IQ scores of
historical.
People who died long before intelligence testing existed, and the retrospective estimates made about them.
32 profiles
Each entry opens onto the full story behind the 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. · Portrait by Justus Sustermans (1636), via Wikimedia Commons, public domain. · Portrait by Jacques-Louis David (1812), via Wikimedia Commons, public domain. · Photograph by Marie-Lan Nguyen, public domain. Background removed for the portrait above. · Photograph by John Jabez Edwin Mayall (1875), public domain. Background removed for the portrait above. · Photograph by Eric Gaba (Wikimedia Commons user: Sting) (July 2005), CC BY-SA 2.5. Roman marble portrait of Socrates, 1st century AD, Louvre Museum. Background removed for the portrait above. · Photograph by Jastrow (2006), public domain. Roman marble copy after a Greek bronze by Lysippos (c. 330 BCE); the alabaster mantle is a modern addition. Background removed for the portrait above. · Photograph by Ángel M. Felicísimo, public domain. Background removed for the portrait above. · Portrait by Domenico Fetti (circa 1620), via Wikimedia Commons, public domain. · Photograph by an unknown photographer (1906), via Wikimedia Commons, public domain. Background removed for the portrait above. · Detail of the Alexander Mosaic from the House of the Faun, Pompeii (c. 100 BCE; now in the National Archaeological Museum of Naples), via Wikimedia Commons, public domain. · Photograph by Marion S. Trikosko for U.S. News & World Report (March 26, 1964), Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division (LC-DIG-ppmsc-01269); no known copyright restrictions. Cropped. · Yuan-dynasty court portrait of Taizu (Genghis Khan), artist unknown, 14th century, in the collection of the National Palace Museum, Taipei; the painting is in the public domain (digitized copy via Shuge). · Photograph, 1904, photographer not recorded, from the Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division (cph.3c12513; Commons file), public domain in the United States (copyright expired). Background removed for the portrait above. · Portrait by John Trumbull (1805; White House Collection; Commons file), public domain, cropped. · Photograph by Louis le Grand (Commons file) of an ancient Roman marble bust identified as Cleopatra VII (about 40–30 BCE; Altes Museum, Berlin), released into the public domain by the photographer, cropped. · Roman floor mosaic of Diogenes of Sinope (2nd or 3rd century CE; from a villa in Cologne; Römisch-Germanisches Museum; Commons file), public domain, cropped. · Portrait attributed to Daniele da Volterra (about 1545; The Metropolitan Museum of Art, object 436771; Commons file), public domain, cropped. · The Darnley Portrait of Elizabeth I by an unknown artist (about 1575; National Portrait Gallery, London; Commons file), public domain, cropped. · Photograph by Daniel Martin, Photothèque du musée Saint-Raymond, Toulouse (Commons file), CC BY-SA 4.0, of the marble bust of Marcus Aurelius in the Musée Saint-Raymond, cropped. · Self-portrait by Vincent van Gogh (1887; Art Institute of Chicago; Commons file), public domain, cropped. · Portrait by Christoph Bernhard Francke (about 1695; Herzog Anton Ulrich-Museum, Braunschweig; Commons file), public domain, cropped. · Photograph by Ricard Canals i Llambí (Paris, 1904; Commons file), public domain (the photographer died in 1931), cropped.
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More profiles are on the way. A name joins this category once its figure has been traced and a properly licensed portrait is cleared.
Get a measured score first — then the comparison actually means something. Thirty questions, instant result.
Start the test →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?
32 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! →