The Bernoullis (/bərˈnuːli/; [bɛʁˈnʊli];) were a patrician family of merchants and scholars, originally from Antwerp, who resettled in Basel, Switzerland. The name is sometimes misspelled Bernou-ill-i and mispronounced accordingly. Over the course of three generations, the Bernoullis produced eight mathematically gifted academics who, between them, contributed to the foundations of applied mathematics and physics.
Leon Bernoulli was a doctor in Antwerp, which, at that time, was in the Spanish Netherlands. He died in 1561, and in 1570 his son, Jacob, emigrated to Frankfurt am Main to escape from the Spanish persecution of the Huguenots. Jacob’s grandson, a spice trader, also named Jacob, moved to Basel, Switzerland in 1620, and was granted Swiss citizenship. His son, Niklaus (1623-1708), Leon’s great-great-grandson, married Margarethe Schönauer.
Niklaus had three sons, who became the foundation of the dynasty of mathematicians:
In addition to those mentioned above, the Bernoulli family produced many notable artists and scientists, in particular, a number of famous mathematicians in the 18th century: