#1Famous people · Decorah
18 famous people were born in Decorah, more of them scientists and doctors than in most towns
Articles in 32 languages make the American mathematician Oswald Veblen the best known. William Foege is second and Rudolph Martin Anderson third. The largest group, 9, was born between 1920 and 1969. Only 25 of the 432 towns in Iowa with anyone on record list more.
Born here
18
notable people
Best known
Oswald Veblen
in 32 Wikipedia languages
First
1857
Henry Thomas Helgesen
Youngest
1994
Josey Jewell
Most common field
Science & Medicine
6 people
What stands out about Decorah’s famous people
★ What stands out · Known for
What Decorah is known for
Compared with the usual town, scientists and doctors are the most over-represented field, at 5.6 times.
The usual town: the share across everyone born in the towns gathered so far. Tap a field to see its people.
The best known
Born in Decorah
The three best known are all scientists and doctors.
#1
#2
#3Science & Medicine
Rudolph Martin Anderson
1876–1961American-Canadian explorer
10 Wikipedia languagesRead more ↗
Through the years
When Decorah’s famous people were born
The 1880s top the chart, with 3 births in the decade.
Science & MedicinePolitics & LawFaithFilm, TV & StageWriting & ArtsSports
Each dot is a person, stacked by the decade they were born.
Everyone
Everyone else born in Decorah
Another 15, 5 of them leaders.
Rob Sand
born 1982American lawyer and politician and Auditor of Iowa since 2019
Politics & LawWikipedia ↗
Robert William Hegner
1880–1942American zoologist, protozoologist and parasitologist
Science & MedicineWikipedia ↗
No one matches both filters.
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From Wikidata and Wikipedia: people whose birthplace is Decorah and whose English Wikipedia article agrees, ranked by how many Wikipedia languages cover each person. People known mainly for crimes, and adult performers, aren’t listed. “The usual town” = everyone born in the towns gathered so far.
Photo credits (8)
- Oswald Veblen: Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- William Foege: James Gathany of the CDC, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Rudolph Martin Anderson: Vilhjalmur Stefansson photographer unknown, most likely Stefansson or George H. Wilkins, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Rob Sand: Rob Sand for Governor, CC0, Wikimedia Commons
- Georgann Johnson: CBS Television, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Henry Thomas Helgesen: Harris & Ewing, photographer, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Josey Jewell: Jeffrey Beall, CC BY 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Robert F. Carolan: Gjykatakushtetuese, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons