Rossy (born August 27, 1959) is a Swiss pilot, inventor and aviation enthusiast. He invented and is the first person to have flown a jet engine-powered wing strapped to his back. While work with jet packs to propel humans dates back as far as World War II, his is the first contraption to also have wings. Yves has served as a fighter pilot in the Swiss Air Force flying Dassault Mirage IIIs, Northrop F-5 Tiger IIs and Hawker Hunters.
- Dick Marty
Dick Marty (born January 7 1945 in Sorengo) is a Swiss politician (Free Democratic Party) and former state prosecutor of the canton of Ticino. He is member of the Swiss Council of States (since 1995), and a member of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe. He is the Chairperson of its Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights.