# Fame.am profile — machine-readable export
# Canonical URL: https://fame.am/person/adolphe-sax
# Generated: 2026-08-31T14:40:32.917Z

schema: https://schema.org/Person
url: "https://fame.am/person/adolphe-sax"
name: "Adolphe Sax"
slug: "adolphe-sax"
description: "He gave his name to an instrument that didn't exist before the 1840s and now defines entire genres of music. The saxophone was one man's patent, and that man was a Belgian instrument maker with a habit of reinvention."
tagline: "Belgian musical instrument designer and musician (1814–1894)"
image: "https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:FilePath/Adolphe_Sax_1860s.jpg"
gender: "male"
category:
  name: "Musicians"
  slug: "musicians"
profileType:
  name: "Singer / Musician"
  slug: "singer"
  entityType: "https://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q177220"
birthDate: "1814-11-06"
deathDate: "1894-02-07"
livingStatus: "DECEASED"
scores:
  popularity:           57.51
  momentum:             0.8787096855839382
  historical:           23.40236266666667
  currentAttention:     1.308411214953271
  sourceConfidence:     60
  profileCompleteness:  60
  trendDirection:       "STABLE"
ranks:
  global:   null
  country:  null
  category: null
tags:
  - name: "Scientists"
    slug: "scientists"
  - name: "Scientist"
    slug: "scientist"
  - name: "Music"
    slug: "music"
  - name: "Science"
    slug: "science"
  - name: "19th Century"
    slug: "19th-century"
sources:
  - url: "https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q181995"
    title: "Wikidata"
    type:  "WIKIDATA"
  - url: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adolphe_Sax"
    title: "Wikipedia"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://pantheon.world/profile/person/Adolphe%20Sax"
    title: "Pantheon 2.0"
    type:  "DATABASE"
  - url: "https://az.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adolf_Saks"
    title: "Adolf Saks"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://be.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%90%D0%B4%D0%BE%D0%BB%D1%8C%D1%84_%D0%A1%D0%B0%D0%BA%D1%81"
    title: "Адольф Сакс"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://bg.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%90%D0%B4%D0%BE%D0%BB%D1%84_%D0%A1%D0%B0%D0%BA%D1%81"
    title: "Адолф Сакс"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://bn.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E0%A6%85%E0%A7%8D%E0%A6%AF%E0%A6%BE%E0%A6%A1%E0%A6%B2%E0%A6%AB_%E0%A6%B8%E0%A7%8D%E0%A6%AF%E0%A6%BE%E0%A6%95%E0%A7%8D%E0%A6%B8"
    title: "অ্যাডলফ স্যাক্স"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://br.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adolphe_Sax"
    title: "Adolphe Sax"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://bs.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adolphe_Sax"
    title: "Adolphe Sax"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://ca.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adolphe_Sax"
    title: "Adolphe Sax"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://cs.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adolphe_Sax"
    title: "Adolphe Sax"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://da.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adolphe_Sax"
    title: "Adolphe Sax"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adolphe_Sax"
    title: "Adolphe Sax"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://el.wikipedia.org/wiki/%CE%91%CE%BD%CF%84%CF%8C%CE%BB%CF%86_%CE%A3%CE%B1%CE%BE"
    title: "Αντόλφ Σαξ"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://eo.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adolphe_Sax"
    title: "Adolphe Sax"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adolphe_Sax"
    title: "Adolphe Sax"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://et.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adolphe_Sax"
    title: "Adolphe Sax"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://eu.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adolphe_Sax"
    title: "Adolphe Sax"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://fa.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D8%A2%D8%AF%D9%88%D9%84%D9%81_%D8%B3%D8%A7%DA%A9%D8%B3"
    title: "آدولف ساکس"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://fi.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adolphe_Sax"
    title: "Adolphe Sax"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adolphe_Sax"
    title: "Adolphe Sax"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://fy.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adolphe_Sax"
    title: "Adolphe Sax"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://gl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adolphe_Sax"
    title: "Adolphe Sax"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://he.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D7%90%D7%93%D7%95%D7%9C%D7%A3_%D7%A1%D7%90%D7%A7%D7%A1"
    title: "אדולף סאקס"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://hu.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adolphe_Sax"
    title: "Adolphe Sax"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://musicbrainz.org/artist/eb5859cf-017e-486a-86e7-eeb66b26623e"
    title: "MusicBrainz"
    type:  "DATABASE"
  - url: "https://ar.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D8%A3%D8%AF%D9%88%D9%84%D9%81_%D8%B3%D8%A7%D9%83%D8%B3"
    title: "أدولف ساكس"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://arz.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D8%A7%D8%AF%D9%88%D9%84%D9%81_%D8%B3%D8%A7%D9%83%D8%B3"
    title: "ادولف ساكس"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"

# bio (long form, separated for readability)
bio: |
  Antoine-Joseph "Adolphe" Sax was born on 6 November 1814 in Belgium, the son of an instrument maker, and grew up playing flute and clarinet. In the early 1840s he invented the saxophone, patenting it in 1846—a hybrid reed instrument that would eventually anchor jazz, military bands, and classical repertoire. He didn't stop there: the saxotromba, saxhorn, and saxtuba all carried his name, and he redesigned the bass clarinet in a form still used today. Sax died on 7 February 1894, having spent a lifetime bending brass and wood into new shapes. The instrument that outlasted him became ubiquitous in ways he never lived to hear.