Historical Intelligence Index

A research index of 307 famous historical IQ estimates. None of them is a verified test score: each entry gives the commonly cited estimate, a cautious range, a confidence level for the evidence and a profile with sources.

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Version 1.0 · Updated August 2026 · Methodology disclosed

All 307 figures, ranked

#	Name	Era	Confidence	Range	Estimate
1	William James Sidis Child Prodigy & Writer	20th Century	Very low	250 to 300	250
2	Marilyn vos Savant Columnist & Author	20th-21st Century	Low	186 to 228	228
3	Terence Tao Mathematician	20th-21st Century	Very low	220 to 230	220
4	Kim Ung-yong Civil Engineer & Child Prodigy	20th-21st Century	Very low	200 to 210	210
5	Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Poet, Novelist & Scientist	18th-19th Century	Low	190 to 210	190+
6	Bobby Fischer Chess Grandmaster	20th Century	Very low	181 to 187	187
7	Francis Galton Polymath & Statistician	19th Century	Low	178 to 200	180+
8	Hugo Grotius Jurist & Scholar	17th Century	Low	170 to 200	175
9	Thomas Wolsey Cardinal & Lord Chancellor	Renaissance	Low	170 to 200	175
10	Christopher Langan Self-taught Theorist	20th-21st Century	Low	160 to 195	174
11	Alan Turing Mathematician & Computer Scientist	20th Century	Very low	155 to 180	170+
12	Carl Friedrich Gauss Mathematician & Physicist	19th Century	Very low	160 to 180	170+
13	Emmy Noether Mathematician	20th Century	Very low	155 to 180	170+
14	Gottfried Leibniz Mathematician & Philosopher	17th-18th Century	Low	170 to 205	170+
15	John von Neumann Mathematician & Computer Pioneer	20th Century	Very low	160 to 190	170+
16	Kurt Gödel Logician & Mathematician	20th Century	Very low	160 to 180	170+
17	Leonhard Euler Mathematician	18th Century	Very low	160 to 180	170+
18	Pierre-Simon Laplace Mathematician & Astronomer	18th-19th Century	Low	170 to 190	170+
19	Srinivasa Ramanujan Mathematician	20th Century	Very low	155 to 185	170+
20	Voltaire Writer & Philosopher	18th Century	Low	170 to 190	170+
21	Alexander Grothendieck Mathematician	20th Century	Very low	150 to 180	165
22	Alexander von Humboldt Naturalist & Explorer	19th Century	Low	165 to 185	165+
23	Archimedes Mathematician & Inventor	Ancient Greece	Very low	155 to 175	165+
24	Avicenna (Ibn Sina) Physician & Philosopher	11th Century	Very low	150 to 180	165
25	Bernhard Riemann Mathematician	19th Century	Very low	150 to 180	165
26	Blaise Pascal Mathematician & Philosopher	17th Century	Low	165 to 195	165+
27	David Hilbert Mathematician	19th-20th Century	Very low	150 to 180	165
28	Évariste Galois Mathematician	19th Century	Very low	150 to 180	165
29	George Berkeley Philosopher & Bishop	18th Century	Low	160 to 190	165
30	Henri Poincaré Mathematician & Physicist	19th-20th Century	Very low	150 to 180	165
31	James Clerk Maxwell Theoretical Physicist	19th Century	Very low	155 to 175	165+
32	Joseph-Louis Lagrange Mathematician	18th Century	Very low	150 to 180	165
33	Lev Landau Physicist	20th Century	Very low	150 to 180	165
34	Murray Gell-Mann Physicist	20th Century	Very low	150 to 180	165
35	Norbert Wiener Mathematician	20th Century	Very low	150 to 180	165
36	Paul Dirac Theoretical Physicist	20th Century	Very low	155 to 175	165+
37	Thomas Young Physician & Polymath	18th-19th Century	Very low	150 to 180	165
38	Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Composer	18th Century	Low	145 to 175	165+
39	Wolfgang Pauli Physicist	20th Century	Very low	150 to 180	165
40	Albert Einstein Physicist	20th Century	Low	150 to 170	160+
41	Aristotle Philosopher & Polymath	Ancient Greece	Very low	145 to 170	160+
42	Arthur Schopenhauer Philosopher	19th Century	Very low	145 to 175	160
43	Bertrand Russell Philosopher & Logician	20th Century	Very low	150 to 170	160+
44	Charles Babbage Mathematician & Inventor	19th Century	Very low	145 to 175	160
45	Claude Shannon Mathematician & Engineer	20th Century	Very low	145 to 175	160
46	Dante Alighieri Poet	Medieval	Very low	145 to 175	160
47	David Hume Philosopher & Historian	18th Century	Low	160 to 180	160+
48	Enrico Fermi Physicist	20th Century	Very low	150 to 170	160+
49	Erwin Schrödinger Physicist	20th Century	Very low	145 to 175	160
50	Francis Bacon Philosopher & Statesman	16th-17th Century	Low	160 to 180	160+
51	Freeman Dyson Physicist & Mathematician	20th Century	Very low	145 to 175	160
52	Galileo Galilei Astronomer & Physicist	17th Century	Low	160 to 185	160+
53	Georg Cantor Mathematician	19th Century	Very low	145 to 175	160
54	Giacomo Leopardi Poet & Philosopher	19th Century	Low	155 to 185	160
55	Ibn al-Haytham Mathematician & Physicist	11th Century	Very low	145 to 175	160
56	Immanuel Kant Philosopher	18th Century	Low	155 to 175	160+
57	Isaac Newton Physicist & Mathematician	17th Century	Low	160 to 190	160+
58	James Joyce Novelist	20th Century	Very low	145 to 175	160
59	James Madison 4th US President	18th-19th Century	Low	140 to 160	160
60	Johann Sebastian Bach Composer	18th Century	Low	145 to 170	160+
61	John Milton Poet & Polemicist	17th Century	Low	160 to 180	160+
62	John Stuart Mill Philosopher & Economist	19th Century	Low	160 to 180	160+
63	Josiah Willard Gibbs Physicist & Chemist	19th Century	Very low	145 to 175	160
64	Leo Szilard Physicist	20th Century	Very low	145 to 175	160
65	Leonardo da Vinci Polymath	Renaissance	Low	160 to 180	160+
66	Linus Pauling Chemist	20th Century	Very low	145 to 175	160
67	Lord Byron Poet	19th Century	Low	160 to 180	160+
68	Ludwig Boltzmann Physicist	19th Century	Very low	145 to 175	160
69	Ludwig Wittgenstein Philosopher	20th Century	Very low	150 to 170	160+
70	Maryam Mirzakhani Mathematician	20th-21st Century	Very low	145 to 175	160
71	Niels Henrik Abel Mathematician	19th Century	Very low	145 to 175	160
72	Nikola Tesla Inventor	20th Century	Very low	145 to 170	160+
73	Noam Chomsky Linguist & Activist	20th-21st Century	Very low	145 to 170	160+
74	Paul Allen Microsoft Co-founder	20th-21st Century	Low	145 to 170	160
75	Paul Erdős Mathematician	20th Century	Very low	145 to 175	160
76	Pierre de Fermat Mathematician & Lawyer	17th Century	Very low	145 to 175	160
77	Plato Philosopher	Ancient Greece	Very low	145 to 170	160+
78	René Descartes Philosopher & Mathematician	17th Century	Low	160 to 180	160+
79	Richard Feynman Theoretical Physicist	20th Century	Very low	145 to 170	160+
80	Robert Hooke Natural Philosopher & Architect	17th Century	Very low	145 to 175	160
81	Søren Kierkegaard Philosopher	19th Century	Very low	145 to 175	160
82	Stephen Hawking Theoretical Physicist	20th-21st Century	Low	150 to 170	160+
83	Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar Astrophysicist	20th Century	Very low	145 to 175	160
84	Thomas Aquinas Theologian & Philosopher	Medieval	Very low	145 to 175	160
85	Victor Hugo Novelist & Poet	19th Century	Low	160 to 180	160+
86	William Shakespeare Playwright & Poet	16th-17th Century	Very low	145 to 170	160+
87	Jimmy Carter 39th US President	20th-21st Century	Low	145 to 157	157
88	Adam Smith Economist & Philosopher	18th Century	Low	150 to 170	155+
89	Baruch Spinoza Philosopher	17th Century	Low	155 to 175	155+
90	Bill Gates Microsoft Co-founder	20th-21st Century	Low	150 to 165	155+
91	C. S. Lewis Scholar & Novelist	20th Century	Very low	140 to 170	155
92	Chien-Shiung Wu Physicist	20th Century	Very low	140 to 170	155
93	Christiaan Huygens Physicist & Astronomer	17th Century	Low	155 to 175	155+
94	Desiderius Erasmus Humanist Scholar	Renaissance	Very low	140 to 170	155
95	Edward Teller Physicist	20th Century	Very low	140 to 170	155
96	Elon Musk Tech Entrepreneur	21st Century	Very low	140 to 165	155+
97	Emanuel Lasker World Chess Champion & Mathematician	19th-20th Century	Very low	140 to 170	155
98	Euclid Mathematician	Ancient Greece	Very low	140 to 170	155
99	Friedrich Nietzsche Philosopher	19th Century	Very low	140 to 165	155+
100	J. R. R. Tolkien Philologist & Novelist	20th Century	Very low	140 to 170	155
101	J. Robert Oppenheimer Theoretical Physicist	20th Century	Very low	145 to 165	155+
102	Johannes Kepler Astronomer & Mathematician	17th Century	Low	155 to 175	155+
103	John Calvin Theologian & Reformer	Renaissance	Low	155 to 175	155+
104	John Locke Philosopher	17th Century	Low	145 to 165	155+
105	John Nash Mathematician	20th Century	Very low	140 to 170	155
106	John Quincy Adams 6th US President & Diplomat	19th Century	Low	155 to 175	155+
107	Karl Marx Philosopher & Economist	19th Century	Very low	140 to 165	155+
108	Leo Tolstoy Novelist & Philosopher	19th Century	Very low	140 to 165	155+
109	Lise Meitner Physicist	20th Century	Very low	140 to 170	155
110	Louis Pasteur Microbiologist	19th Century	Very low	140 to 165	155+
111	Ludwig van Beethoven Composer	18th-19th Century	Low	145 to 165	155+
112	Michel de Montaigne Essayist	Renaissance	Very low	140 to 170	155
113	Michelangelo Artist & Sculptor	Renaissance	Low	155 to 180	155+
114	Nicolaus Copernicus Astronomer	16th Century	Low	140 to 165	155+
115	Niels Bohr Physicist	20th Century	Very low	145 to 165	155+
116	Omar Khayyam Mathematician, Astronomer & Poet	12th Century	Very low	140 to 170	155
117	Oscar Wilde Playwright & Wit	19th Century	Very low	140 to 170	155
118	Pythagoras Mathematician & Philosopher	Ancient Greece	Very low	140 to 165	155+
119	Robert Boyle Chemist & Natural Philosopher	17th Century	Very low	140 to 170	155
120	Saint Augustine Theologian & Philosopher	Late Antiquity	Very low	140 to 170	155
121	Samuel Taylor Coleridge Poet & Critic	18th-19th Century	Low	150 to 175	155
122	Socrates Philosopher	Ancient Greece	Very low	145 to 165	155+
123	Sofia Kovalevskaya Mathematician	19th Century	Very low	140 to 170	155
124	Vladimir Nabokov Novelist & Lepidopterist	20th Century	Very low	140 to 170	155
125	W. E. B. Du Bois Sociologist & Activist	19th-20th Century	Very low	140 to 170	155
126	Werner Heisenberg Theoretical Physicist	20th Century	Very low	145 to 165	155+
127	William James Psychologist & Philosopher	19th-20th Century	Very low	140 to 170	155
128	Woodrow Wilson 28th US President	20th Century	Low	145 to 155	155
129	Xavier Bichat Anatomist & Physiologist	18th Century	Low	150 to 175	155
130	James A. Garfield 20th US President	19th Century	Low	141 to 152	152
131	Al-Khwarizmi Mathematician & Astronomer	Early Middle Ages	Very low	135 to 165	150
132	Alexander the Great King of Macedonia	Ancient Greece	Very low	135 to 160	150+
133	Antoine Lavoisier Chemist	18th Century	Low	150 to 170	150+
134	Augustus Caesar First Roman Emperor	Ancient Rome	Very low	135 to 160	150+
135	Barbara McClintock Geneticist	20th Century	Very low	135 to 165	150
136	Benjamin Franklin Polymath & Founding Father	18th Century	Low	140 to 160	150+
137	Carl Jung Psychiatrist & Psychologist	20th Century	Very low	135 to 160	150+
138	Carl Linnaeus Botanist	18th Century	Very low	135 to 165	150
139	Carl Sagan Astronomer & Science Communicator	20th Century	Very low	135 to 160	150+
140	Dmitri Mendeleev Chemist	19th Century	Very low	140 to 160	150+
141	Dorothy Hodgkin Chemist	20th Century	Very low	135 to 165	150
142	Edgar Allan Poe Writer & Critic	19th Century	Very low	135 to 165	150
143	Émilie du Châtelet Mathematician & Physicist	18th Century	Very low	135 to 165	150
144	Ernest Rutherford Physicist	20th Century	Very low	140 to 160	150+
145	Francis Crick Molecular Biologist	20th Century	Very low	135 to 165	150
146	Frédéric Chopin Composer & Pianist	19th Century	Very low	135 to 160	150+
147	Frederick Douglass Abolitionist & Writer	19th Century	Very low	135 to 165	150
148	Fyodor Dostoevsky Novelist	19th Century	Very low	140 to 160	150+
149	Geoffrey Chaucer Poet & Civil Servant	Medieval	Very low	135 to 165	150
150	George Frideric Handel Composer	18th Century	Low	150 to 170	150+
151	Grace Hopper Computer Scientist & Rear Admiral	20th Century	Very low	135 to 165	150
152	Hannah Arendt Political Theorist	20th Century	Very low	135 to 165	150
153	Humphry Davy Chemist	18th-19th Century	Very low	135 to 165	150
154	Isaac Asimov Science Fiction Author	20th Century	Very low	135 to 160	150+
155	James Watt Engineer & Inventor	18th Century	Very low	135 to 165	150
156	Jean Piaget Developmental Psychologist	20th Century	Very low	135 to 165	150
157	Jean-Paul Sartre Philosopher & Writer	20th Century	Very low	135 to 165	150
158	Jeff Bezos Amazon Founder	20th-21st Century	Very low	140 to 160	150+
159	John Dalton Chemist & Physicist	18th-19th Century	Very low	135 to 165	150
160	Julius Caesar Roman Dictator & General	Ancient Rome	Very low	135 to 160	150+
161	Karl Popper Philosopher of Science	20th Century	Very low	135 to 165	150
162	Lao Tzu Philosopher	Ancient China	Very low	135 to 160	150+
163	Maria Montessori Educator & Physician	20th Century	Very low	135 to 160	150+
164	Marie Curie Physicist & Chemist	20th Century	Low	140 to 160	150
165	Mark Zuckerberg Meta CEO	21st Century	Very low	135 to 160	150+
166	Martin Luther Theologian & Reformer	Renaissance	Low	150 to 170	150+
167	Mary Somerville Scientist & Writer	19th Century	Very low	135 to 165	150
168	Max Planck Theoretical Physicist	19th-20th Century	Very low	140 to 160	150+
169	Michael Faraday Physicist & Chemist	19th Century	Low	150 to 170	150+
170	Miguel de Cervantes Novelist	16th-17th Century	Very low	135 to 165	150
171	Paul Morphy Chess Prodigy	19th Century	Very low	135 to 165	150
172	Raphael Painter & Architect	Renaissance	Low	150 to 170	150+
173	Richard Wagner Composer	19th Century	Low	150 to 170	150+
174	Rosalind Franklin Chemist & X-ray Crystallographer	20th Century	Very low	140 to 160	150+
175	Simone de Beauvoir Philosopher & Feminist	20th Century	Very low	135 to 160	150+
176	Sophie Germain Mathematician	18th-19th Century	Very low	135 to 165	150
177	Stanley Kubrick Film Director	20th Century	Very low	135 to 165	150
178	Steve Jobs Apple Co-founder	20th-21st Century	Very low	135 to 160	150+
179	Thomas Jefferson US Founding Father	18th Century	Low	140 to 160	150+
180	Tycho Brahe Astronomer	16th Century	Very low	135 to 165	150
181	Virginia Woolf Novelist & Essayist	20th Century	Very low	135 to 160	150+
182	Ada Lovelace Mathematician (Early Computing)	19th Century	Low	135 to 155	145
183	Alan Watts Philosopher & Speaker	20th Century	Very low	130 to 155	145+
184	Albert Camus Writer & Philosopher	20th Century	Very low	130 to 160	145
185	Alexander Graham Bell Inventor & Teacher of the Deaf	19th-20th Century	Very low	130 to 160	145
186	Alfred Binet Psychologist	19th-20th Century	Very low	130 to 160	145
187	Alfred Nobel Chemist, Inventor & Industrialist	19th Century	Very low	130 to 160	145
188	B. F. Skinner Behavioural Psychologist	20th Century	Very low	130 to 160	145
189	Charles Dickens Novelist	19th Century	Low	145 to 180	145+
190	Charles Spearman Psychologist & Statistician	19th-20th Century	Very low	130 to 160	145
191	Claude Debussy Composer	19th-20th Century	Very low	130 to 160	145
192	Confucius Philosopher	Ancient China	Very low	130 to 155	145+
193	Dwight D. Eisenhower 34th US President & General	20th Century	Low	132 to 145	145
194	Edwin Hubble Astronomer	20th Century	Very low	130 to 160	145
195	Fibonacci Mathematician	13th Century	Very low	130 to 160	145
196	Florence Nightingale Nurse & Statistician	19th Century	Very low	130 to 160	145
197	Franklin D. Roosevelt US President	20th Century	Very low	130 to 155	145+
198	Franz Kafka Novelist	20th Century	Very low	130 to 155	145+
199	Franz Schubert Composer	19th Century	Very low	130 to 160	145
200	Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel Philosopher	18th-19th Century	Low	145 to 165	145+
201	Gregor Mendel Scientist & Augustinian Friar	19th Century	Very low	130 to 160	145
202	H. G. Wells Novelist & Futurist	19th-20th Century	Very low	130 to 160	145
203	Helen Keller Author & Activist	20th Century	Very low	130 to 160	145
204	Hippocrates Physician	Ancient Greece	Very low	130 to 160	145
205	Horatio Nelson Admiral	18th Century	Very low	130 to 160	145
206	Hypatia Mathematician & Philosopher	Late Antiquity	Very low	130 to 155	145+
207	Ivan Pavlov Physiologist	19th-20th Century	Very low	130 to 160	145
208	Jane Austen Novelist	19th Century	Very low	130 to 155	145+
209	Johannes Brahms Composer & Pianist	19th Century	Very low	130 to 160	145
210	Johannes Gutenberg Inventor & Printer	15th Century	Very low	130 to 160	145
211	Joseph Haydn Composer	18th Century	Very low	130 to 160	145
212	Katherine Johnson NASA Mathematician	20th Century	Very low	130 to 160	145
213	Marcus Aurelius Roman Emperor & Philosopher	Ancient Rome	Very low	130 to 155	145+
214	Mark Twain Author & Humorist	19th Century	Very low	130 to 155	145+
215	Mary Shelley Novelist	19th Century	Very low	130 to 160	145
216	Mikhail Tal World Chess Champion	20th Century	Very low	130 to 160	145
217	Napoleon Bonaparte Emperor of the French	19th Century	Low	125 to 155	145
218	Niccolò Machiavelli Political Philosopher & Diplomat	Renaissance	Very low	135 to 155	145+
219	Pablo Picasso Artist	20th Century	Very low	130 to 155	145+
220	Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky Composer	19th Century	Very low	130 to 160	145
221	Queen Elizabeth I Queen of England	16th Century	Very low	130 to 155	145+
222	Rembrandt van Rijn Painter	17th Century	Low	135 to 155	145+
223	Salvador Dalí Surrealist Artist	20th Century	Very low	130 to 155	145+
224	Seneca Stoic Philosopher & Statesman	Ancient	Very low	130 to 160	145
225	Sun Tzu Military Strategist	Ancient China	Very low	130 to 155	145+
226	Theodore Roosevelt US President	20th Century	Very low	130 to 155	145+
227	Thomas Edison Inventor & Businessman	19th-20th Century	Very low	130 to 155	145
228	Thomas Hobbes Political Philosopher	17th Century	Low	145 to 165	145+
229	Warren Buffett Investor	20th-21st Century	Very low	130 to 155	145+
230	Wilbur and Orville Wright Aviation Pioneers	20th Century	Very low	130 to 160	145
231	Richard Nixon 37th US President	20th Century	Low	131 to 143	143
232	Calvin Coolidge 30th US President	20th Century	Low	127 to 142	142
233	Herbert Hoover 31st US President	20th Century	Low	130 to 142	142
234	Ronald Reagan 40th US President	20th Century	Low	118 to 142	142
235	Lyndon B. Johnson 36th US President	20th Century	Low	128 to 141	141
236	Abraham Lincoln President of the United States	19th Century	Low	130 to 150	140+
237	Agatha Christie Crime Novelist	20th Century	Very low	125 to 155	140
238	Akbar the Great Mughal Emperor	Renaissance	Very low	125 to 155	140
239	Alexander Fleming Bacteriologist	20th Century	Very low	125 to 155	140
240	Antonio Vivaldi Composer & Violinist	17th-18th Century	Very low	125 to 155	140
241	Arthur Conan Doyle Writer & Physician	19th-20th Century	Very low	125 to 155	140
242	Booker T. Washington Educator & Leader	19th-20th Century	Very low	125 to 155	140
243	Caravaggio Painter	16th-17th Century	Very low	125 to 155	140
244	Catherine the Great Empress of Russia	18th Century	Very low	125 to 150	140+
245	Charles Darwin Naturalist & Biologist	19th Century	Low	140 to 165	140+
246	Claude Monet Impressionist Painter	19th-20th Century	Very low	125 to 150	140+
247	Cleopatra Pharaoh of Egypt	Ancient Egypt	Very low	130 to 150	140
248	David Wechsler Psychologist	20th Century	Very low	125 to 155	140
249	Edward Jenner Physician	18th-19th Century	Very low	125 to 155	140
250	Ernest Hemingway Novelist & Journalist	20th Century	Very low	125 to 150	140+
251	Frederick the Great King of Prussia	18th Century	Very low	130 to 150	140+
252	George Orwell Novelist & Essayist	20th Century	Very low	130 to 150	140+
253	George Washington Carver Agricultural Scientist	19th-20th Century	Very low	125 to 155	140
254	Guglielmo Marconi Inventor	19th-20th Century	Very low	125 to 155	140
255	Hannibal Barca Carthaginian General	Ancient Carthage	Very low	130 to 150	140+
256	Harry S. Truman 33rd US President	20th Century	Low	128 to 140	140
257	Hedy Lamarr Actress & Inventor	20th Century	Very low	125 to 155	140
258	Indira Gandhi Indian Prime Minister	20th Century	Very low	125 to 150	140+
259	Johannes Vermeer Painter	17th Century	Very low	125 to 155	140
260	Jonas Salk Virologist	20th Century	Very low	125 to 155	140
261	José Raúl Capablanca World Chess Champion	20th Century	Very low	125 to 155	140
262	Jules Verne Novelist	19th Century	Very low	125 to 155	140
263	Lewis Terman Psychologist	20th Century	Very low	125 to 155	140
264	Margaret Thatcher UK Prime Minister	20th Century	Very low	125 to 150	140+
265	Maya Angelou Poet & Memoirist	20th-21st Century	Very low	125 to 150	140+
266	Otto von Bismarck Chancellor of Germany	19th Century	Very low	130 to 150	140+
267	Rachel Carson Marine Biologist & Author	20th Century	Very low	125 to 155	140
268	Sigmund Freud Father of Psychoanalysis	20th Century	Very low	125 to 150	140+
269	Suleiman the Magnificent Ottoman Sultan	Renaissance	Very low	125 to 155	140
270	Wangari Maathai Environmentalist & Activist	20th-21st Century	Very low	125 to 150	140+
271	James Monroe 5th US President	18th-19th Century	Low	124 to 139	139
272	Alexander Hamilton US Founding Father & Treasury Secretary	18th Century	Low	135 to 155	135+
273	Andrew Carnegie Industrialist & Philanthropist	19th-20th Century	Very low	120 to 150	135
274	Ashoka Mauryan Emperor	Ancient	Very low	120 to 150	135
275	Garry Kasparov Chess Grandmaster	20th-21st Century	Low	123 to 140	135
276	Henry VIII King of England	Renaissance	Very low	120 to 150	135
277	John Adams 2nd US President & Founding Father	18th Century	Low	135 to 155	135+
278	John D. Rockefeller Industrialist & Philanthropist	19th-20th Century	Very low	120 to 150	135
279	Peter the Great Tsar and Emperor of Russia	17th-18th Century	Very low	125 to 145	135+
280	Samuel Morse Painter & Inventor	19th Century	Very low	120 to 150	135
281	Thomas More Lawyer, Writer & Statesman	Renaissance	Low	135 to 155	135+
282	Vincent van Gogh Artist	19th Century	Very low	120 to 145	135+
283	Walt Disney Animator & Entrepreneur	20th Century	Very low	120 to 150	135
284	Winston Churchill Prime Minister	WWII	Low	125 to 145	135
285	Bruce Lee Martial Artist & Actor	20th Century	Very low	115 to 145	130
286	Charlemagne King of the Franks & Emperor	Early Middle Ages	Very low	120 to 140	130+
287	Frida Kahlo Artist	20th Century	Very low	115 to 140	130+
288	Genghis Khan Founder of the Mongol Empire	13th Century	Very low	115 to 140	130+
289	Jean-Jacques Rousseau Philosopher & Writer	18th Century	Low	130 to 150	130+
290	Louis XIV King of France	17th-18th Century	Very low	115 to 145	130
291	Luis Alvarez Physicist	20th Century	Low	120 to 140	130
292	Martin Luther King Jr. Civil Rights Leader	20th Century	Low	120 to 140	130+
293	Nelson Mandela Anti-Apartheid Revolutionary	20th Century	Very low	115 to 140	130+
294	Queen Victoria Queen of the United Kingdom	19th Century	Very low	115 to 140	130+
295	Saladin Sultan of Egypt and Syria	12th Century	Very low	120 to 140	130+
296	William Shockley Physicist	20th Century	Low	120 to 140	130
297	Andrew Jackson 7th US President	19th Century	Low	125 to 145	125+
298	Harriet Tubman Abolitionist & Conductor	19th Century	Very low	110 to 135	125+
299	Henry Ford Industrialist	20th Century	Very low	110 to 140	125
300	Mahatma Gandhi Leader of Indian Independence	20th Century	Very low	110 to 135	125+
301	Oliver Cromwell Lord Protector of England	17th Century	Low	115 to 135	125+
302	Rosa Parks Civil Rights Activist	20th Century	Very low	110 to 135	125+
303	George Washington US Founding Father & President	18th Century	Low	120 to 140	120+
304	Joan of Arc French Military Leader	15th Century	Very low	105 to 130	120+
305	John F. Kennedy US President	20th Century	Low	115 to 140	119
306	Ulysses S. Grant 18th US President & Union General	19th Century	Low	110 to 130	115+
307	Muhammad Ali Boxer & Activist	20th Century	Low	78 to 100	85

Portraits from Wikimedia Commons (credits). Living people and figures without a licensed portrait are shown with an illustration.

How to read the index

None of these entries is treated as a verified standardized IQ score; there are no verified test scores in the index. The point estimate is a comparative editorial model based on documented work, education and contemporary accounts. The range reflects uncertainty. The confidence label reflects the quality and proximity of evidence, not certainty that the range is correct.

86 of the 307 profiles have an enhanced evidence file, and the index covers 26 eras.

01
Verify the record
Prefer institutional biographies, primary archives and scholarly histories.
02
Separate inference
Accomplishment supports exceptional ability but cannot be converted precisely into IQ.
03
Show uncertainty
Every profile publishes a range, confidence level and limitations.

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The IQ-style test the NFL used

Famous IQs are estimates. Yours could be real.

Before the draft, NFL teams gave prospects the Wonderlic: 50 questions in 12 minutes, and almost nobody finishes. We collected 241 reported player scores, each with its source. The average working adult scores about 21.

Take the free 12-minute Wonderlic-style test

Famous IQs in historyEvery figure with a searchable table
Modern public figuresProfiles built on documented evidence
Smartest fictional characters81 characters · #1 Meruem
Smartest anime characters33 characters · #1 Meruem
Smartest TV and film characters48 characters · #1 GLaDOS
Average IQ by profession86 careers · #1 Actuary
Highest IQ college majors51 majors · #1 Mathematics
Highest IQ universities32 universities · #1 Caltech

What's your IQ?

See where you would rank among history's greatest minds.

Take the IQ test

25 questions · about 12 minutes

Historical Intelligence Index

All 307 figures, ranked

How to read the index

Verify the record

Separate inference

Show uncertainty

Famous IQs are estimates. Yours could be real.

Four hard IQ puzzles this week

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