Claim profile
1800–1899

The 19th century

Whose names filled the books of the 19th century — anyone at all, however long dead — counted as mentions per million words printed, so a period that simply published more does not inflate anyone.

Talked about then

Whose names appeared most in Chinese books during the 19th century — whenever they lived.

In books written inEnglish18,114German3,599French3,347Italian1,787Spanish1,162Russian325Hebrew105Chinese9
  1. 1Zhu XiZhu Xi1130–1200 · 12th century · 🇨🇳 China · Writers870
  2. 2Li HongzhangLi Hongzhang1823–1901 · 19th century · 🇨🇳 China · Politicians149
  3. 3Zhang ZhidongZhang Zhidong1837–1909 · 19th century · Politicians86
  4. 4Zuo ZongtangZuo Zongtang1812–1885 · 19th century · 🇨🇳 China · Politicians43
  5. 5Ban GuBan Gu32–92 · 1st century · Writers40
  6. 6Ge HongGe Hong284–364 · 4th century · Academics40
  7. 7CSChen Shou233–297 · 3rd century · Writers14
  8. 8Mao ZedongMao Zedong1893–1976 · 20th century · 🇨🇳 China · Politicians12
  9. 9Lu XunLu Xun1881–1936 · 20th century · 🇨🇳 China · Writers11

Lived then

The most notable people whose working lives fell in the 19th century, ranked where Wikipedia coverage and readership agree.

CountryAll🇺🇸 United States🇫🇷 France🇩🇪 Germany🇬🇧 United Kingdom🇮🇹 Italy🇪🇸 Spain🇯🇵 Japan🇦🇹 Austria🇹🇷 Turkey🇸🇪 Sweden
FieldAllPoliticiansWritersHistorical FiguresScientistsAcademicsArtistsMusiciansDoctorsFoundersJournalists
  1. 1Wilhelm LiebknechtWilhelm Liebknecht1826–1900 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Journalists13 decades
  2. 2Bertha PappenheimBertha Pappenheim1859–1936 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Journalists6 decades
  3. 3Johannes ZukertortJohannes Zukertort1842–1888 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Journalists0 decades
  4. 4Maximilian HardenMaximilian Harden1861–1927 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Journalistsnot measured—
  5. 5Theodor ReussTheodor Reuss1855–1923 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Journalistsnot measured—
  6. 6Karl GrünKarl Grün1817–1887 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Journalistsnot measured—
  7. 7Curt von BardelebenCurt von Bardeleben1861–1924 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Journalistsnot measured—
  8. 8Adolf BartelsAdolf Bartels1862–1945 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Journalistsnot measured—
  9. 9Leopold SonnemannLeopold Sonnemann1831–1909 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Journalistsnot measured—
  10. 10Wilhelm HasencleverWilhelm Hasenclever1837–1889 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Journalistsnot measured—
  11. 11Friedrich von HellwaldFriedrich von Hellwald1842–1892 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Journalistsnot measured—
  12. 12Rudolf OeserRudolf Oeser1858–1926 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Journalistsnot measured—
  13. 13Fritz KaterFritz Kater1861–1945 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Journalistsnot measured—
  14. 14Christian Ernst von Bentzel-SternauChristian Ernst von Bentzel-Sternau1767–1849 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Journalistsnot measured—
  15. 15Paulus CasselPaulus Cassel1821–1892 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Journalistsnot measured—
  16. 16Conrad SchmidtConrad Schmidt1863–1932 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Journalistsnot measured—
  17. 17Julius Leopold KleinJulius Leopold Klein1810–1876 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Journalistsnot measured—
  18. 18Julius FaucherJulius Faucher1820–1878 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Journalistsnot measured—
  19. 19Karl SpindlerKarl Spindler1796–1855 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Journalistsnot measured—
  20. 20Heinrich KruseHeinrich Kruse1815–1902 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Journalistsnot measured—
  21. 21RGRichard Grelling1853–1929 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Journalistsnot measured—
  22. 22Ludwig KalischLudwig Kalisch1814–1882 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Journalistsnot measured—
  23. 23Gustav Heinrich KirchenpauerGustav Heinrich Kirchenpauer1808–1887 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Journalistsnot measured—
  24. 24August LewaldAugust Lewald1792–1871 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Journalistsnot measured—
  25. 25Wilhelm Joachim von HammersteinWilhelm Joachim von Hammerstein1838–1904 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Journalistsnot measured—
  26. 26Fedor von ZobeltitzFedor von Zobeltitz1857–1934 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Journalistsnot measured—
  27. 27Nahida Ruth LazarusNahida Ruth Lazarus1849–1928 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Journalistsnot measured—
  28. 28Otto ZachariasOtto Zacharias1846–1916 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Journalistsnot measured—
  29. 29ABAuguste Bußmann1791–1832 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Journalistsnot measured—
  30. 30Max PredöhlMax Predöhl1854–1923 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Journalistsnot measured—
  31. 31Eugen WolfEugen Wolf1850–1912 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Journalistsnot measured—
  32. 32Ludwig MeynLudwig Meyn1820–1878 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Journalistsnot measured—
  33. 33Konrad AlbertiKonrad Alberti1862–1918 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Journalistsnot measured—
  34. 34Karl HerloßsohnKarl Herloßsohn1804–1849 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Journalistsnot measured—
  35. 35Andreas Ludwig Jacob MichelsenAndreas Ludwig Jacob Michelsen1801–1881 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Journalistsnot measured—
  36. 36FKFritz Köster1855–1934 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Journalistsnot measured—
  37. 37HMHugo Markus Ganz1862–1922 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Journalistsnot measured—
  38. 38Heinrich SmidtHeinrich Smidt1798–1867 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Journalistsnot measured—
  39. 39Anselma HeineAnselma Heine1855–1930 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Journalistsnot measured—
  40. 40Otto MichaelisOtto Michaelis1826–1890 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Journalistsnot 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.