20 Historical Geniuses with the Highest Estimated IQs

Goethe was not only Germany’s greatest writer; he also topped the IQ rankings with an estimated score between 210 and 225, making him one of the most intelligent people who ever lived. This Renaissance man was a master of everything from poetry to science.

At the age of eleven, William James Sidis gave lectures on four-dimensional spaces at Harvard, where he had been admitted despite the university’s initial refusal, as it considered him too young. His IQ, estimated on the basis of unverified claims, is said to have been between 200 and 300.

The creator of the Mona Lisa had an estimated IQ of between 180 and 220. What set Leonardo da Vinci apart was his ability to harmoniously blend art and engineering, designing flying machines, tanks, and submarines in the 15th century—several centuries before these inventions became a reality. 

Born prematurely in England, no one thought he would survive infancy. Newton developed differential and integral calculus at the same time as Leibniz. This English scientist, whose IQ was between 190 and 200, formulated the laws of motion and universal gravitation that explained everything from falling apples to planetary orbits.

Leibniz could read Latin fluently by the age of twelve and had mastered Greek shortly thereafter, demonstrating a precocious intelligence that would earn him an estimated IQ between 182 and 205. Researchers describe him as the “last universal genius” because of his fundamental contributions.

Some researchers rank him among the most intelligent people, with a potential IQ of around 250. At the age of three, Gauss corrected his father’s payroll calculations, demonstrating the mathematical prowess that would go on to revolutionize mathematics. He was born in 1777 to poor parents in Brunswick, Germany.

Pascal’s estimated IQ ranges from 180 to 195, reflecting a mind that had mastered geometry before adolescence, despite the fact that his father deliberately kept mathematical texts from him. At the age of twelve, he independently proved Euclid’s geometric propositions using his own terminology.

François-Marie Arouet, better known as Voltaire, had an estimated IQ of between 190 and 200, as well as a sharp mind that brought him both fame and exile. The French Enlightenment philosopher spent time imprisoned in the Bastille and years in exile for writing texts that offended the authorities.

This man remained surprisingly prolific even after completely losing his sight in 1771, dictating groundbreaking mathematical papers from memory. His complete works fill more than 70 volumes. Euler, with an IQ of 195 to 210, introduced much of modern mathematical notation, including the concept of a function.

Born in 1806 in London, Mill suffered a nervous breakdown at the age of twenty due to intense intellectual pressure, which led him to question his father’s utilitarian philosophy. He recovered and became the most influential liberal thinker in Victorian England. Mill’s IQ is estimated to be between 170 and 190.

The father of modern philosophy had an estimated IQ of 180, but his contributions suggest an even greater intellect. Descartes revolutionized mathematics by inventing the Cartesian coordinate system, which merged algebra and geometry. His famous statement, “Cogito, ergo sum,” has become the most frequently quoted phrase in philosophy.

This Italian astronomer, whose IQ is estimated to be between 160 and 190, was born in Pisa in 1564 and used his improved telescope to discover Jupiter’s four largest moons, the phases of Venus, and Saturn’s unusual rings. These observations confirmed Copernicus’s heliocentric model. His insistence that the Earth revolved around the sun contradicted the doctrine of the Catholic Church.

Curie’s IQ ranged from 180 to 200, reflecting a mind that broke down gender barriers while making discoveries that changed physics and medicine. She became the first woman to win a Nobel Prize, and later the first person to win two, for her discoveries of radium and polonium.

As an Egyptologist, he made significant contributions to the decipherment of the Rosetta Stone, although Jean-François Champollion received more credit. Young’s estimated IQ ranged from 185 to 200, which manifested itself in such diverse abilities that he was called “the last man who knew everything.” 

Despite chronic health problems, this icon revolutionized physics before dying of abdominal cancer at the age of just 48 in 1879. He left behind equations that made wireless communication, television, and countless modern technologies possible. Maxwell’s IQ is estimated to be between 190 and 205.

It is said that Grotius had an estimated IQ of 200, thanks to intellectual achievements that began at a very early age in 16th-century Holland. Born in 1583 in Delft, he entered the University of Leiden at the age of eleven, and at fifteen, he accompanied a diplomatic mission to France.

In Critique of Pure Reason, published in 1781 when Kant was 57 years old, he addresses epistemology by asserting that human reason structures our experience of reality. He proposes that morality stems from reason itself. Kant’s estimated IQ ranges from 145 to 175.

His reported IQ of 160 to 200 may seem modest compared to others, but Copernicus’s heliocentric theory undoubtedly sparked the greatest scientific revolution in history. This legendary figure studied mathematics, astronomy, medicine, and canon law at several European universities. 

A genius who changed the world doesn’t need to have achieved exceptional test scores. This German physicist, born in 1879 in Ulm, struggled to adapt to the rigid structure of the school system and failed his first college entrance exam. He is said to have had an IQ of around 160, which led him to develop the theory of general relativity.

Although he was diagnosed with ALS at the age of 21, Hawking’s genius never waned. He had an estimated IQ of between 160 and 180 and made groundbreaking contributions to black hole physics, quantum mechanics, and cosmology. Hawking is also the author of A Brief History of Time.