Bernoulli family
The Bernoulli family 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, or with the Castilian family de Bernuy, are uncertain.
The first known member of the family was Leon Bernoulli, 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,, 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, mathematician after whom Bernoulli numbers are named, and author of the early probability text Ars Conjectandi
- Nicolaus Bernoulli, painter and alderman of Basel
- Johann Bernoulli, mathematician and early adopter of infinitesimal calculus
- Hieronymus Bernoulli, m. Catharina Ebneter
- Nicolaus I Bernoulli, son of Nicolaus, mathematician, worked on curves, differential equations, and probability; originator of the St. Petersburg paradox
- Nicolaus II Bernoulli, son of Johann
- Daniel Bernoulli, 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, son of Johann, mathematician and physicist
- Johann III Bernoulli, son of Johann II, astronomer, geographer and mathematician
- Jakob II Bernoulli, son of Johann II, physicist and mathematician
- , art historian and archaeologist; noted for his Römische Ikonographie on Roman Imperial portraits
- Ludwig Bernoully, German architect in Frankfurt
- Hans Bernoulli, architect and designer of the Bernoullihäuser in Zurich and Grenchen SO
- Elisabeth Bernoulli, suffragette and campaigner against alcoholism