Claim profile
1500–1599

The 16th century

Whose working lives fell in the 16th century. Books are measured from 1800 and readers from 2015, so for this period we can say who lived then, not who was talked about then.

Lived then

The most notable people whose working lives fell in the 16th century, ranked where Wikipedia coverage and readership agree.

CountryAll🇪🇸 Spain🇫🇷 France🇯🇵 Japan🇩🇪 Germany🇮🇹 Italy🇹🇷 Turkey🇬🇧 United Kingdom🇸🇪 Sweden🇨🇭 Switzerland🇮🇳 India
FieldAllHistorical FiguresWritersPoliticiansArtistsAcademicsReligious FiguresMusiciansScientistsModelsActors
  1. 1Ambrosius HolbeinAmbrosius Holbein1494–1519 · 🇨🇭 Switzerland · Artists13 decades
  2. 2Urs Graf seniorUrs Graf senior1485–1528 · 🇨🇭 Switzerland · Artistsnot measured—
  3. 3Joseph Heintz the ElderJoseph Heintz the Elder1564–1609 · 🇨🇭 Switzerland · Artists0 decades
  4. 4Cristoforo SolariCristoforo Solari1468–1524 · 🇨🇭 Switzerland · Artists21 decades
  5. 5Hans AsperHans Asper1499–1571 · 🇨🇭 Switzerland · Artists0 decades
  6. 6Giovanni Ambrogio FiginoGiovanni Ambrogio Figino1553–1608 · 🇨🇭 Switzerland · Artists0 decades
  7. 7Tobias StimmerTobias Stimmer1539–1584 · 🇨🇭 Switzerland · Artists19 decades
  8. 8Hans FriesHans Fries1465–1520 · 🇨🇭 Switzerland · Artists0 decades
  9. 9Matteo CastelliMatteo Castelli1560–1632 · 🇨🇭 Switzerland · Artistsnot measured—
  10. 10Hans GiengHans Gieng1500–1562 · 🇨🇭 Switzerland · Artistsnot measured—
  11. 11Hans Leu the YoungerHans Leu the Younger1490–1531 · 🇨🇭 Switzerland · Artistsnot measured—
  12. 12Taddeo CarloneTaddeo Carlone1543–1615 · 🇨🇭 Switzerland · Artistsnot measured—
  13. 13Hans Rudolf ManuelHans Rudolf Manuel1525–1571 · 🇨🇭 Switzerland · Artistsnot measured—

How this is measured

  • Placing people in time. Each person belongs to the century in which they were most active — around age 35, and never after their death.
  • Who ranks highest. Within a century, people are ranked where two independent signals agree: how many of the world’s Wikipedia language editions cover them, and how many people actually read about them. Article counts alone can be lifted by a person’s own circle; readers cannot.
  • Fame in print. The curves count how often a name appears in Google Books from 1800 to 2019, as a share of all the words printed each year, in the person’s own language wherever that corpus exists. Those decades are over, so each measurement is made once and kept.
  • What is left out. A lifetime is measured only from 1820, when there is enough print to judge; the five years after a death are skipped as obituaries; and a name shared with someone equally notable is credited to neither.