List of people from Groningen

This is a chronological list of notable people from Groningen, who were either born and raised there, were long-term residents, or otherwise have a strong association with the area.

Before 1750

 * Wessel Gansfort (1419–1489), theologian and early humanist
 * Volcher Coiter (1534–1576), anatomist, founder of comparative osteology and first to identify cerebrospinal meningitis
 * Christiaan Coevershoff (1595–1659), Dutch Golden Age painter
 * Egbert Bartholomeusz Kortenaer (1604–1665), admiral
 * Adriaan Geerts Wildervanck (1605–1661), businessman and coloniser
 * Albert Eckhout (c.1610–1665), portrait and still life painter
 * Roche Braziliano (c.1630–c.1671), pirate
 * Joris Andringa (1635–1676), naval officer
 * Tiberius Hemsterhuis (1685–1766), philologist and critic
 * Albert Schultens (1686–1750), philologist
 * Daniel Bernoulli (1700–1782), mathematician and physicist
 * Johannes Antiquus (1702–1750), painter
 * Albertus Antonius Hinsz (1704–1785), organ-builder
 * Bernard II van Risamburgh (c.1710—c.1767), cabinetmaker
 * Willem Arnold Alting (1724–1800), Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies from 1780 until 1797
 * Elisabeth Wassenbergh (1729–1781), painter
 * Etta Palm d'Aelders (1743–1799), early feminist and spy
 * Leopold von Goeckingk (1748–1828), German lyric poet, journalist and Prussian official.
 * Johann August Just (c.1750–c.1791), pianist, violinist, and composer
 * Abel Janszoon Tasman (1603–1659), explorer, seafarer, merchant for the Dutch East India Company

1750–1870

 * John Goodricke (1764–1786), astronomer, observed the variable star Algol
 * Albert Dominicus Trip van Zoudtlandt (1776—1835), lieutenant-general at the Battle of Waterloo
 * Petrus Hofman Peerlkamp (1786–1865), classical scholar and critic.
 * Geert Adriaans Boomgaard (1788–1899), first validated supercentenarian and last living veteran of Napoleon's Grande Armée
 * Coos Cremers (1806-1882), politician, member of the Senate from 1850 to 1877
 * Schelto van Heemstra, Baron Heemstra (1807–1864), politician, Prime minister from 1861 to 1862.
 * Jozef Israëls (1824–1911), painter of the Hague School
 * Joseph Ascher (1829–1869), composer and pianist
 * Hendrik Willem Mesdag (1831–1915), marine art painter
 * Samuel van Houten (1837–1930), politician, cabinet minister, founder of the Liberal Party
 * Alexander de Savornin Lohman (1837–1924), politician, leader of the Christian Historical Union
 * Otto Eerelman (1839–1926), painter, known for his depictions of dogs and horses
 * Klaas Plantinga (1846–1922), distiller, founded the Plantinga Distillery
 * Heike Kamerlingh Onnes (1853–1926), Nobel laureate physicist who pioneered refrigeration and superconductivity
 * Gerard Bolland (1854–1922), autodidact, linguist, philosopher, biblical scholar and lecturer
 * René de Marees van Swinderen (1860–1955), diplomat and politician
 * Barbara Elisabeth van Houten (1863–1950), painter
 * Gerrit van Houten (1866–1934), painter and artist
 * Dirk Jan de Geer (1870–1960), Dutch Prime Minister (1926–29, 1939–40)

1870–1900

 * Jantina Tammes (1871–1947), botanist and geneticist, first professor of genetics in the Netherlands.
 * Johan Huizinga (1872–1945), historian
 * Jaap Eden (1873–1925), only male athlete to have won world championships in both speed skating and cycling
 * Bert Nienhuis (1873–1960), ceramist, designer, and jewelry designer
 * Gerrit David Gratama (1874–1965), artist, writer, and director of the Frans Hals Museum
 * Jan Gratama (1877–1947), architect
 * Albert Hahn (1877–1918), political cartoonist, poster artist, and book cover designer
 * C. U. Ariëns Kappers (1877–1946), neurologist and anatomist
 * Herman de Vries de Heekelingen (1880–1942), scholar and author, professor of palaeography at the University of Nijmegen
 * Julia Culp (1880–1970), mezzo-soprano
 * Dirk Janssen (1881–1986), gymnast in the 1908 Summer Olympics who was 105 at the time of his death, making him the longest-lived Olympic competitor
 * Jonny Heykens (1884–1945), composer of light classical music
 * Wilhelm Baehrens (1885–1929), classical scholar
 * Jan Janssen (1885–1953), gymnast who competed in the 1908 Summer Olympics
 * Tonnis van der Heeg (1886-1958), trade unionist and political activist
 * Pieter Korteweg (1888–1970), philatelist
 * Alida Jantina Pott (1888–1931), artist
 * Alidius Tjarda van Starkenborgh Stachouwer (1888–1978), last colonial Governor-General of the Netherlands East Indies
 * Jaap Kunst (1891–1960), ethnomusicologist
 * Michel Velleman (1895–1943), Jewish magician
 * Hendrik de Vries (1896–1989), poet and painter, early surrealist
 * Paul Schuitema (1897–1973), graphic artist

1900–1930

 * Ulbo de Sitter (1902–1980), geologist at Leiden University, founder of school of structural geology
 * Jan Wolthuis (1903–1983), lawyer and collaborator, active in far-right politics after WWII
 * Hans Dirk de Vries Reilingh (1908–2001), geographer and professor
 * Elie Aron Cohen (1909–1993), doctor, Auschwitz survivor
 * Theodoor Overbeek (1911–2007), professor of physical chemistry at Utrecht University
 * Pieter Meindert Schreuder (1912–1945), resistance leader
 * Lucas Hoving (1912–2000), modern dancer, choreographer and teacher
 * Jacob B. Bakema (1914–1981), modernist architect
 * Anno Smith (1915–1990), artist, ceramist, painter, sculptor, and art teacher
 * Jan C. Uiterwijk (1915–2005), entrepreneur and shipping line owner
 * Andries Jan Pieters (1916–1952), collaborator, executed for war crimes
 * Evert Musch (1918–2007), painter and professor at Academie Minerva
 * Dirk Boonstra (1920–1944), active in the WWII resistance movement, caught and executed
 * Poppe Damave (1921–1988), painter
 * Selma Engel-Wijnberg (1922–2018), Jewish Holocaust survivor
 * Henk Visser (1923–2006), arms and armory collector
 * Jan Drenth (born 1925), chemist, was professor of structural chemistry at the University of Groningen
 * Cor Edskes (1925–2015), authority on the history of organ music and building
 * Wim Crouwel (born 1928), graphic designer, type designer and typographer.
 * Maarten Schmidt (1929–2022), astronomer named and optically identified a quasar
 * Jan Borgman (born 1929), astronomer and university administrator
 * Dirk Bolt (born 1930), architect and town planner in Australia

1930–1950

 * Ida Vos (1931–2006), writer and poet
 * Arie van Deursen (1931–2011), early modern period historian
 * Nico Habermann (1932–1993), computer scientist
 * Gerrit Krol (1934−2013), author, essayist and writer
 * Ad van Luyn (born 1935), Roman Catholic bishop
 * Bert de Vries (born 1938), politician
 * Andries van Dam (born 1938), professor of computer science at Brown University
 * Wim T. Schippers (born 1942), artist, comedian, television director and voice actor
 * Driek van Wissen (1943–2010), poet
 * Chas Gerretsen (born 1943), war photographer, photo journalist
 * Martha Vonk-van Kalker (1943–2022), Senator
 * Joanna Gash (born 1944), Australian politician
 * Corrie Winkel (born 1944), backstroke swimmer and silver medalist 1964 Summer Olympics
 * Jan Sloot (1945–1999), inventor, claimed to have invented a revolutionary data compression technique
 * Andy Anstett (born 1946), Dutch-born Canadian politician
 * Wubbo Ockels (1946–2014), physicist and astronaut of the European Space Agency
 * Alphons Orie (born 1947), lawyer specialising in criminal law
 * Alfred Lagarde (1948–1998), voice actor
 * Diederik Grit (1949–2012), translator and translation scholar
 * Sierd Cloetingh (born 1950), professor of earth sciences at Utrecht University

1950–present

 * Pete Hoekstra (born 1953), United States ambassador to the Netherlands
 * Ellen van Wolde (born 1954), biblical scholar
 * Hanneke Kappen (born 1954), singer, radio and TV presenter
 * Rob Nanninga (1955–2014), skeptic, writer, board member of Stichting Skepsis
 * Bert Meijer (born 1955), organic chemist
 * Gerard de Korte (born 1955), Roman Catholic bishop
 * Joep Franssens (born 1955), composer
 * Jan van der Kooi (born 1957), painter of figurative art
 * Anita Buma (born 1958), pioneer Antarctic researcher
 * Tjibbe Veldkamp (born 1962), author of children's books
 * Wilma Mansveld (born 1962), politician
 * Aernout Mik (born 1962), artist
 * Peter Hofstee (born 1962), physicist and computer scientist
 * Hans van den Hende (born 1964), Roman Catholic bishop
 * Gerard Kemkers (born 1967), speed skating bronze medalist at 1988 Winter Olympics
 * Didy Veldman (born 1967), choreographer
 * J. Maarten Troost (born 1969), travel writer
 * Stephan Veen (born 1970), field hockey player in the 1996 and 2000 Summer Olympics
 * Sharon Dijksma (born 1971), politician
 * Diederik Samsom (born 1971), politician
 * Michiel van Veen (born 1971), politician
 * Attje Kuiken (born 1977), politician and former civil servant
 * Rudmer Heerema (born 1978), politician
 * Rutger Smith (born 1981), track and field athlete
 * Henk Nijboer (born 1983), politician
 * Sophie Polkamp (born 1984), field hockey athlete, two-time Olympic champion
 * Kim Feenstra (born 1985), model
 * Marijn Nijman (born 1985), former international cricketer
 * Manja Smits (born 1985), politician
 * Bauke Mollema (born 1986), cyclist
 * Lorena Klijn (born 1987), kickboxer
 * Tom-Jelte Slagter (born 1989), professional road racing cyclist
 * Lois Abbingh (1992), handball player
 * Jur P. van den Berg (born 1981), computer engineer
 * Jorden van Foreest (born 1999), chess grandmaster