Famous People Who Were Polyglots (Knew Many Languages)

A polyglot is a multilingual person, someone who can speak or write many languages (though the number of languages necessary to be considered a polyglot can vary). Name these famous people who know or knew at least five languages.

Languages in italics signify a more limited fluency.

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Last updated: May 11, 2026

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First submitted	October 27, 2021
Times taken	362
Average score	57.7%
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Hint

Languages

Person

69–30 BC

The last ruling Pharaoh of Ptolemaic Egypt

Egyptian, Greek, +7 more

Cleopatra

1438–1481

Ottoman sultan who conquered Constantinople

Turkish, Arabic, Latin, Greek, Serbian, Persian

Mehmed II

1533–1603

Ruler of England

English, French, Spanish, Italian, Flemish, Greek, Latin, Welsh, Cornish, Scottish, Irish

Elizabeth I

1608–1674

Wrote the epic Paradise Lost

English, Latin, Greek, Hebrew, French, Spanish, Italian, Old English, Aramaic, Syriac

John Milton

1743–1826

Author of the Declaration of Independence

English, French, Italian, Latin, Spanish, Greek

Thomas Jefferson

1758–1843

American English spelling reformer, dictionary author

23 languages

Noah Webster

1777–1855

German mathematician and scientist (demagnetization)

Most of the principal European languages

Carl Friedrich Gauss

1807–1882

Poet of "Paul Revere's Ride"

English, Latin, Italian, French, Spanish, Portuguese, German, Dutch, Danish, Swedish, Icelandic, Finnish

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

1815–1898

Prussian statesman known as the "Iron Chancellor"

German, English, French, Italian, Russian, Polish, Plattdeutsch, Latin

Otto von Bismarck

1820–1895

Co-authored The Communist Manifesto with Karl Marx

German, English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, Italian, Russian, Polish, Irish

Friedrich Engels

1854–1891

French Symbolist poet of A Season in Hell

French, Latin, Greek, English, German, Spanish, Italian, Russian, Dutch, Arabic, Hindi, Amharic

Arthur Rimbaud

1856–1943

Serbian-American inventor who developed A/C

Serbo-Croatian, Slovenian, Czech, English, French, German, Hungarian, Italian, Latin

Nikola Tesla

1882–1941

Irish novelist of Ulysses

English, Italian, French, German, Norwegian, Latin, Irish, Greek

James Joyce

1890–1969

Vietnamese Communist leader

Vietnamese, French, English, Russian, Cantonese, Mandarin

Ho Chi Minh

1901–1970

First president of Indonesia

Javanese, Sundanese, Balinese, Indonesian, Dutch, German, English, French, Arabic, Japanese

Sukarno

1920–2005

The second-longest-serving pope in modern history

Polish, Latin, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, French, English, German

Pope John Paul II

1922–2015

Played Dracula, Count Dooku, and Saruman

English, German, French, Italian, Spanish, Swedish, Russian, Greek

Christopher Lee

1927–2022

Pope from 2005 to 2013

German, English, Italian, French, Spanish, Latin, Greek, Hebrew

Pope Benedict

1936–2025

Pope from 2013 to 2025

Spanish, Italian, Latin, German, French, Portuguese, English

Pope Francis

1937–2022

First female U.S. secretary of state

Czech, Polish, Serbo-Croatian, Russian, English, German, French

Madeleine Albright

1955–

Current head of the Catholic Church

English, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, French, Latin, German

Pope Leo XIV

1958–

Danish-American actor (Aragorn in Lord of the Rings)

English, Spanish, Danish, Italian, French, Arabic

Viggo Mortensen

1982–

Openly gay US presidential candidate in 2020

English, Norwegian, Spanish, French, Italian, Maltese, Arabic, Dari

Pete Buttigieg

1984–

South African comedian and host of The Daily Show

English, Afrikaans, Zulu, Xhosa, Tswana, Tsonga, German

Trevor Noah

1981–

Swedish footballer (striker for AC Milan)

Swedish, Bosnian, English, French, Italian, Spanish

Zlatan Ibrahimović

1987–

Serbian ranked #1 tennis player in 13 different years

Serbian, English, German, French, Italian, Spanish

Novak Djokovic

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5 Comments

Level 90

Oct 27, 2021

I wonder how many people got Trevor Noah by typing in Noah Webster!

Level 82

Mar 25, 2022

Could you accept "Mehmet" as an alternative spelling?

Level 90

Mar 26, 2022

OK!

Level 83

May 11, 2026

I get this isn't an exhaustive list but the one that always comes to my mind is John Quincy Adams, who purportedly spoke 8 languages!

Level 90

May 11, 2026

Oh, I didn't know that! Only Jefferson was listed in the source.

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