List of people from Zurich

Many notable people were either born or adopted in the Swiss city of Zürich.

The following were born or adopted in Zürich.

• Jost Amman (1539–1591), Swiss-German artist
• Hans Asper (c. 1499–1571), Swiss painter
• Richard Avenarius (1843–1896), German-Swiss philosopher
• Hans J. Baer (1927–2011), Swiss banker
• Johann Georg Baiter (1801–1877), Swiss philologist and textual critic
• Daniel Barben (born 1961), Swiss professor
• Gianna Berger (born 1999), Swiss politician
• Denise Biellmann (born 1962), Swiss professional figure skater
• Diego Benaglio (born 1983), Swiss footballer
• Severin Blindenbacher (born 1983), Swiss ice hockey player
• Felix Bloch (1905–1983), Swiss-American physicist
• Johann Jakob Bodmer (1698–1783), Swiss author, academic and poet
• Rosa Bloch-Bollag (1880–1922), Swiss politician and activist
• Johann Kaspar Bluntschli (1808–1881), Swiss jurist and politician
• Alain de Botton (born 1969), Swiss-born British author and public speaker
• Heinrich Bullinger (1504–1575), Swiss reformer and theologian
• René Burri (1933–2014), Swiss photographer
• Monika Dettwiler (born 1948), Swiss-Italian journalist and author
• Gottlieb Duttweiler (1888–1962), Swiss businessman and politician
• Ulla Dydo (1925–2017), Swiss writer

• Jeanne Eder-Schwyzer (1894–1957), Swiss women's rights activist
• Nico Elvedi (born 1996), Swiss footballer
• Alfred Escher (1819–1882), Swiss politician, business leader and railways pioneer
• Lydia Escher (1858–1891), Swiss patron of the arts
• Arnold Escher von der Linth (1807–1872), Swiss geologist
• Mario Fehr (born 1958), politician
• Peter Fischli (born 1952), Swiss artist
• Robert Frank (1924–2019), Swiss American photographer and documentary filmmaker
• Max Frisch (1911–1991), Swiss playwright and novelist
• Christoph Froschauer (c. 1490–1564), Swiss printer
• Henry Fuseli (1741–1825), Swiss painter, draughtsman and writer on art
• Daniel Garbade (born 1957), Swiss Spanish artist
• Bruno Ganz (1941–2019), Swiss actor
• Ueli Gegenschatz (1971–2009), Swiss BASE jumper, paraglider and skydiver
• Conrad Gessner (1516–1565), Swiss physician, naturalist, bibliographer, and philologist
• HR Giger (1940–2014), Swiss artist
• Marcel Grossmann (1878–1936), Swiss mathematician

• Markus Hediger (born 1959), Swiss writer and translator
• Albert Heim (1849–1937), Swiss geologist
• Max Holzmann (1899–1994), Swiss cardiologist
• Johann Heinrich Hottinger (1620–1667), Swiss philologist and theologian
• Andy Hug (1964–2000), Swiss karateka and kickboxer
• Christine Hug (1980–2023), Swiss military officer
• Tina Hausmann (born 2006), Swiss racing driver
• Otto Frederick Hunziker (1873–1959), Swiss American dairy educator
• Hans-Ulrich Indermaur (born 1939), Swiss magazine editor, television reporter and author
• Philippe Jordan (born 1974), Swiss conductor and pianist
• Leo Jud (1482–1542), Swiss reformer
• Carl Jung (1875–1961), Swiss psychiatrist, psychotherapist and psychologist
• Gottfried Keller (1819–1890), Swiss poet
• Hugo Koblet (1925–1964), Swiss cyclist
• Ursula Koch (born 1941), Swiss politician
• Albert von Kölliker (1817–1905), Swiss anatomist, physiologist and histologist
• Ernesto Korrodi (1870–1944), Swiss-born Portuguese architect

• Johann Kaspar Lavater (1741–1801), Swiss poet, writer, philosopher, physiognomist and theologian
• Antonio Ligabue (1899–1965), Swiss -born Italian painter
• Hugo Loetscher (1929–2009), Swiss writer and essayist
• Rolf Lyssy (born 1936), Swiss screenwriter and film director
• Dieter Meier (born 1945), Swiss musician and conceptual artist
• Conrad Ferdinand Meyer (1825–1898), Swiss poet and historical novelist
• Silvio Moser (1941–1974), Swiss racing driver
• Walter Andreas Müller (born 1945), Swiss actor
• Harald Naegeli (born 1939), Swiss artist
• Heinz Nigg (born 1949), Swiss visual anthropologist, community artist and video archivist
• Ernst Nobs (1886–1957), Swiss politician
• Hans Konrad von Orelli (1846–1912), Swiss theologian
• Johann Caspar von Orelli (1787–1849), Swiss classical scholar
• Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi (1746–1827), Swiss pedagogue and educational reformer
• Joachim Raff (1822–1882), German-Swiss composer and pianist

• Johann Jakob Scheuchzer (1672–1733), Swiss physician and natural scientist
• Hanna Scheuring (born 1965), Swiss actress and theatre director
• Roland Scholl (1865–1945), Swiss chemist
• Trudi Schoop (1904–1999), Swiss dancer and therapist
• Peter Schweri (1939–2016), Swiss artist and musician
• Johanna Spyri (1827–1901), Swiss author
• Sandra Studer (born 1969), Swiss moderator and singer
• Stefi Talman (born 1958), Swiss shoe designer
• Bénédict Turrettini (1588–1631), Swiss pastor and professor of theology
• Pancho Vladigerov (1899–1978), Swiss-born Bulgarian composer, pedagogue and pianist
• Heini Waser (1913–2008), Swiss painter
• Ernst Ulrich von Weizsäcker (born 1939), Swiss-born German politician and scientist
• Urs Widmer (1938–2014), Swiss novelist, playwright, and essayist
• Heidi Wunderli-Allenspach (born 1947), Swiss biologist

• Sibylle Berg (born 1962), German-Swiss contemporary author and essayist
• Max Bill (1908–1994), Swiss architect, artist and designer
• Anne-Marie Blanc (1919–2009), Swiss actress
• Boris Blank (born 1952), Swiss musician
• Georg Büchner (1813–1837), German dramatist
• Johann Gottfried Ebel (1764–1830), author of the first guidebook to Switzerland
• Albert Einstein (1879–1955), German-born theoretical physicist
• Stephanie Glaser (1920–2011), Swiss actress
• Hermann Greulich (1842–1925), Swiss politician
• Franz Hohler (born 1943), Swiss author and cabaret performer
• James Joyce (1915-1920), Irish author
• Udo Jürgens (1934–2014), Austrian composer and singer
• Patricia Kaas (born 1966), French singer and actress
• Jonas Kaufmann (born 1969), German-Austrian tenor opera singer
• Adolf Keller (1872–1963), Swiss Protestant theologian and writer
• Tina Keller-Jenny (1887–1985), Swiss physician and Jungian psychotherapist
• Erich Kleiber (1890–1956), Austrian Argentine conductor

• Vladimir Lenin (1870–1924), Russian revolutionary, politician and political theorist
• Moritz Leuenberger (born 1946), Swiss politician
• Mileva Marić, (1875–1948), Serbian physicist and mathematician
• Manuel Rivera-Ortiz (born 1968), Puerto Rican photographer
• Elisabeth von Rapperswil (c. 1251–1309), Countess of Grafschaft Rapperswil
• Roger Sablonier (1941–2010), Swiss historian and writer
• Ernst Sieber (1927–2018), Swiss pastor, social activist and politician
• Lee "Scratch" Perry (1936–2021), Jamaican record producer, composer and singer
• Kurt Tucholsky (1890–1935), German journalist, satirist and writer
• Tina Turner (1939–2023), American singer-songwriter and actress
• Tristan Tzara (1896–1963), Romanian avant-garde poet, essayist and performance artist
• Georg von Vollmar (1850–1922), Bavarian politician
• Richard Wagner (1813–1883), German composer and conductor
• Raphael Zuber (born 1973), Swiss architect

• List of mayors of Zürich

• Prominente Verstorbene on stadt-zuerich.ch (in German)