---
title: "Bernoulli family"
chunk: 1/1
source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernoulli_family"
category: "reference"
tags: "science, encyclopedia"
date_saved: "2026-05-05T04:05:19.585318+00:00"
instance: "kb-cron"
---

The Bernoulli family ( bur-NOO-lee; German: [bɛʁˈnʊli]; Swiss Standard German: [bɛrˈnʊli]) of Basel was a patrician family, notable for having produced  eight mathematically gifted academics who, among them, contributed substantially to the development of mathematics and physics during the early modern period.


== History ==

Originally from Antwerp, a branch of the family relocated to Basel in 1620.
While their origin in Antwerp is certain, proposed earlier connections with the Dutch family of Italian ancestry called Bornouilla (Bernoullie), or with the Castilian family de Bernuy (Bernoille, Bernouille), are uncertain.
The first known member of the family was Leon Bernoulli (d. 1561),  a doctor in Antwerp, at that time part of the Spanish Netherlands. His son, Jacob, emigrated to Frankfurt am Main in 1570 to escape from the Spanish persecution of the Protestants. Jacob's grandson, a spice trader, also named Jacob, moved to Basel, Switzerland in 1620, and was granted citizenship in 1622. His son, Niklaus Bernoulli (Nicolaus, 1623–1708), Leon's great-great-grandson, married Margarethe Schönauer.


=== Notable academic members ===
Margarethe and Niklaus had four sons, of whom Johann and Hieronymus became the progenitors of the "greater" and the "lesser" branches of the family, respectively. The four sons of Margarethe and Niklaus were:

Jacob Bernoulli (1654–1705; also known as James or Jacques), mathematician after whom Bernoulli numbers are named, and author of the early probability text Ars Conjectandi
Nicolaus Bernoulli (1662–1716), painter and alderman of Basel
Johann Bernoulli (1667–1748; also known as Jean), mathematician and early adopter of infinitesimal calculus
Hieronymus Bernoulli (1669–1760), m.  Catharina Ebneter
In addition to Jacob and Johann, the Bernoulli family of mathematicians is generally taken to include:

Nicolaus I Bernoulli (1687–1759), son of Nicolaus, mathematician, worked on curves, differential equations, and probability; originator of the St. Petersburg paradox
Nicolaus II Bernoulli (1695–1726), son of Johann
Daniel Bernoulli (1700–1782), son of Johann, developer of Bernoulli's principle and originator of the concept of expected utility for resolving the St. Petersburg paradox
Johann II Bernoulli (1710–1790; also known as Jean), son of Johann, mathematician and physicist
Johann III Bernoulli (1744–1807; also known as Jean), son of Johann II, astronomer, geographer and mathematician
Jakob II Bernoulli (1759–1789; also known as Jacques), son of Johann II, physicist and mathematician
Several more recent prominent scholars are also descended from the family, including:

Johann Jakob Bernoulli (1831–1913), art historian and archaeologist; noted for his Römische Ikonographie (1882 onwards) on Roman Imperial portraits
Ludwig Bernoully (1873–1928), German architect in Frankfurt
Hans Bernoulli (1876–1959), architect and designer of the Bernoullihäuser in Zurich and Grenchen SO
Elisabeth Bernoulli (1873–1935), suffragette and campaigner against alcoholism
The surname survives in Switzerland, with 11 entries in the white pages for the city of Basel as of 2024.


== Family tree of the Basler Bernoullis ==


== Named for members of the family ==


== See also ==
List of second-generation physicists
List of second-generation mathematicians


== Notes ==


== References ==


== External links ==

Family tree at the MacTutor History of Mathematics archive.
David Darling Encyclopedia of Science Bernoulli family Archived 2014-01-13 at the Wayback Machine