1700–1799
The 18th century
Whose working lives fell in the 18th 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 18th century, ranked where Wikipedia coverage and readership agree.
#PersonIn print, 1800–2019Echoed
- 1
Maurice de Saxe1696–1750 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Politicians22 decades - 2
Johann Friedrich Struensee1737–1772 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Politicians5 decades - 3
Elisabeth Christine of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel1691–1750 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Politiciansnot measured— - 4
Sophia Dorothea of Celle1666–1726 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Politiciansnot measured— - 5
Maria Anna of Neuburg1667–1740 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Politicians0 decades - 6
Levin August von Bennigsen1745–1826 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Politiciansnot measured— - 7
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John William Friso, Prince of Orange1687–1711 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Politicians4 decades - 8
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Natalia Alexeievna of Russia1755–1776 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Politiciansnot measured— - 9
Duke Anthony Ulrich of Brunswick1714–1774 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Politiciansnot measured— - 10
Princess Elizabeth Albertine of Saxe-Hildburghausen1713–1761 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Politiciansnot measured— - 11
Frederick II, Duke of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg1676–1732 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Politicians22 decades - 12
Heinrich von Brühl1700–1763 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Politicians4 decades - 13
Violante Beatrice of Bavaria1673–1731 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Politicians0 decades - 14
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Auguste of Baden-Baden1704–1726 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Politiciansnot measured— - 15
Charles Christian of Nassau-Weilburg1735–1788 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Politiciansnot measured— - 16
Charles of Saxony, Duke of Courland1733–1796 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Politicians10 decades - 17
Duchess Sibylle of Saxe-Lauenburg1675–1733 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Politiciansnot measured— - 18
Princess Marie Auguste of Thurn and Taxis1706–1756 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Politiciansnot measured— - 19
Magdalena Wilhelmine of Württemberg1677–1742 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Politiciansnot measured— - 20
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Duke Louis Ernest of Brunswick-Lüneburg1718–1788 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Politiciansnot measured— - 21
Princess Luise Dorothea of Saxe-Meiningen1710–1767 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Politiciansnot measured— - 22
Frederick Charles, Prince of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt1736–1793 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Politiciansnot measured— - 23
Count Johann Hartwig Ernst von Bernstorff1712–1772 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Politicians0 decades - 24
Marie Elisabeth, Abbess of Quedlinburg1678–1755 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Politiciansnot measured— - 25
Friedrich Wilhelm von Grumbkow1678–1739 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Politicians0 decades - 26
Georg Friedrich von Martens1756–1821 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Politicians1 decades - 27
Alexander Ferdinand, 3rd Prince of Thurn and Taxis1704–1773 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Politiciansnot measured— - 28
Landgravine Juliane of Hesse-Philippsthal1761–1799 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Politiciansnot measured— - 29
Gisela Agnes of Anhalt-Köthen1722–1751 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Politiciansnot measured— - 30
Sophia von Kielmansegg, Countess of Darlington1675–1725 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Politiciansnot measured— - 31
Louis of Nassau-Saarbrücken1745–1794 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Politicians5 decades - 32
Louis Günther II, Prince of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt1708–1790 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Politicians0 decades - 33
Johann Jakob Moser1701–1785 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Politicians11 decades - 34
Johann Christoph von Wöllner1732–1800 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Politiciansnot measured— - 35
Count Karl-Wilhelm Finck von Finckenstein1714–1800 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Politiciansnot measured— - 36
Augusta Dorothea of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel1749–1810 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Politiciansnot measured— - 37
Johann Georg, Chevalier de Saxe1704–1774 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Politiciansnot measured— - 38
Christian Ernest of Stolberg-Wernigerode1691–1771 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Politiciansnot measured— - 39
Carl Heinrich von Wedel1712–1782 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Politiciansnot measured— - 40
Ulrike Louise of Solms-Braunfels1731–1792 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Politiciansnot measured— - 41
Gisela Agnes of Rath1669–1740 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Politiciansnot measured— - 42
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Friedrich Karl von Moser1723–1798 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Politicians14 decades - 43
Friedrich Wilhelm von Reden1752–1815 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Politiciansnot measured— - 44
Wolfgang Heribert von Dalberg1750–1806 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Politiciansnot measured— - 45
Wilhelm René de l'Homme de Courbière1733–1811 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Politiciansnot measured— - 46
Franz Friedrich Wilhelm von Fürstenberg1729–1810 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Politiciansnot measured— - 47
Camillo Marcolini1739–1814 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Politiciansnot measured— - 48
Gustav Adolf von Gotter1692–1762 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Politiciansnot measured— - 49
Johann Friedrich Alexander, Prince of Wied1706–1791 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Politiciansnot measured— - 50
Carl Schack Rantzau–Ascheberg1717–1789 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Politiciansnot measured— - 51
Otto Heinrich von Gemmingen-Hornberg1755–1836 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Politiciansnot measured— - 52
Zacharias Conrad von Uffenbach1683–1734 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Politiciansnot measured— - 53
Wiguläus Xaver Aloys von Kreittmayr1705–1790 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Politiciansnot measured— - 54
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Heinrich VI. Reuss, Count of Köstritz1707–1783 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Politiciansnot measured— - 55
Karl Adolf von Plessen1678–1758 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Politiciansnot measured— - 56
Jakob Friedrich von Bielfeld1717–1770 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Politiciansnot measured— - 57
Johann Georg von Langen1699–1776 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Politiciansnot measured— - 58
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Carl von Ahlefeldt1670–1722 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Politiciansnot measured— - 59EWErnst Wilhelm von Schlabrendorff1719–1769 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Politiciansnot measured—
- 60
Heinrich von Podewils1695–1760 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Politiciansnot measured— - 61
Johann Nepomuk von Triva1755–1827 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Politiciansnot measured— - 62
Friedrich Karl zu Wied-Neuwied1741–1809 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Politiciansnot measured— - 63
Luise Eleonore Wreech1708–1784 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Politiciansnot measured— - 64
Stephan von Stengel1750–1822 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Politiciansnot measured— - 65
Erhard Ernst von Röder1665–1743 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Politiciansnot measured— - 66
Heinrich Wilhelm von Huth1717–1806 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Politiciansnot 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.