IQ Metrics
IIF Certified Assessment Start IQ Test
IIF Certified Assessment
Category

IQ scores of
historical.

People who died long before intelligence testing existed, and the retrospective estimates made about them.

In this category

10 profiles

Each entry opens onto the full story behind the figure.

Isaac Newton, painted by Godfrey Kneller in 1689
Historical

Isaac Newton

190Most-cited figure
Red chalk drawing, presumed self-portrait of Leonardo da Vinci
Historical

Leonardo da Vinci

180Most-cited figure
Marie Curie photographed around 1920
Historical

Marie Curie

180Most-cited figure
Srinivasa Ramanujan photographed in 1913, from the Trinity College collection
Historical

Srinivasa Ramanujan

185Most-cited figure
Thomas Edison, photographed by Louis Bachrach
Historical

Thomas Edison

145Most-cited figure
Ada Lovelace photographed in a daguerreotype by Antoine Claudet, around 1843
Historical

Ada Lovelace

155–175Estimated range
Carl Friedrich Gauss, oil portrait by Christian Albrecht Jensen, 1840
Historical

Carl Friedrich Gauss

250–300Circulating figure
Benjamin Franklin, painted by Joseph-Siffred Duplessis, circa 1785
Historical

Benjamin Franklin

160Most-cited figure
Charles Darwin, seated studio portrait from 1854
Historical

Charles Darwin

135Cox 1926 estimate
Blaise Pascal, copy of a 17th-century portrait after François II Quesnel, Palace of Versailles
Historical

Blaise Pascal

195Most-cited figure

Portrait by Godfrey Kneller (1689), public domain. · Presumed self-portrait, red chalk, c. 1512, via Wikimedia Commons, public domain. · Photograph by Henri Manuel (c. 1920), public domain. Background removed for the portrait above. · Photograph (1913) held by Trinity College, Cambridge, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0. · Photograph by Louis Bachrach, Bachrach Studios, restored by Michel Vuijlsteke, public domain. Background removed for the portrait above. · Daguerreotype by Antoine Claudet (c. 1843), public domain. · Portrait by Christian Albrecht Jensen (1840), via Wikimedia Commons, public domain. · Portrait by Joseph-Siffred Duplessis (c. 1785), public domain. · Photograph by Maull & Fox (1854), public domain. Background removed for the portrait above. · Portrait, copy after François II Quesnel, via Wikimedia Commons, public domain.

More profiles are on the way. A name joins this category once its figure has been traced and a properly licensed portrait is cleared.

How would you compare?

Get a measured score first — then the comparison actually means something. Thirty questions, instant result.

Start the test
Questions

Historical IQ, asked and answered

How are IQ scores for historical estimated?

Not by testing anyone. Each figure on this page is inferred from the documented record — published work, contemporary accounts, verified qualifications — using a named method set out under how we read a number. Every profile shows its own workings.

Which of these historical has the highest IQ?

Blaise Pascal holds the highest estimate in this category at 180–195. That ordering comes from the midpoint of each range and it re-sorts itself as profiles are added, so treat it as a convenience rather than a verdict. The full leaderboard ranks every category together.

How many historical profiles are there?

10 so far, and the list grows as figures are traced and portraits licensed. Browse the rest of the section from all categories, or start at the Celebrity IQ hub.

How do I compare my own IQ with these historical?

Get a measured number first. The IQ Metrics assessment is 30 questions and reports on the same 100-mean scale used on every profile here, with a percentile and an ability breakdown. How we score and norm it explains the benchmarking, and average IQ by country shows how the same scale looks across populations.

Where would you
actually land?

Your score, your percentile, your ability breakdown and a printable IIF certificate.

Find your IQ score now!
Secure & encryptedInstant results10–20 minutes