#1Ernest Bersot
1816–1880French journalist (1816-1880)
Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
The best known is the French journalist Ernest Bersot, with articles in 5 languages. Pierre Mesnard is second and Jean-Baptiste Cacault third. Half or more of the towns in Charente-Maritime have no one on record, but this one has 7.2 for every 10,000 residents. 2 of them were born before the Revolution, the first Louis Marguerite Aimé Allard in 1750.
The 1810s alone account for 1 of the births charted here.
Each dot is a person, stacked by the decade they were born.
Writers and artists take two of the three places.
#1French journalist (1816-1880)
French philosopher (1900–1969)
#3French soldier and officer (1769–1813)
The largest field is Writing & Arts, with 2 people.
The usual town: the share across everyone listed in French towns. Tap a field to see its people.
Here are 2 more, born from 1750 to 1890.
No one matches both filters.
Around it, Mauzé-sur-le-Mignon has the most people on record, 4 of them.
Ernest Bersot (French journalist (1816-1880)) is the best known by our measure: 5 Wikipedia and sister-site articles in different languages. Next come Pierre Mesnard and Jean-Baptiste Cacault.
5 people born in Surgères have a French Wikipedia article that confirms the town as their birthplace (and an English one that agrees, when there is one). Wikidata places 7 people here; the rest aren’t listed because an article names somewhere else or no town, or a check couldn’t be completed.
Among its famous people, writers and artists: 2 of the 5. That is 40% of the town’s list, against 25% across French towns.
Louis Marguerite Aimé Allard, born in 1750. The youngest on the list was born in 1900.
People whose Wikidata birthplace is Surgères itself, matched by its INSEE code (a commune merged into it counts when the dates allow), whose French Wikipedia article agrees, and their English article too when they have one. A hospital or neighbourhood recorded without its commune isn’t matched. People who only lived here, adult performers and people known mainly for crimes aren’t listed.
Their Wikidata birthplace may be a hospital, a neighbourhood or a wider area, another commune, or missing, or their articles may not name a birthplace. We only list people the sources agree on; editing Wikidata or Wikipedia changes this page at the next refresh.
From Wikidata (CC0: birthplaces, descriptions, years, occupations, how many Wikipedia and sister-site articles cover each person) and French and English Wikipedia (each person’s articles confirm the birthplace; linked, not quoted). Birthplaces are matched to the commune by INSEE code and its history of mergers (INSEE COG 2026). Ranked by the number of articles. Fields are read from Wikidata’s description and occupations. “The usual town”: everyone listed across French towns. Portraits: each person’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the license below (our copy, resized).
Contains public sector information under the Licence Ouverte / Open Licence 2.0 (Etalab): INSEE, DGFiP, the Interior Ministry’s statistics service (SSMSI), the Ministry of Education (DEPP), the Health Ministry’s statistics service (DREES) and the Housing Ministry (Carte des loyers). Commune boundaries: IGN Admin Express.