Famous People Born In Lausanne

Stan Wawrinka is a Swiss tennis player who has won three Grand Slam titles so far in his career. At the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, Wawrinka won the gold medal for Switzerland in the doubles event along with teammate Roger Federer. At the 2014 Davis Cup, Stan Wawrinka played a key role in the Swiss team's victory.

Anthony Radziwill was a Swiss-born American filmmaker and television executive. The son of Polish Prince Stanisław Albrecht Radziwiłł and socialite Lee Radziwiłł, Anthony started his career as a television producer, winning the prestigious Peabody Award in 1990 for his investigation on the revival of Nazism in the US. Anthony Radziwill died at the age of 40 due to cancer.

The eldest child of Thai king Bhumibol Adulyadej, Ubolratana Rajakanya received top-notch education at institutes such as MIT and UCLA, and ended up marrying MIT student, Peter Ladd Jensen, thereby giving up her royal title, and living in the US as Julie Jensen. She relocated to Thailand after her divorce.

Vincent Perez is a Swiss actor, photographer, and director. He is best known for playing important roles in films like The Crow: City of Angels and Queen of the Damned. Vincent Perez has also played prominent roles in many French films, receiving César Award nominations on a couple of occasions.

Princess Yasmin Aga Khan, daughter of actor Rita Hayworth and Prince Aly Khan, Pakistan's representative to the U.N., works to raise awareness about Alzheimer's disease, which had caused her mother’s death. She is also the president of Alzheimer's Disease International and a board member of Alzheimer's and Related Disorders Association.

Bernard Tschumi is an architect, educator, and writer. One of the most important proponents of deconstructivism, Tschumi is credited with designing prominent landmarks like Parc de la Villette, Rouen Concert Hall, and the new Acropolis Museum. He has also served as an educator, teaching at prestigious institutions like Columbia University, Princeton University, and the Institute for Architecture and Urban Studies.

Though a qualified psychiatrist and a lecturer of hypnosis, Bertrand Piccard is better known as an aviator. The son of oceanographer Jacques Piccard and the grandson of explorer Auguste Piccard, Bertrand completed the first solar-powered flight and the first non-stop balloon trip around the world.

Born in Switzerland, Félix Vallotton later moved to Paris to study art and grew to be one of the prominent members of the Les Nabis. Renowned for his woodcuts, he mostly focused on nudes and interiors. Politically conscious, he often infused political themes in his art, such as The Demonstration.

Once world number 9 in singles, Swiss tennis star Timea Bacsinszky was 5 when she was encouraged to take up tennis by her tennis coach father. Born to Hungarian parents, she initially wanted to play for Hungary. The Olympic silver medalist retired in 2021, owing to a back injury and the COVID-19 pandemic.

Swiss-French activist and author Benjamin Constant is best remembered for penning the classic French novel Adolphe, which was one of the earliest psychological novels. Initially the chamberlain to the duke of Brunswick, he later supported the French Revolution and became a Member of the Chamber of Deputies.

David Bennent is a Swiss actor who made his film acting debut in 1979 with the controversial film The Tin Drum. The movie attracted criticisms as an 11-year-old Bennent was shown in sex scenes. Since then, Bennent has appeared in several other films such as Legend and Happy as Lazzaro. David Bennent has also appeared in plays like Michael Kramer.

Born into a German aristocratic family in Switzerland, Prince Egon von Fürstenberg initially studied economics and also worked as an investment banker but later switched fashion designing. He also gained notoriety for his playboy persona and his bisexuality and died of hepatitis C-induced liver cancer at age 57.

Swiss-born Cuban author Alejo Carpentier is regarded as one of the greatest Latin American literary personalities. The Cervantes Prize-winning writer was one of the pioneers of magic realism. Known for novels such as The Lost Steps, he also contributed to the Afro-Cuban movement and was the Cuban ambassador to France.

Born to circus-owner parents, James Thiérrée began performing on stage at age 4. He later stepped into theater and films and gained international fame with his César Award-winning portrayal of George Foottit in the film Chocolat. He is also the grandson of legendary comedian and filmmaker Charlie Chaplin.

French-Swiss artist Théophile Steinlen is best remembered for his Art Nouveau paintings. He was also known for his signature, and mostly symbolic, use of cats in most of his works. He got acquainted with several artists at the Le Chat Noir club, leading to commissions for artwork.

Anne-Marie Miéville is a Swiss filmmaker, screenwriter, and editor. After starting her career as a photographer, Miéville went on to establish herself as a film and TV director. In one of its editions, Sight & Sound magazine called Anne-Marie Miéville a hugely important multimedia artist.

Elodie Frenck is a Peruvian-Swiss-French actress best known for her portrayal of Marlène Leroy in the popular French television program, Les Petits Meurtres d'Agatha Christie. In addition to playing important roles in TV series, Elodie Frenck also plays prominent roles in feature films, short films, TV movies, and on stage. 

Swiss-born Afghan-Italian electronic music producer Mirwais Ahmadzaï had spent his initial years in Kabul before moving to Paris with his family. He is best known as a frequent collaborator of Madonna. Initially a guitarist with the punk group Taxi Girl, he soared to fame with his work on Madonna’s Grammy-nominated album Music.

Carlos Leal is a Swiss actor and rapper. He is best known for co-founding a Hip hop group named Sens Unik, which contributed music to films like La Haine and Neutre. Carlos Leal decided to pursue an acting career in the late-1990s and trained under Jack Garfein in Paris. Since then, he has appeared in popular films like Casino Royale.

Swiss author Charles-Ferdinand Ramuz is remembered for his simple language and allegorical elements. Known for his iconic works such as Terror on the Mountain and Beauty on Earth, he narrated stories of rural people. He also taught in Germany and Switzerland and spent a considerable part of his life in Paris.

Alfred Métraux was an Argentine and Swiss ethnologist, anthropologist, and human rights leader. He is best remembered for his work with UNESCO's Department of Social Science. Alfred Métraux is also remembered for publishing landmark studies of the Incas, the ancient cultures of Easter Island, and Haitian voodoo. 

French-Swiss theologian Alexandre Vinet was a major figure of the Protestant Reformation in the French-speaking regions of Switzerland. While he initially taught French and theology at the universities of Basel and Lausanne, he later spoke against religious dogma and supported the separation of church and the state.

Swiss philosopher and theologian Jean-Pierre de Crousaz had been a professor of math and philosophy at the University of Lausanne and had also served as its rector 4 times. He is best remembered for his works such as Treatise on Beauty and his critique of Pope’s Essay on Man.