list of polyglots#19th century

• Mithridates VI (135–63 BC), King of Pontus. According to Pliny the Elder, Mithridates could speak the languages of all of the twenty-two nations that he ruled.{{cite book|last=Summerer|first=Lâtife|year=2009|chapter=The Search for Mithridates: Reception of Mithridates VI between the 15th and the 20th Centuries|editor-last=Højte|editor-first=Jakob Munk|title=Mithridates VI and the Pontic Kingdom|url=https://pdfhost.io/v/zznhSRR.Z_Mithridates_VI_and_the_Pontic_Kingdom.pdf|location=Aarhus|publisher=Aarhus University Press|pages=15–34|isbn=978-87-7934-443-3}}
• Cleopatra (69–30 BC), Queen of Egypt. According to Plutarch, Cleopatra spoke many languages in addition to her native language, Greek, including Latin, Egyptian, {{Not a typo|Ethiopian}}, {{Not a typo|Trogodyte}}, and the languages of the Hebraioi, Arabes, Syrians, Medes, and Parthians.{{cite book|last=Roller|first=Duane W.|author-link=Duane W. Roller|year=2010|title=Cleopatra: A Biography|url=https://pdfhost.io/v/MW0fxLnZp_Cleopatra.pdf|location=Oxford|publisher=Oxford University Press|pages=46–48|isbn=978-0-19-536553-5}}
• Al-Farabi (870–950), Islamic philosopher. He was reputed to know seventy languages.{{cite book|last=Landau|first=Rom|author-link=Rom Landau|year=1959|title=Islam and the Arabs|url=https://archive.org/details/islamandthearabs008484mbp/page/n149/mode/2up|location=New York|publisher=The Macmillan Company|page=147}}
• Frederick II (1194–1250), King of Sicily and Holy Roman Emperor. He knew Italian, French, Latin, Greek, German, and Arabic.{{cite journal|last=Köhler|first=Walther|author-link=:de:Walther Köhler|year=1903|title=Emperor Frederick II., The Hohenstaufe|journal=The American Journal of Theology|volume=7|issue=2|pages=225–248|doi=10.1086/478355|jstor=3153729|doi-access=free}}

• Mehmed II (1432–1481), Sultan of the Ottoman Empire. In addition to his native language, Turkish, he learnt Arabic, Hebrew, Persian, Latin, and Greek.{{cite book|last=Runciman|first=Steven|author-link=Steven Runciman|year=1965|title=The Fall of Constantinople 1453|url=https://archive.org/details/fallofconstantin0000unse/page/56/mode/2up|location=Cambridge|publisher=Cambridge University Press|page=56}}
• Elizabeth I (1533–1603), Queen of England and Ireland. She is thought to have known English, Welsh, French, Spanish, Italian, Latin, Greek, and some German.{{cite web|title=Queen Elizabeth I: facts and myths|url=https://www.rmg.co.uk/stories/topics/queen-elizabeth-i-facts-myths|publisher=Royal Museums Greenwich|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210302003836/https://www.rmg.co.uk/stories/topics/queen-elizabeth-i-facts-myths|archive-date=2 March 2021|url-status=live}}
• Athanasius Kircher (1602–1680), German Jesuit scholar. He was said to know twelve languages.{{cite book|editor-last=Findlen|editor-first=Paula|editor-link=Paula Findlen|year=2004|title=Athanasius Kircher: The Last Man Who Knew Everything|url=https://kirchernetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/findlen-p-athanasius-kircher-the-last-man-who-knew-everything-2004.pdf|location=New York & London|publisher=Routledge|page=19|isbn=0-415-94016-8|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231127144346/https://kirchernetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/findlen-p-athanasius-kircher-the-last-man-who-knew-everything-2004.pdf|archive-date=27 November 2023|url-status=live}}
• John Milton (1608–1674), English poet. He knew English, Italian, Latin, Greek, and Hebrew, and to a lesser extent Dutch, French, Spanish, Aramaic, and Syriac.{{cite journal|last=Fowler|first=Alastair|author-link=Alastair Fowler|year=1998|title=Review: Milton's Languages: The Impact of Multilingualism on Style, by John K. Hale|url=https://www.euppublishing.com/doi/pdf/10.3366/tal.1998.7.2.231|journal=Translation and Literature|volume=7|issue=2|pages=231–237|doi= 10.3366/tal.1998.7.2.231|url-access=subscription}}
• Wojciech Bobowski (1610–1675), Polish musician held captive by the Ottoman Empire. He is said to have known Polish, English, German, French, Italian, Latin, Ancient Greek, Persian, Arabic, Hebrew, and Turkish.{{cite web|last=Kępa|first=Marek|date=25 April 2019|title=Wojciech Bobowski: The Pole Who Bridged the East & West|url=https://culture.pl/en/article/wojciech-bobowski-the-pole-who-bridged-the-east-west|website=Culture.pl|archive-url=https://archive.today/20230110211405/https://culture.pl/en/article/wojciech-bobowski-the-pole-who-bridged-the-east-west|archive-date=10 January 2023|url-status=live}}
• Alexander Mavrokordatos ({{circa|1641}}–1709), Ottoman Greek physician and Grand Dragoman of the Porte. He knew Greek, Ottoman Turkish, Arabic, Persian, Latin, Italian, French, Old Church Slavonic, and possibly German.{{cite thesis|last=Tzelepis|first=Dimitrios|year=2020|title=Τα Ρωμαϊκά του Αλέξανδρου Μαυροκορδάτου: κριτική έκδοση|trans-title=Roman History of Alexander Mavrocordatos: Critical Edition|url=https://www.didaktorika.gr/eadd/handle/10442/48420|type=PhD|language=el|publisher=[Democritus University of Thrace]]|page=19|doi=10.12681/eadd/48420|doi-access=free}}{{cite journal|last=Miović|first=Vesna|year=2023|title=Alexander Mavrocordatos Exaporite, Grand Dragoman and Secret Adviser to the Porte: Dubrovnik's Perspective|url=https://hrcak.srce.hr/file/450207.pdf|journal=Dubrovnik Annals|volume=27|pages=121–148|doi=10.21857/yk3jwhne19|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20250106142717/https://hrcak.srce.hr/file/450207.pdf|archive-date=6 January 2025|url-status=live}}
• Dimitrie Cantemir (1673–1723), Prince of Moldavia. He spoke Moldavian/Romanian, Italian, Latin, Modern Greek, Russian, Persian, Arabic, and Ottoman Turkish, and had an understanding of French, Ancient Greek, and Old Church Slavonic.{{cite book|last=Leezenberg|first=Michiel|year=2013|chapter=The Oriental Origins of Orientalism: The Case of Dimitrie Cantemir|chapter-url=https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.1515/9789048517336-013/html|editor-last1=Bod|editor-first1=Rens|editor-link1=Rens Bod|editor-last2=Maat|editor-first2=Jaap|editor-last3=Weststeijn|editor-first3=Thijs|title=The Making of the Humanities: Volume II: From Early Modern to Modern Disciplines|location=Amsterdam|publisher=Amsterdam University Press|pages=243–264|doi=10.1515/9789048517336-013|hdl=11245/1.378634|isbn=9789048517336|s2cid=163949301}}

• Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826), third president of the United States. He spoke English, French, Italian, and Latin, and could read Spanish and Greek. He may also have had some knowledge of German.{{cite web|title=Languages Jefferson Spoke or Read|url=https://www.monticello.org/site/research-and-collections/languages-jefferson-spoke-or-read|website=Monticello.org|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221112145205/https://www.monticello.org/research-education/thomas-jefferson-encyclopedia/languages-jefferson-spoke-or-read/|archive-date=12 November 2022|url-status=live}}
• William Jones (1746–1794), British philologist and jurist. He knew twenty-eight languages to varying degrees: English, Dutch, German, Swedish, Welsh, Russian, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, Latin, Greek, Sanskrit, Pali, Hindi, Bengali, Persian, Middle Persian, Zoroastrian Dari, Arabic, Hebrew, Syriac, Geʽez, Coptic, Turkish, Chinese, Tibetan, and the various forms of early Germanic preserved in runic inscriptions.{{cite journal|last=Edgerton|first=Franklin|author-link=Franklin Edgerton|year=1946|title=Sir William Jones: 1746–1794|journal=Journal of the American Oriental Society|volume=66|issue=3|pages=230–239|jstor=595570}} (The source refers to Middle Persian as Pahlavi, Zoroastrian Dari as Deri/Gabri/Gebri, Geʽez as Ethiopic, Tibetan as Tibetian, and the various forms of early Germanic as Runick.)
• Giuseppe Caspar Mezzofanti (1774–1849), Italian cardinal. One of his contemporaries recorded that he knew seventy-two languages to varying degrees; another calculated that he knew sixty or sixty-one.{{cite web|last=Erard|first=Michael|author-link=Michael Erard|date=26 June 2012|title=The Polyglot of Bologna|url=https://publicdomainreview.org/essay/the-polyglot-of-bologna|website=The Public Domain Review}} Both agreed that there were thirty languages that he had fully mastered: Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, French, Latin, English, Dutch, Flemish, German, Danish, Swedish, Russian, Polish, Czech, Illyrian, Greek, Romaic, Albanian, Ancient Armenian, Modern Armenian, Persian, Hungarian, Turkish, Hebrew, Rabbinical Hebrew, Arabic, Maltese, Aramaic, Coptic, and Chinese.{{cite book|last=Erard|first=Michael|author-link=Michael Erard|year=2012|title=Babel No More: The Search for the World's Most Extraordinary Language Learners|url=https://archive.org/details/babelnomoresearc0000erar/page/42/mode/2up|location=New York|publisher=Free Press|page=43|isbn=978-1-4516-2825-8}} (The source refers to Aramaic as Chaldean.)
• Carl Friedrich Gauss (1777–1855), German mathematician. He wrote in Latin{{r|Dunnington}} and could read Greek.{{cite book|last=Dunnington|first=G. Waldo|author-link=G. Waldo Dunnington|year=2004|title=Carl Friedrich Gauss: Titan of Science|url=https://archive.org/details/carlfriedrichgau0000dunn/page/310/mode/2up|location=Washington, D.C.|publisher=Mathematical Association of America|pages=310–311|isbn=0-88385-547-X}} In addition to his native language, German, he knew a number of modern European languages. At the age of sixty-two, he began studying Russian and mastered it within two years.{{cite book|last=Dunnington|first=G. Waldo|author-link=G. Waldo Dunnington|year=2004|title=Carl Friedrich Gauss: Titan of Science|url=https://archive.org/details/carlfriedrichgau0000dunn/page/236/mode/2up|location=Washington, D.C.|publisher=Mathematical Association of America|pages=237–239|isbn=0-88385-547-X}}
• Jean-François Champollion (1790–1832), French Egyptologist. He knew Latin, Greek, Sanskrit, Persian, Arabic, Hebrew, Aramaic, Syriac, Amharic, and Coptic.{{cite magazine|last=Acocella|first=Joan|author-link=Joan Acocella|date=22 November 2021|title=How the Rosetta Stone Yielded Its Secrets|url=https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2021/11/29/how-the-rosetta-stone-yielded-up-its-secrets-edward-dolnick-the-writing-of-the-gods|magazine=The New Yorker|archive-url=https://archive.today/20211124080638/https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2021/11/29/how-the-rosetta-stone-yielded-up-its-secrets-edward-dolnick-the-writing-of-the-gods|archive-date=24 November 2021|url-status=live}} (The source refers to Aramaic as Chaldean.)
• Helmuth von Moltke the Elder (1800–1891), Prussian field marshal. He knew seven languages, but was habitually taciturn, so that he was said to be "silent in seven languages".{{cite EB1911|wstitle=Moltke, Helmuth Carl Bernhard, Count von|volume=18|last=Wilkinson|first=Henry Spenser|author-link=Henry Spenser Wilkinson|editor-link=Hugh Chisholm|location=Cambridge|pages=677–681}} Among the languages he knew were German, English, Danish, French, Italian, and Turkish.{{cite encyclopedia|last=Poten|first=Bernhard von|author-link=Bernhard von Poten|year=1906|title=Moltke, Helmuth Graf von|url=https://de.wikisource.org/wiki/ADB:Moltke,_Helmuth_Graf_von|editor-last=Liliencron|editor-first=Rochus von|editor-link=Rochus von Liliencron|encyclopedia=Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie|lang=de|volume=52|location=Leipzig|publisher=Duncker & Humblot|pages=447–458}}

• William Rowan Hamilton (1805–1865), Irish mathematician. Encouraged by his uncle, he learnt many languages while still young, including Latin, Greek, Hindustani, Bengali, Marathi, Sanskrit, Persian, Arabic, Hebrew, Aramaic, Syriac, and Malay.{{cite book|last=Bruno|first=Leonard C.|year=1999|title=Math and Mathematicians: The History of Math Discoveries around the World (Volume 1: A–H)|url=https://archive.org/details/mathmathematicia00brun/page/208/mode/2up|location=Farmington Hills, Michigan|publisher=UXL|page=208|isbn=0-7876-3813-7}} (The source refers to Aramaic as Chaldee.)
• Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807–1882), American poet. He knew Latin,{{cite book|last=Arvin|first=Newton|author-link=Newton Arvin|year=1963|title=Longfellow: His Life and Work|url=https://archive.org/details/longfellowhislif00arvi/page/10/mode/2up|location=Boston|publisher=Little, Brown and Company|page=11}} Italian, French, Spanish, Portuguese, and German.{{cite book|last=Arvin|first=Newton|author-link=Newton Arvin|year=1963|title=Longfellow: His Life and Work|url=https://archive.org/details/longfellowhislif00arvi/page/24/mode/2up|location=Boston|publisher=Little, Brown and Company|page=25}} He also had some knowledge of Dutch, Danish, Swedish, Icelandic, and Finnish.{{cite book|last=Sullivan|first=Wilson|year=1972|title=New England Men of Letters|url=https://archive.org/details/newenglandmenofl0000sull/page/188/mode/2up|location=New York|publisher=The Macmillan Company|page=189|isbn=978-0-02-788680-1}}
• Jan Prosper Witkiewicz (1808–1839), Polish-Lithuanian explorer and diplomat. He spoke Polish, Russian, English, German, French, Persian, Pashto, Kazakh, and Chagatai Turkish.{{cite web|last=Kamalakaran|first=Ajay|date=3 December 2016|title=How a Russian spy outfoxed the British in 19th century Afghanistan|url=https://www.rbth.com/arts/2016/12/03/how-a-russian-spy-outfoxed-the-british-in-19th-century-afghanistan_652865|website=Russia Beyond The Headlines|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170516133533/https://www.rbth.com/arts/2016/12/03/how-a-russian-spy-outfoxed-the-british-in-19th-century-afghanistan_652865|archive-date=16 May 2017|url-status=live}}{{cite book|last=Dalrymple|first=William|author-link=William Dalrymple (historian)|year=2013|title=Return of a King: The Battle for Afghanistan, 1839–42|url=https://archive.org/details/returnofkingbatt0000dalr/page/76/mode/2up|location=New York|publisher=Alfred A. Knopf|page=76|isbn=978-0-307-95828-0}}
• Solomon Caesar Malan (1812–1894), British clergyman. He was conversant with around eighty languages, including German, Spanish, Italian, Latin, Sanskrit, Hebrew, Arabic, Chinese, and Tibetan.{{cite ODNB|last=Simpson|first=R. S.|year=2004|title=Malan, Solomon Caesar [formerly César Jean Salomon] (1812–1894)|location=Oxford|publisher=Oxford University Press|id=17854}}
• Otto von Bismarck (1815–1898), Prussian statesman. In addition to his native language, German, he spoke English and French, and to a lesser extent Italian, Russian, Polish, and Plattdeutsch. He also had some knowledge of Latin.{{cite book|last=Lowe|first=Charles|year=1885|title=Prince Bismarck: An Historical Biography (Volume II: The German Empire)|url=https://archive.org/details/princebismarcka00lowegoog/page/538/mode/2up|location=London|publisher=Cassell & Company|pages=538–540}}
• Herschell Filipowski (1816–1872), Lithuanian-born British actuary and editor. He was conversant with Polish, Russian, German, English, French, Spanish, Latin, Hebrew, Arabic, and Chinese.{{cite book|last=Morais|first=Henry Samuels|author-link=Henry Samuel Morais|year=1880|title=Eminent Israelites of the Nineteenth Century: A Series of Biographical Sketches|url=https://archive.org/details/eminentisraelite00morarich/page/74/mode/2up|location=Philadelphia|publisher=Edward Stern & Co|page=74}}
• Karl Marx (1818–1883), German political theorist. He spoke German, English, and French, and could read Italian, Spanish, Romanian, and Russian.{{cite journal|last=Kangal|first=Kaan|date=1 February 2024|title=Marx and Engels as Polyglots|url=https://monthlyreview.org/2024/02/01/marx-and-engels-as-polyglots/|website=Monthly Review|volume=75|issue=9|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240205132304/https://monthlyreview.org/2024/02/01/marx-and-engels-as-polyglots/|archive-date=5 February 2024|url-status=live}}
• C. V. Runganada Sastri (1819–1881), Indian civil servant. The Dictionary of Indian Biography states that he knew English, German, French, Latin, Greek, Persian, Sanskrit, Hindustani, Marathi, Tamil, Malayalam, Kannada, Telugu, Arabic, and some Hebrew.{{cite book|last=Buckland|first=C. E.|year=1906|title=Dictionary of Indian Biography|url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.501620/page/n387|location=London|publisher=Swan Sonnenschein & Co|page=375}} (The source refers to Marathi as Mahratti and to Kannada as Canarese.) Other sources suggest he also knew Italian.{{cite web|title=The 'most enlightened Indian' and a polymath unrivalled|url=https://pressinstitute.in/vidura/the-most-enlightened-indian-and-a-polymath-unrivalled/|publisher=Press Institute of India|date=24 June 2023|archive-url=https://archive.today/20240416070957/https://pressinstitute.in/vidura/the-most-enlightened-indian-and-a-polymath-unrivalled/|archive-date=16 April 2024|url-status=live}}
• Friedrich Engels (1820–1895), German political theorist. He knew many European languages, including German, English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, Italian, Russian, Polish, and Irish.{{cite journal|first=Paul|last=Lafargue|author-link=Paul Lafargue|date=15 August 1905|title=Personal Recollections of Engels|url=http://www.marxists.org/archive/lafargue/1905/08/engels.htm|journal=The Social Democrat|volume=9|number=8|pages=483–488|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221121100223/https://www.marxists.org/archive/lafargue/1905/08/engels.htm|archive-date=21 November 2022|url-status=live}}
• Richard Francis Burton (1821–1890), British explorer and writer. He knew twenty-nine languages and eleven dialects, including Greek, Latin, Italian, Spanish, French, Provençal, Béarnais, Persian, Sanskrit, Hindustani, Gujarati, Punjabi, Sindhi, Marathi, Telugu, Toda, Arabic, Somali, and Swahili.{{cite book|last=Erard|first=Michael|author-link=Michael Erard|year=2012|title=Babel No More: The Search for the World's Most Extraordinary Language Learners|url=https://archive.org/details/babelnomoresearc0000erar/page/46/mode/2up|location=New York|publisher=Free Press|page=47|isbn=978-1-4516-2825-8}}
• Heinrich Schliemann (1822–1890), German businessman and archaeologist. He knew eighteen languages, including German, Dutch, English, French, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, and Russian.{{cite journal|last=Jahn|first=Jürgen|year=1979|title=A Self-Motivated and Self-Directed Second Language Learner: Heinrich Schliemann|journal=The Modern Language Journal|volume=63|issue=5/6|pages=273–276|jstor=324234|doi=10.2307/324234}}
• Pedro II (1825–1891), last emperor of Brazil. He spoke Portuguese, Spanish, French, Italian, Latin, German, Hebrew, and Tupi-Guarani, and could read Provençal, Greek, Sanskrit, and Arabic.{{cite journal|last1=Romanelli|first1=Sergio|last2=Mafra|first2=Adriano|last3=de Souza|first3=Rosane|year=2012|title=D. Pedro II tradutor: análise do processo criativo|url=https://periodicos.ufsc.br/index.php/traducao/article/view/2175-7968.2012v2n30p101/23497.pdf|journal=Cadernos de Tradução|volume=2|issue=30|pages=101–118|doi=10.5007/2175-7968.2012v2n30p101|language=pt}}
• Pashko Vasa (1825–1892), Albanian writer. He spoke Albanian, Italian, French, Greek, and Turkish. He also knew some English and Serbo-Croatian, and in his later years learnt Arabic.{{cite web|last=Elsie|first=Robert|author-link=Robert Elsie|title=Pashko VASA|url=http://www.albanianliterature.net/authors/classical/vasa/index.html|website=Albanianliterature.net|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160913172658/http://www.albanianliterature.net/authors/classical/vasa/index.html|archive-date=13 September 2016|url-status=live}}
• Georg Sauerwein (1831–1904), German translator and private tutor. He spoke and wrote twenty-six languages.{{cite book|last=Erard|first=Michael|author-link=Michael Erard|year=2012|title=Babel No More: The Search for the World's Most Extraordinary Language Learners|url=https://archive.org/details/babelnomoresearc0000erar|location=New York|publisher=Free Press|pages=73–74|isbn=978-1-4516-2825-8}}
• Pétrus Ký (1837–1898), Vietnamese scholar. He spoke eight languages and had reasonable competence in several others.{{cite journal|last=Osborne|first=Milton E.|author-link=Milton E. Osborne|year=1970|title=Truong Vinh Ky and Phan Thanh Gian: The Problem of a Nationalist Interpretation of 19th Century Vietnamese History|journal=The Journal of Asian Studies|volume=30|issue=1|pages=81–93|jstor=2942724|doi=10.2307/2942724|s2cid=162810338}}
• James Murray (1837–1915), Scottish lexicographer. He was familiar with a wide range of languages and dialects, including Latin, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, French, Catalan, Provençal, Vaudois, Anglo-Saxon, Mœso-Gothic, German, Dutch, Flemish, Danish, Russian, Persian, Sanskrit, Hebrew, Syriac, Aramaic, Phoenician, and Coptic.{{cite book|last=Winchester|first=Simon|author-link=Simon Winchester|year=2003|title=The Meaning of Everything: The Story of the Oxford English Dictionary|url=https://archive.org/details/meaningofeveryth00winc/page/72/mode/2up|location=Oxford|publisher=Oxford University Press|pages=72–73|isbn=0-19-860702-4}}
• Naim Frashëri (1846–1900), Albanian writer. He wrote in Albanian, Greek, Persian, and Turkish. He also knew French, Italian, and Arabic.{{cite web|last=Elsie|first=Robert|author-link=Robert Elsie|title=Naim FRASHËRI|url=http://www.albanianliterature.net/authors/classical/frasheri/index.html|website=Albanianliterature.net|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160731105331/http://www.albanianliterature.net/authors/classical/frasheri/index.html|archive-date=31 July 2016|url-status=live}}
• Sami Frashëri (1850–1904), Albanian writer. He knew Albanian, Greek, French, Italian, Persian, Arabic, and Turkish.{{cite book|last=Uslu|first=Günay|author-link=Gunay Uslu|year=2017|title=Homer, Troy and the Turks: Heritage and Identity in the Late Ottoman Empire, 1870–1915|url=https://library.oapen.org/bitstream/id/6d3b25f3-f7d7-4979-8fc2-e778779bf0a6/1004098.pdf|location=Amsterdam|publisher=Amsterdam University Press|page=101|doi=10.5117/9789462982697|isbn=978-94-6298-269-7|jstor=j.ctt1zkjxv2}}
• Eduardo Toda y Güell (1852–1941), Spanish diplomat. He spoke seven languages.{{cite web|title=El mundo de Eduardo Toda|url=https://www.lavanguardia.com/cultura/culturas/20200620/481837470118/eduard-toda-antiguo-egipto-viajes.html|website=La Vanguardia|language=es|date=20 June 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220209080806/https://www.lavanguardia.com/cultura/culturas/20200620/481837470118/eduard-toda-antiguo-egipto-viajes.html|archive-date=9 February 2022|url-status=live}}
• Emilio Kosterlitzky (1853–1928), Russian-born Mexican soldier. He spoke Russian, Polish, Spanish, French, Italian, English, German, Danish, and Swedish.{{cite book|editor-last1=Truett|editor-first1=Samuel|editor-last2=Young|editor-first2=Elliott|year=2004|title=Continental Crossroads: Remapping U.S.-Mexico Borderlands History|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XutSuKkNTcgC&pg=PA245|location=Durham, North Carolina|publisher=Duke University Press|page=245|isbn=0-8223-3389-9}}
• Arthur Rimbaud (1854–1891), French poet. He spoke and wrote five European languages: French, Italian, Spanish, English, and German.{{cite book|last=Robb|first=Graham|author-link=Graham Robb|year=2000|title=Rimbaud|url=https://archive.org/details/rimbaud0000robb/page/290/mode/2up|location=New York|publisher=W.W. Norton|page=290|isbn=0-393-04955-8}} He also knew Arabic, Amharic, Harari, Oromo, and Somali, and may have had some knowledge of Argobba, Tigrinya, and a now-extinct language named Kotou.{{cite book|last=Robb|first=Graham|author-link=Graham Robb|year=2000|title=Rimbaud|url=https://archive.org/details/rimbaud0000robb/page/338/mode/2up|location=New York|publisher=W.W. Norton|pages=339–340|isbn=0-393-04955-8}}
• Robert Dick Wilson (1856–1930), American Bible scholar. He learnt twenty-six languages and dialects, including Latin, Italian, French, Spanish, Portuguese, German, Hebrew, Aramaic, Syriac, and Arabic.{{cite journal|last=Nicks|first=Brian|year=2008|title=Life and Work of Robert Dick Wilson|url=https://tms.edu/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/tmsj19e.pdf|journal=The Master's Seminary Journal|volume=19|issue=1|pages=91–106}}
• Nikola Tesla (1856–1943), Serbian-American inventor. He spoke eight languages,{{cite book|last=O'Neill|first=John J.|author-link=John Joseph O'Neill (journalist)|year=2008|title=Prodigal Genius: The Life of Nikola Tesla|url=https://archive.org/details/prodigalgeniusli0000onei/page/282/mode/2up|location=Kempton, Illinois|publisher=Adventures Unlimited Press|pages=282|isbn=978-1-931882-85-9}} including Serbo-Croatian, English, German, French, and Italian.{{cite book|last=O'Neill|first=John J.|author-link=John Joseph O'Neill (journalist)|year=2008|title=Prodigal Genius: The Life of Nikola Tesla|url=https://archive.org/details/prodigalgeniusli0000onei/page/22|location=Kempton, Illinois|publisher=Adventures Unlimited Press|pages=23|isbn=978-1-931882-85-9}}
• L. L. Zamenhof (1859–1917), creator of Esperanto. He spoke Russian, Polish, Yiddish, German, and French natively or at a native level. He also spoke English, but not well. He knew four classical languages, Latin, Greek, Hebrew, and Aramaic, and two constructed languages, Volapük and Esperanto, and may have had some knowledge of Italian and Lithuanian.{{cite book|last=Kiselman|first=Christer|author-link=:eo:Christer Kiselman|year=2008|chapter=Esperanto: Its Origins and Early History|chapter-url=http://www2.math.uu.se/~kiselman/pau2008.pdf|editor-last=Pelczar|editor-first=Andrzej|title=Prace Komisji Spraw Europejskich|volume=2|location=Kraków|publisher=Polska Akademia Umiejętności|pages=39–56}}
• José Rizal (1861–1896), Filipino writer and nationalist. He spoke or could read Tagalog, Visayan, Ilocano, Cebuano, Subanen, Malay, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, French, Catalan, Latin, English, Dutch, German, Swedish, Russian, Greek, Sanskrit, Hebrew, Arabic, Japanese, and Chinese.{{cite journal|last=Ocampo|first=Estaban A. de|year=1962|title=Dr. Jose Rizal, Father of Filipino Nationalism|journal=Journal of Southeast Asian History|volume=3|issue=1|pages=44–55|doi=10.1017/S0217781100000545|jstor=20067366}} (The source refers to Subanen as Subano and to Malay as Malayan.)
• Emil Krebs (1867–1930), German diplomat. By the time he left school, he could speak twelve languages. In 1914, he calculated that he could translate to and from German in thirty-two languages. Later he was said to know sixty or sixty-five languages, including English, Dutch, Icelandic, Norwegian, Danish, Swedish, Latin, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, French, Catalan, Romanian, Russian, Ukrainian, Polish, Czech, Slovak, Serbo-Croatian, Slovenian, Bulgarian, Lithuanian, Latvian, Irish, Greek, Albanian, Armenian, Persian, Sanskrit, Hindi, Urdu, Gujarati, Hungarian, Finnish, Estonian, Georgian, Basque, Arabic, Hebrew, Syriac, Assyrian, Babylonian, Sumerian, Coptic, Swahili, Turkish, Tatar, Mongolian, Manchu, Japanese, Korean, Chinese, Tibetan, Burmese, Thai, Malay, and Javanese.{{cite book|last=Erard|first=Michael|author-link=Michael Erard|year=2012|title=Babel No More: The Search for the World's Most Extraordinary Language Learners|url=https://archive.org/details/babelnomoresearc0000erar/page/148/mode/2up|location=New York|publisher=Free Press|pages=149–151|isbn=978-1-4516-2825-8}}
• Minakata Kumagusu (1867–1941), Japanese scholar. He could read eighteen or nineteen languages, including Latin, Greek, Persian, and Arabic.{{cite journal|last=Blacker|first=Carmen|author-link=Carmen Blacker|year=1983|title=Minakata Kumagusu: A Neglected Japanese Genius|journal=Folklore|volume=94|issue=2|pages=139–152|doi=10.1080/0015587X.1983.9716272|jstor=1260487}}
• Rıza Tevfik Bölükbaşı (1869–1949), Turkish politician. He knew Turkish, English, German, French, Spanish, Italian, Latin, Albanian, Armenian, Persian, Arabic, and Hebrew.{{cite book|last=Özoğlu|first=Hakan|year=2011|title=From Caliphate to Secular State: Power Struggle in the Early Turkish Republic|url=https://pdfhost.io/v/DzWUVT3RZ_From_Caliphate_to_Secular_State.pdf|location=Santa Barbara, California|publisher=Praeger|page=48|isbn=9780313379567}}{{cite book|last1=Heper|first1=Metin|last2=Criss|first2=Nur Bilge|year=2009|title=Historical Dictionary of Turkey|url=https://pdfhost.io/v/sCnBqXMih_Historical_Dictionary_of_Turkey.pdf|edition=3rd|location=Lanham, Maryland|publisher=Scarecrow Press|page=43|isbn=978-0-8108-6065-0}}
• Ahatanhel Krymsky (1871–1942), Ukrainian scholar. At the age of twenty-five, he was proficient in seventeen languages.{{cite journal|last=Ostash|first=Ihor|author-link=Ihor Ostash|year=2020|title='Beirut Stories' by Ahatanhel Krymsky: For the 150th Anniversary of the Birth of the Prominent Ukrainian Orientalist|url=http://ud.gdip.com.ua/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/29.pdf|journal=Diplomatic Ukraine|volume=XXI|pages=289–298|doi=10.37837/2707-7683-2020-16|s2cid=235013947|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201212064137/http://ud.gdip.com.ua/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/29.pdf|archive-date=12 December 2020|url-status=dead}}
• Sri Aurobindo (1872–1950), Indian philosopher. He could speak, read, and write Bengali, English, and French; read and write Sanskrit, Latin, and Greek; speak and read Gujarati, Marathi, and Hindi; and read German, Italian, and Spanish.{{cite book|last=Heehs|first=Peter|author-link=Peter Heehs|date=2008|title=The Lives of Sri Aurobindo|url=https://archive.org/details/livesofsriaurobi0000heeh_u0h7/page/42/mode/2up|location=New York|publisher=Columbia University Press|page=43|isbn=978-0-231-14098-0}}
• Harold Williams (1876–1928), New Zealand journalist. He knew more than forty languages,{{r|Pares|Borman}} including Maori, Samoan, Tongan, Fijian, Ilocano,{{cite book|first=Alston|last=Charlotte|year=2004|title=Russian Liberalism and British Journalism: The Life and Work of Harold Williams (1876–1928)|url=https://theses.ncl.ac.uk/dspace/bitstream/10443/1653/1/Alston%2004.pdf|series=Doctoral thesis|publisher=University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160806180517/https://theses.ncl.ac.uk/dspace/bitstream/10443/1653/1/Alston%2004.pdf|archive-date=6 August 2016|url-status=dead}} Russian, Ukrainian, Polish, Old Church Slavonic, Lithuanian, Latvian, Greek, Armenian, Persian, Sanskrit, Hungarian, Finnish, Estonian, Georgian, Turkish, Tatar, Buryat, Japanese, and Chinese.{{cite journal|last=Pares|first=Bernard|author-link=Bernard Pares|year=1929|title=Harold Williams|journal=The Slavonic and East European Review|volume=7|issue=20|pages=327–333|jstor=4202278}}{{cite journal|last=Borman|first=Arkady|year=1969|title=Harold Williams: A British Journalist and Linguist in Russia|journal=The Russian Review|volume=28|issue=3|pages=327–337|jstor=127399}}
• Hrachia Acharian (1876–1953), Armenian linguist. Among the languages he knew were Armenian, Greek, English, German, French, Italian, Latin, Persian, Sanskrit, Hebrew, and Laz.{{cite web|script-title=hy:Աճառյան Հրաչյա|url=http://encyclopedia.am/pages.php?bId=2&hId=915|website=Encyclopedia.am|language=hy|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110518201416/http://encyclopedia.am/pages.php?bId=2&hId=915|archive-date=18 May 2011|url-status=dead}}
• Martin Buber (1878–1965), Austrian philosopher. He spoke German, Yiddish, English, French, Italian, Polish, and Hebrew, and could read Dutch, Spanish, Latin, and Greek.{{cite book|last=Friedman|first=Maurice|author-link=Maurice Stanley Friedman|year=1981|title=Martin Buber's Life and Work: The Early Years, 1878–1923|url=https://archive.org/details/martinbuberslife0000frie/page/8/mode/2up|location=New York|publisher=E. P. Dutton|page=8|isbn=0-525-15325-X}}
• Ho Chi Minh (1890–1969), Vietnamese statesman. In addition to his native language, Vietnamese, he knew French, English, Russian, Cantonese, and Mandarin.{{cite book|last=Duiker|first=William J.|author-link=William J. Duiker|year=2000|title=Ho Chi Minh: A Life|url=https://archive.org/details/hochiminh00duik/page/3/mode/2up|location=New York|publisher=Hyperion|pages=4, 142, 628|isbn=0-7868-6387-0}}
• Ahmad Kasravi (1890–1946), Iranian scholar. He knew Persian, Middle Persian, Armenian, English, Arabic, and Esperanto.{{cite book|editor-last=Melville|editor-first=Charles|editor-link=Charles P. Melville|year=2012|title=A History of Persian Literature: Volume X: Persian Historiography|url=https://pdfhost.io/v/wmo0FodGC_A_History_of_Persian_Literature_Volume_X.pdf|location=London & New York|publisher=I. B. Tauris|page=384|isbn= 978-1-84511-911-9}} (The source refers to Middle Persian as Pahlavi.)
• Edmund Wilson (1895–1972), American literary critic. He studied French and Italian at university, and later learnt to read German, Russian, Hebrew, and some Hungarian.{{cite magazine|last=Menand|first=Louis|author-link=Louis Menand|date=8 August 2005|title=Missionary|url=https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2005/08/08/missionary-2|magazine=The New Yorker|archive-url=https://archive.today/20160415145329/http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2005/08/08/missionary-2|archive-date=15 April 2016|url-status=live}}
• Roman Jakobson (1896–1982), Russian linguist. He knew around twenty languages, including Russian, Czech, Bulgarian, French, and German.{{cite book|last=Frank|first=Joseph|author-link=Joseph Frank (writer)|year=1990|title=Through the Russian Prism: Essays on Literature and Culture|url=https://pdfhost.io/v/XuV3XWFzH_Through_the_Russian_Prism.pdf|location=Princeton, New Jersey|publisher=Princeton University Press|page=3|isbn=0-691-06821-6}}
• William James Sidis (1898–1944), American child prodigy. He knew English, German, Russian, French, Latin, Greek, Armenian, and Turkish.{{cite book|last=Sperling|first=A. P.|year=1947|title=Psychology for the Millions|url=https://archive.org/details/psychologyforthe032777mbp/page/n351/mode/2up|location=New York|publisher=Frederick Fell|page=332}}

• Sukarno (1901–1970), Indonesian politician. He spoke Javanese, Sundanese, Balinese, Indonesian, Dutch, German, English, French, Arabic, and Japanese.{{cite book|last=Ludwig|first=Arnold M.|year=2002|title=King of the Mountain: The Nature of Political Leadership|location=Lexington|publisher=University Press of Kentucky|page=150|isbn=0-8131-2233-3|url=https://archive.org/details/kingofmountain00arno_0/page/150}}
• Dora Bloch (1902–1976), Israeli hostage. She spoke Hebrew, Arabic, Russian, German, English, and Italian.{{cite web|title=Friends, Family Describe Dora Bloch|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1755&dat=19760714&id=8OQhAAAAIBAJ&pg=4259,5631759|website=Sarasota Herald-Tribune|date=15 July 1976}}
• Steven Runciman (1903–2000), British historian. He began learning French, Latin, Greek, and Russian at a young age,{{cite web|last=Clive|first=Nigel|date=3 November 2000|title=Obituary: Sir Steven Runciman|url=https://www.theguardian.com/news/2000/nov/03/guardianobituaries.books|website=The Guardian|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140508224028/https://www.theguardian.com/news/2000/nov/03/guardianobituaries.books|archive-date=8 May 2014|url-status=live|quote=Indeed, an academic career was foreshadowed by his precocious ability to read French at three, Latin at six, Greek at seven and Russian at 11.}}{{cite web|title=Sir Steven Runciman|url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/1372747/Sir-Steven-Runciman.html|website=The Telegraph|date=2 November 2000|archive-url=https://archive.today/20140911155611/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/1372747/Sir-Steven-Runciman.html|archive-date=11 September 2014|url-status=live|quote=Steven could read Latin and Greek by the time he was six.}} and later learnt Bulgarian, Old Church Slavonic, Armenian, and some Turkish.{{cite web|last=Malcolm|first=Noel|author-link=Noel Malcolm|date=5 October 2016|title="I have the temperament of a harlot": on the life of Steven Runciman|url=https://www.newstatesman.com/culture/poetry/2016/10/i-have-temperament-harlot-life-steven-runciman|website=New Statesman|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161006133931/https://www.newstatesman.com/culture/poetry/2016/10/i-have-temperament-harlot-life-steven-runciman|archive-date=6 October 2016|url-status=live|quote=…learning Russian, Bulgarian, Old Church Slavonic and Armenian in order to do so.}}{{cite book|last=Bryer|first=Anthony|author-link=Anthony Bryer|year=2003|chapter=James Cochran Stevenson Runciman 1903–2000|chapter-url=https://www.thebritishacademy.ac.uk/documents/1737/120p365.pdf|editor-last=Marshall|editor-first=P. J.|editor-link=P. J. Marshall|title=Proceedings of the British Academy: Volume 120: Biographical Memoirs of Fellows II|location=Oxford|publisher=Oxford University Press|pages=365–381|isbn=0-19-726302-X|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200726113312/https://www.thebritishacademy.ac.uk/documents/1737/120p365.pdf|archive-date=26 July 2020|url-status=live|quote=SR's next virtue was a skill with languages, begun early with Latin and Greek. Slavonic brought him Bury's respect—SR's mother had engaged the future Mrs Arthur Waley to teach him Russian as early as 1915. He taught himself Armenian for Lecapenus. His lectures in French were acclaimed in Belgium. He spoke basic Turkish with Rudolph Nureyev but wisely examined his students in Istanbul through an interpreter. He avoided Hungarian, but gave his last speech, on Mount Athos, in Greek katharevousa.}} He may also have had some knowledge of Arabic and a number of other languages.{{cite journal|last=Constable|first=Giles|author-link=Giles Constable|year=2003|title=Sir Steven Runciman|journal=Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society|volume=147|issue=1|pages=95–101|jstor=1558132|quote=He was familiar with the sources not only in Latin and Greek but also in Arabic, Armenian, Russian, and the Balkan languages.}}{{cite web|title=The library of Sir Steven Runciman|url=https://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/~itsnew/newsletter/2005/05/runciman.html|publisher=University of St Andrews|date=May 2005|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170411060035/https://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/~itsnew/newsletter/2005/05/runciman.html|archive-date=11 April 2017|url-status=live|quote=The collection also reflects Runciman's wide linguistic abilities: only around half is written in English, with French, Greek, Bulgarian, Latin and German being the main other source languages, and there are materials in a wide variety of other languages from Italian and Romanian to Armenian and Arabic.}}
• John von Neumann (1903–1957), Hungarian mathematician. He spoke Hungarian, English, German, and French, and also knew Latin and Greek.{{cite journal|last=Ulam|first=S.|author-link=Stanislaw Ulam|date=1958|title=John von Neumann 1903–1957|url=http://www.ams.org/bull/1958-64-03/S0002-9904-1958-10189-5/S0002-9904-1958-10189-5.pdf|journal=Bulletin of the American Mathematical Society|volume=64|issue=3|pages=1–49|doi=10.1090/S0002-9904-1958-10189-5}}
• Syed Mujtaba Ali (1904–1974), Bangladeshi writer. He knew Bengali, Urdu, Hindi, Gujarati, Marathi, Sanskrit, Persian, Pashto, English, German, French, Italian, and Arabic.{{cite web|title=A Man of Many Hues|url=https://www.thedailystar.net/a-man-of-many-hues-10754|website=The Daily Star|date=11 February 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140221220559/https://www.thedailystar.net/a-man-of-many-hues-10754|archive-date=21 February 2014|url-status=live}}
• Pent Nurmekund (1906–1996), Estonian linguist. He could read over eighty languages and could speak a great many of them.{{cite book|last1=Gethin|first1=Amorey|last2=Gunnemark|first2=Erik V.|year=1996|title=The Art and Science of Learning Languages|location=Oxford|publisher=Intellect Books|page=318|url=https://archive.org/details/artscienceoflear0000geth/page/318/mode/2up|isbn=1-871516-48-X}}
• H. S. David (1907–1981) Sri Lankan priest. He reportedly knew thirty-three languages: Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam, Tulu, Kui, Brahui, Sinhalese, Hindi, Vedic, Sanskrit, Prakrit, Pali, Avestan, English, Dutch, German, Danish, Norwegian, Swedish, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, Latin, Greek, Lithuanian, Russian, Malay, Arabic, Hebrew, Assyrian, and Sumerian.{{cite web|last1=Rajendra|first1=J. C. N.|last2=Mukunthan|first2=T.|title=A Brilliant Scholar|url=https://www.academia.edu/4912574|website=Academia.edu}}
• Muhammad Hamidullah (1908–2002), stateless scholar. He knew ten languages and published works in seven of them (Urdu, Persian, English, German, French, Arabic, and Turkish).{{cite web|last=Parekh|first=Rauf|author-link=Rauf Parekh|date=14 December 2009|title=Dr Hamidullah: a silent soldier, rare scholar|url=https://www.dawn.com/news/918949/dr-hamidullah-a-silent-soldier-rare-scholar|website=Dawn|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304045303/https://www.dawn.com/news/918949/dr-hamidullah-a-silent-soldier-rare-scholar|archive-date=4 March 2016|url-status=live}}
• João Guimarães Rosa (1908–1967), Brazilian novelist. He spoke Portuguese, Spanish, Italian, French, English, German, Esperanto, and some Russian, and could read with the aid of a dictionary Swedish, Dutch, Latin, and Greek. He studied the grammar of a number of other languages, including Sanskrit, Lithuanian, Polish, Czech, Danish, Finnish, Hungarian, Arabic, Hebrew, Japanese, and Tupi.{{cite web|title=Entrevista: João Guimarães Rosa por Lenice Guimarães de Paula Pitanguy|url=http://www.germinaliteratura.com.br/pcruzadas_guimaraesrosa_ago2006.htm|website=Germina: Revista De Literatura & Arte|language=pt|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061023104951/https://www.germinaliteratura.com.br/pcruzadas_guimaraesrosa_ago2006.htm|archive-date=23 October 2006|url-status=live}}
• Kató Lomb (1909–2003), Hungarian interpreter. She spoke Hungarian, Russian, German, English, and French, and to a lesser extent Spanish, Italian, Polish, Japanese, and Chinese. She could also translate from Dutch, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Ukrainian, Czech, Bulgarian, Romanian, Portuguese, and Latin.{{cite book|last=Lomb|first=Kató|year=2008|title=Polyglot: How I Learn Languages|location=Berkeley & Kyoto|publisher=TESL-EJ Publications|page=xvii|isbn=978-1-60643-706-3|url=http://www.tesl-ej.org/books/lomb-2nd-Ed.pdf}}{{cite book|last=Lomb|first=Kató|year=2018|title=Harmony of Babel: Profiles of Famous Polyglots of Europe|location=Berkeley & Kyoto|publisher=TESL-EJ Publications|pages=149–150|isbn=978-1-5323-6611-6|url=http://www.tesl-ej.org/books/Babel-2ed.pdf}}
• Uku Masing (1909–1985), Estonian scholar. He reputedly knew around sixty-five languages.{{cite web|title=Uku Masing - Writer, theologian, philologist|url=http://www.vm.ee/est/kat_29/3909.html|publisher=Eesti Välisministeerium|date=14 August 2003|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20031024154440/http://www.vm.ee/est/kat_29/3909.html|archive-date=24 October 2003|url-status=dead}}

• Hugh Nibley (1910–2005), American scholar. He knew fourteen languages.{{cite web|last=Oliver|first=Myrna|date=2 March 2005|title=Hugh Nibley, 94; Mormon Scholar, Professor and Author|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2005-mar-02-me-nibley2-story.html|website=Los Angeles Times|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200905165933/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2005-mar-02-me-nibley2-story.html|archive-date=5 September 2020|url-status=live}}
• Lyuba Kutincheva (1910–1998), Bulgarian traveller. She spoke Bulgarian, Russian, Romanian, French, Turkish, Arabic, and Esperanto.{{cite web|last=Борисов|first=Теодор|date=23 April 2020|title=Мистериозната авантюристка Люба Кутинчева|url=https://bulgarianhistory.org/lyuba-kutincheva/|website=Българска история|language=bg-BG|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220529110742/https://bulgarianhistory.org/lyuba-kutincheva/|archive-date=29 May 2022|url-status=live}}
• Enoch Powell (1912–1998), British politician and classical scholar. He spoke English, German, French, Italian, Modern Greek, and Urdu,{{cite book|last=Heffer|first=Simon|author-link=Simon Heffer|year=1999|title=Like the Roman: The Life of Enoch Powell|url=https://archive.org/details/likeromanlifeofe0000heff/page/140/mode/2up|location=London|publisher=Phoenix|page=140|isbn=0-75380-820-X}} and had a reading knowledge of Spanish, Portuguese, Russian, and Welsh.{{cite book|last=Heffer|first=Simon|author-link=Simon Heffer|year=1999|title=Like the Roman: The Life of Enoch Powell|url=https://archive.org/details/likeromanlifeofe0000heff/page/580/mode/2up|location=London|publisher=Phoenix|pages=581–582|isbn=0-75380-820-X}} Among classical languages, he knew Ancient Greek, Latin, Hebrew, and Aramaic.{{r|Heffer}}{{cite news|title=Enoch Powell: John Enoch Powell, political maverick, died on February 8th, aged 85|url=https://www.economist.com/obituary/1998/02/12/enoch-powell|newspaper=The Economist|date=12 February 1998|archive-url=https://archive.today/20230111032301/https://www.economist.com/obituary/1998/02/12/enoch-powell|archive-date=11 January 2023|url-status=live|quote=He added systematically to his store of languages, among them Hebrew, which he learnt at 70 to help his studies of the Bible.}}{{cite web|last=Cosgrave|first=Patrick|author-link=Patrick Cosgrave|date=9 February 1998|title=Obituary: Enoch Powell|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/obituary-enoch-powell-1143867.html|website=The Independent|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090615150933/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/obituary-enoch-powell-1143867.html|archive-date=15 June 2009|url-status=live|quote=His Aramaic, his Greek and his Hebrew all came into play here.}}
• George L. Campbell (1912–2004), British linguist. He spoke forty-four languages and had a working knowledge of perhaps twenty others.{{cite news|last=Holley|first=Joe|date=20 December 2004|title=George Campbell Dies; Spoke 44 Languages|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A12644-2004Dec19.html|newspaper=The Washington Post|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080726195654/https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A12644-2004Dec19.html|archive-date=26 July 2008|url-status=live}}{{cite web|last=Holley|first=Joe|date=21 December 2004|title=George Campbell, fluent in 44 languages|url=http://archive.boston.com/news/globe/obituaries/articles/2004/12/21/george_campbell_fluent_in_44_languages/|website=The Boston Globe|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211203221528/http://archive.boston.com/news/globe/obituaries/articles/2004/12/21/george_campbell_fluent_in_44_languages/|archive-date=3 December 2021|url-status=live}}{{cite web|last=Holley|first=Joe|date=21 December 2004|title=George L. Campbell, 92; Fluent in More Than 40 Languages|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2004-dec-21-me-campbell21-story.html|website=Los Angeles Times|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220714164455/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2004-dec-21-me-campbell21-story.html|archive-date=14 July 2022|url-status=live}}{{cite web|title=George Campbell, linguist|url=https://www.scotsman.com/news/obituaries/george-campbell-linguist-2469196|website=The Scotsman|date=21 December 2004|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220705191757/https://www.scotsman.com/news/obituaries/george-campbell-linguist-2469196|archive-date=5 July 2022|url-status=live}}{{cite web|title=George Campbell|url=https://www.heraldscotland.com/news/12399013.george-campbell/|website=The Herald|date=27 January 2005|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211201063844/https://www.heraldscotland.com/news/12399013.george-campbell/|archive-date=1 December 2021|url-status=live}}
• Meredith Gardner (1912–2002), American linguist and codebreaker. He spoke German, French, Italian, Spanish, Russian, Lithuanian, and Japanese, and could read Latin, Greek, Sanskrit, Old High German, Middle High German, and Old Church Slavonic.{{cite web|last=Barnes|first=Bart|date=21 August 2002|title=Meredith K. Gardner, 89; Cracked Codes to Unmask Key Soviet Spies|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2002-aug-21-me-gardnerobit21-story.html|website=Los Angeles Times|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210807110746/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2002-aug-21-me-gardnerobit21-story.html|archive-date=7 August 2021|url-status=live}}{{cite web|last=Jackson|first=Harold|date=16 August 2002|title=Obituary: Meredith Knox Gardner|url=https://www.theguardian.com/news/2002/aug/16/guardianobituaries.obituaries|website=The Guardian|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130826144902/https://www.theguardian.com/news/2002/aug/16/guardianobituaries.obituaries|archive-date=26 August 2013|url-status=live}}
• Willy Brandt (1913–1992), German politician. He spoke German, English, Norwegian, Swedish, French, and Italian.{{cite web|title=Langer Leidensweg|url=https://www.spiegel.de/politik/langer-leidensweg-a-c193b051-0002-0001-0000-000041696566|website=Der Spiegel|language=de|date=16 June 1974|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211212081223/https://www.spiegel.de/politik/langer-leidensweg-a-c193b051-0002-0001-0000-000041696566|archive-date=12 December 2021|url-status=live}}
• Toshihiko Izutsu (1914–1993), Japanese scholar. He knew more than thirty languages, including Arabic, Hebrew, Turkish, Persian, Sanskrit, Pali, Hindustani, Russian, Greek, and Chinese.{{cite web|title=Japanese religion expert Toshihiko Izutsu under spotlight in "The Eastern"|url=https://www.tehrantimes.com/news/425272/Japanese-religion-expert-Toshihiko-Izutsu-under-spotlight-in|website=Tehran Times|date=10 July 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180713184205/https://www.tehrantimes.com/news/425272/Japanese-religion-expert-Toshihiko-Izutsu-under-spotlight-in|archive-date=13 July 2018|url-status=live}}{{cite journal|author=Muzaqqi|year=2016|title=Semantic Approaches in Islamic Studies: The Review of Toshihiko Izutsu's Thought|url=https://pdfhost.io/v/YdGGIRAN2_Semantic_Approaches_in_Islamic_Studies.pdf|journal=Pedagogik: Jurnal Pendidikan|volume=4|issue=1|pages=45–53}}{{cite web|title=Toshihiko Izutsu: The Genius That Bridged East & West|url=https://www.keio.ac.jp/en/keio-times/features/2021/4/|website=Keio Times|date=28 May 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211017193105/https://www.keio.ac.jp/en/keio-times/features/2021/4/|archive-date=17 October 2021|url-status=live}}{{cite book|contributor-last=Chittick|contributor-first=William C.|contributor-link=William Chittick|date=1994|contribution=Foreword|title=Creation and the Timeless Order of Things: Essays in Islamic Mystical Philosophy|url=https://traditionalhikma.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Izutsu-Creation-and-the-Timeless-Order-of-Things.pdf|author=Toshihiko Izutsu|location=Ashland, Oregon|publisher=White Cloud Press|pages=vii–ix|isbn=1-883991-04-8|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221207182644/https://traditionalhikma.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Izutsu-Creation-and-the-Timeless-Order-of-Things.pdf|archive-date=7 December 2022|url-status=live}}
• Aziz Ahmad (1914–1978), Pakistani novelist. He spoke Urdu, Persian, English, German, French, Italian, Arabic, and Turkish.{{cite web|last=Parekh|first=Rauf|author-link=Rauf Parekh|date=17 December 2012|title=Aziz Ahmed, literary research and controversies|url=https://www.dawn.com/news/771912|website=Dawn|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170211155119/https://www.dawn.com/news/771912|archive-date=11 February 2017|url-status=live}}
• Charles Berlitz (1914–2003), American publisher and author. He learnt to speak English, German, French, and Spanish as a child, and ultimately came to speak thirty-two languages with varying degrees of fluency.{{cite web|last=McLellan|first=Dennis|date=1 January 2004|title=Charles Berlitz, 90; Linguist and Author on the Paranormal|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2004-jan-01-me-berlitz1-story.html|website=Los Angeles Times|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190502081111/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2004-jan-01-me-berlitz1-story.html|archive-date=2 May 2019|url-status=live}}
• Vernon A. Walters (1917–2002), American soldier and diplomat. He spoke English, Dutch, German, French, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, and Russian.{{cite news|last=Smith|first=J. Y.|date=14 February 2002|title=Gen. Vernon A. Walters|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/2002/02/14/gen-vernon-a-walters/5f2793c9-2cb6-41ed-96d3-76e5a0db6393/|newspaper=The Washington Post|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191203172212/https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/2002/02/14/gen-vernon-a-walters/5f2793c9-2cb6-41ed-96d3-76e5a0db6393/|archive-date=3 December 2019|url-status=live}}
• Nabi Bakhsh Baloch (1917–2011), Pakistani scholar. He wrote in Sindhi, Seraiki, Urdu, Balochi, Persian, English, and Arabic.{{cite web|last=Parekh|first=Rauf|author-link=Rauf Parekh|date=23 November 2009|title=Dr Nabi Bukhsh Baloch: a nonagenarian scholar|url=https://www.dawn.com/news/504664/dr-nabi-bukhsh-baloch-a-nonagenarian-scholar|website=Dawn|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140311175010/https://www.dawn.com/news/504664/dr-nabi-bukhsh-baloch-a-nonagenarian-scholar|archive-date=11 March 2014|url-status=live}}
• Henryk Szeryng (1918–1988), Polish violinist. He spoke Polish, English, German, French, Italian, Spanish, and Portuguese.{{cite web|last=Wise|first=Brian|date=22 January 2018|title=Violinist Henryk Szeryng Was Both an Accomplished Violinist & Diplomat|url=http://stringsmagazine.com/violinist-henryk-szeryng-was-both-an-accomplished-violinist-diplomat/|website=Strings|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180125124427/http://stringsmagazine.com/violinist-henryk-szeryng-was-both-an-accomplished-violinist-diplomat/|archive-date=25 January 2018|url-status=live}}
• Omeljan Pritsak (1919–2006), Ukrainian scholar. He spoke twelve languages.{{cite web|title=Omeljan Pritsak, noted scholar of Ukraine, is dead at 87|url=http://archive.boston.com/news/education/higher/articles/2006/06/03/omeljan_pritsak_noted_scholar_of_ukraine_is_dead_at_87/|website=Boston.com|date=3 June 2006|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211203224130/http://archive.boston.com/news/education/higher/articles/2006/06/03/omeljan_pritsak_noted_scholar_of_ukraine_is_dead_at_87/|archive-date=3 December 2021|url-status=live}}
• Shūichi Katō (1919–2008), Japanese scholar. He spoke Japanese, Chinese, English, German, French, and Italian.{{cite book|last=Hassan|first=Ihab|author-link=Ihab Hassan|year=1996|title=Between the Eagle and the Sun: Traces of Japan|url=https://archive.org/details/betweeneaglesunt0000hass/page/72/mode/2up|location=Tuscaloosa|publisher=University of Alabama Press|page=73|isbn=0-8173-0819-9}}
• Fazlur Rahman Malik (1919–1988), Pakistani scholar. In addition to his native language, Urdu, he knew Arabic, Persian, English, German, French, Latin, and Ancient Greek.{{cite journal|last1=Masud|first1=Muhammad Khalid|last2=Naqvi|first2=Ali Raza|last3=Nasr|first3=Seyyed Hossein|title=In Memorium: Dr. Fazlur Rahman (1919–1988)|year=1988|journal=Islamic Studies|volume=27|issue=4|pages=390–400|doi=10.52541/isiri.v27i04.5499|jstor=20839922}}

• Pope John Paul II (1920–2005), former leader of the Catholic Church. In addition to his native language, Polish, he knew Latin, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, French, English, and German.{{cite web|last=Celeste|first=Sofia|date=15 April 2005|title=Language may be key for next pope: John Paul II's abilities set high standard|url=http://archive.boston.com/news/world/europe/articles/2005/04/15/language_may_be_key_for_next_pope/|website=Boston.com|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170328191312/http://archive.boston.com/news/world/europe/articles/2005/04/15/language_may_be_key_for_next_pope/|archive-date=28 March 2017|url-status=live}}
• Ahmad Hasan Dani (1920–2009), Pakistani archaeologist. He spoke fifteen languages, including French, Tamil, and Turkish.{{cite web|last=Joffe|first=Lawrence|date=31 March 2009|title=Ahmad Hasan Dani|url=https://www.theguardian.com/science/2009/mar/31/ahmad-hasan-dani|website=The Guardian|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130906070222/https://www.theguardian.com/science/2009/mar/31/ahmad-hasan-dani|archive-date=6 September 2013|url-status=live}}
• Alessandro Bausani (1921–1988), Italian scholar. He had a good knowledge of as many as thirty languages,{{cite journal|last=Quinn|first=Sholeh|date=2003|title=Review: Religion in Iran: From Zoroaster to Baha'ullah, by Alessandro Bausani, trans. by J. M. Marchesi|journal=Iranian Studies|volume=36|issue=1|pages=103–106|doi=10.1080/021086032000062866|jstor=4311495|s2cid=161069401}} including Persian, Urdu, Arabic, Turkish, Indonesian, and Basque.{{cite web|last=Amoretti|first=Biancamaria Scarcia|date=7 April 2008|title=Bausani, Alessandro|url=https://iranicaonline.org/articles/bausani-alessandro-prolific-italian-orientalist-in-several-fields|website=Encyclopædia Iranica|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110429172109/https://iranicaonline.org/articles/bausani-alessandro-prolific-italian-orientalist-in-several-fields|archive-date=29 April 2011|url-status=live}}
• P. V. Narasimha Rao (1921–2004), Indian politician. He spoke seventeen languages, including English, German, Spanish, and French.{{cite web|last=Brown|first=Derek|date=24 December 2004|title=PV Narasimha Rao|url=https://www.theguardian.com/news/2004/dec/24/guardianobituaries.india|website=The Guardian|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130828224716/https://www.theguardian.com/news/2004/dec/24/guardianobituaries.india|archive-date=28 August 2013|url-status=live}}
• Max Mangold (1922–2015), Swiss linguist. He spoke almost forty languages.{{cite book|last=Dogil|first=Grzegorz|chapter=Beyond Talent: A Short Language Biography of Prof. Max Mangold|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pfIGxRtdXsQC&pg=PA352|editor1-last=Dogil|editor1-first=Grzegorz|editor2-last=Reiterer|editor2-first=Susanne Maria|year=2009|title=Language Talent and Brain Activity|location=Berlin|publisher=Mouton de Gruyter|page=352|isbn=9783110215496}}
• Christopher Lee (1922–2015), British actor. He spoke English, German, French, Italian, and Spanish, and had some knowledge of Swedish, Russian, and Greek.{{cite web|last=Wills|first=Dominic|title=Christopher Lee Biography|url=http://www.tiscali.co.uk/entertainment/film/biographies/christopher_lee_biog.html|publisher=Tiscali|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20020106160258/http://www.tiscali.co.uk/entertainment/film/biographies/christopher_lee_biog.html|archive-date=6 January 2002}}
• Michael Ventris (1922–1956), British architect and decipherer of Linear B. By the age of ten, he spoke English, German, Swiss German, French, and Polish. As an adult, he learnt Swedish, Danish, Italian, Spanish, Russian, Modern Greek, and some Turkish.{{cite AV media|title=A Very English Genius|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=77dYykRiJOE&feature=youtu.be&t=58|publisher=BBC|year=2002|archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/77dYykRiJOE|archive-date=6 December 2021|url-status=live}}{{cbignore}}
• Stephen Wurm (1922–2001), Hungarian-born Australian linguist. "He was a genuine rapid language learner, and before he was 40, was fluent in five of the Germanic languages, five of the Romance languages, three Slavic languages, in Arabic, Swahili, Turkish, Uzbek, Mongol, Mandarin, Tok Pisin, and Police Motu, and could get by in perhaps 30 other languages—over 50 in all."{{cite journal|last=Pawley|first=Andrew|author-link=Andrew Pawley|date=2002|title=Stephen Wurm, 1922–2001: Linguist Extraordinaire|journal=Oceanic Linguistics|volume=41|issue=1|pages=1–14|doi=10.1353/ol.2002.0026|jstor=3623325|s2cid=144577922}}
• Jambuvijaya (1923–2009), Jain monk. He could read twenty-two languages, including Sanskrit, French, German, and Japanese.{{cite web|title=Jain monks cremated|url=http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2009-11-13/rajkot/28061844_1_monks-ancient-manuscripts-funeral-pyre|website=The Times of India|date=13 November 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121025102210/http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2009-11-13/rajkot/28061844_1_monks-ancient-manuscripts-funeral-pyre|archive-date=25 October 2012|url-status=dead}}
• Pope Benedict XVI (1927–2022), former leader of the Catholic Church. In addition to his native language, German, he spoke English, Italian, French, Spanish, and Latin, and could read Ancient Greek and Biblical Hebrew.{{cite web|title=Pope Benedict XVI: Quick Facts|url=http://www.usccb.org/comm/popebenedictxvi/benedictfacts.shtml|publisher=United States Conference of Catholic Bishops|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060720190836/http://www.usccb.org/comm/popebenedictxvi/benedictfacts.shtml|archive-date=20 July 2006|url-status=dead}}
• Hans Eberstark (1929–2001), Austrian interpreter. He interpreted into English and German from Dutch, French, Italian, Spanish, and Catalan. He also had some knowledge of Portuguese, Danish, Swedish, Norwegian, Surinamese Creole, Haitian Creole, Papiamento, Yiddish, several varieties of Swiss German, Albanian, Hebrew, and Amharic.{{cite book|last=Bernstein|first=Jeremy|author-link=Jeremy Bernstein|year=1996|title=A Theory for Everything|url=https://archive.org/details/theoryforeveryth00bern/page/204/mode/2up|location=New York|publisher=Copernicus|pages=205–207|isbn=0-387-94700-0}}

• Barry Farber (1930–2020), American radio host. When inducted into the army, he qualified for work in fourteen languages. He had some knowledge of twenty-five languages in total.{{cite book|last=Farber|first=Barry|year=1991|title=How to Learn Any Language Quickly, Easily, Inexpensively, Enjoyably, and On Your Own|url=https://archive.org/details/howtolearnanylan0000farb_k3q7/page/4/mode/2up|location=New York|publisher=Citadel Press|page=4|isbn=0-8065-1271-7}}
• George Fernandes (1930–2019), Indian politician. In addition to his mother tongue, Konkani, he spoke Marathi, Hindi, Urdu, English, Tamil, Malayalam, Kannada, and Tulu. He also knew Latin.{{cite web|last=Rajamani|first=R. C.|date=15 August 2004|title=George Fernandes, Socialist Who Speaks Many Tongues|url=http://www.asiantribune.com/news/2004/08/15/george-fernandes-socialist-who-speaks-many-tongues|website=Asian Tribune|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120331065708/http://www.asiantribune.com/news/2004/08/15/george-fernandes-socialist-who-speaks-many-tongues|archive-date=31 March 2012|url-status=dead}}
• P. B. Sreenivas (1930–2013), Indian singer. He spoke eight languages, including Kannada, Urdu, and English.{{cite web|last=Khajane|first=Muralidhara|date=15 April 2013|title=P.B. Sreenivas was the voice of Rajkumar|url=http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/karnataka/pb-sreenivas-was-the-voice-of-rajkumar/article4617526.ece|website=The Hindu|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130416190011/https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/karnataka/pb-sreenivas-was-the-voice-of-rajkumar/article4617526.ece|archive-date=16 April 2013|url-status=live}}
• Abdul Rahman Ghassemlou (1930–1989), Iranian politician. He spoke Kurdish, Persian, English, German, French, Russian, Czech, Slovak, Turkish, Azerbaijani, and Arabic.{{cite web|last=Fatehi|first=Tara|date=27 September 2012|title=Dr Abdul Rahman Ghassemlou|url=https://medyamagazine.com/28/|website=Medya Magazine|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160909175438/https://medyamagazine.com/28/|archive-date=9 September 2016|url-status=dead}}
• Jon Elia (1931–2002), Pakistani poet. He knew Urdu, Sanskrit, Persian, English, Arabic, and Hebrew.{{cite web|last=Warsi|first=Ali|date=8 November 2015|title=Jaun Elia - An anarchist, a nihilist, and a poet|url=http://dunyanews.tv/en/Pakistan/307638-Jon-Elia--An-anarchist-a-nihilist-and-a-poet|website=Dunya News|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220709004759/https://dunyanews.tv/en/Pakistan/307638-Jon-Elia--An-anarchist-a-nihilist-and-a-poet|archive-date=9 July 2022|url-status=live}}
• Corazon Aquino (1933–2009), former president of the Philippines. She spoke Kapampangan, Tagalog, English, Spanish, French, and Japanese.{{cite web|last1=McKee|first1=Vincent|last2=Wallerstein|first2=Claire|date=1 August 2009|title=Obituary: Corazon Aquino|url=http://www.theguardian.com/world/2009/aug/01/corazon-aquino-obituary|website=The Guardian|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130907032747/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2009/aug/01/corazon-aquino-obituary|archive-date=7 September 2013|url-status=live}}{{cite web|last=Obice|first=Jon Christoffer|date=1 August 2015|title=10 interesting facts you may not know about Cory Aquino|url=http://newscentral.ph/lifestyle-and-features/10-interesting-facts-you-may-not-know-about-cory-aquino/|website=NewsCentral.PH|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170412041756/http://newscentral.ph/lifestyle-and-features/10-interesting-facts-you-may-not-know-about-cory-aquino/|archive-date=12 April 2017|url-status=dead}}{{cite web|title=9 Things You May Not Know About Corazon Aquino|url=http://www.filipiknow.net/facts-about-cory-aquino/|website=FilipiKnow|date=5 September 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140908215258/http://www.filipiknow.net/facts-about-cory-aquino/|archive-date=8 September 2014|url-status=live}}
• Kenneth L. Hale (1934–2001), American linguist. He spoke over fifty languages, including Spanish, Portuguese, French, Dutch, Irish, Polish, Basque, Turkish, Hebrew, Chinese, Japanese, Navajo, Jemez, Hopi, Oʼodham, Wômpanâak, Ulwa, Miskitu, Warlpiri, and Lardil.{{cite news|title=Obituary: Kenneth Hale|url=http://www.economist.com/node/842137|newspaper=The Economist|date=1 November 2001|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120222000333/http://www.economist.com/node/842137|archive-date=22 February 2012|url-status=live}}{{cite web|last=Keyser|first=Jay|author-link=Samuel Jay Keyser|date=10 November 2001|title=Obituary: Kenneth Hale|url=https://www.theguardian.com/news/2001/nov/10/guardianobituaries.obituaries|website=The Guardian|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140510043801/https://www.theguardian.com/news/2001/nov/10/guardianobituaries.obituaries|archive-date=10 May 2014|url-status=live}}{{cite journal|last=Yengoyan|first=Aram A.|date=2003|title=Kenneth L. Hale (1934–2001)|journal=American Anthropologist|volume=105|issue=1|pages=222–225|doi=10.1525/aa.2003.105.1.222|jstor=3567366}}{{cite journal|last1=Ross|first1=John Robert|author-link1=John R. Ross|last2=Everett|first2=Daniel E.|last3=Jelinek|first3=Eloise|last4=Harley|first4=Heidi|last5=Perkins|first5=Ellavina|last6=Willie|first6=MaryAnn|last7=Grinevald|first7=Colette|last8=Austin|first8=Peter K.|display-authors=1|date=2002|title=Remembering Kenneth L. Hale (1934–2001)|url=http://lingphil.mit.edu/papers/hale/papers/hale024.pdf|journal=Linguistic Typology|volume=6|issue=2|pages=137–153|doi=10.1515/lity.2002.005|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200715011811/http://lingphil.mit.edu/papers/hale/papers/hale024.pdf|archive-date=15 July 2020|url-status=live}}{{cite web|title=Kenneth Hale. 2000. (Parte 1)|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=js-TmA1lMbc|publisher=YouTube|date=25 December 2015|archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211221/js-TmA1lMbc|archive-date=6 December 2021|url-status=live}}{{cbignore}}
• Jeong Su-il (1934–2025), Chinese-born North Korean spy. He spoke Korean, Chinese, Japanese, Tagalog, Malay, Arabic, Persian, Russian, French, Spanish, German, and English.{{cite web|language=ko|script-title=ko:문명을 교류하면 모든 갈등 극복…남북 교류 땐 머잖아 통일 이룰것|url=http://www.hani.co.kr/arti/society/area/665719.html|date=23 November 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171008101215/https://www.hani.co.kr/arti/society/area/665719.html|archive-date=8 October 2017|url-status=live}}
• Pope Francis (1936–2025), former leader of the Catholic Church. Born in Argentina and of Italian descent, he spoke Spanish and Italian natively. In addition, he knew Latin, and could converse in German, French, Portuguese, and English.{{cite book|last=Vallely|first=Paul|author-link=Paul Vallely|year=2013|title=Pope Francis: Untying the Knots|url=https://archive.org/details/popefrancisuntyi0000vall/page/22/mode/2up|location=London|publisher=Bloomsbury|page=22|isbn=978-1-4729-0370-9}}
• Madeleine Albright (1937–2022), former U.S. secretary of state. She spoke Czech, Polish, Serbo-Croatian, Russian, English, German, and French.{{cite web|last=Elliott|first=Dorinda|date=14 April 2008|title=A Conversation with Madeleine Albright|url=https://www.cntraveler.com/stories/2008-04-14/a-conversation-with-madeleine-albright|website=Condé Nast Traveler|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210925190138/https://www.cntraveler.com/stories/2008-04-14/a-conversation-with-madeleine-albright|archive-date=25 September 2021|url-status=live}}
• Ivan Argüelles (1939–2024), American poet. He knew most of the Romance languages (including Spanish, French, Italian, Portuguese, Catalan, Provençal, and Romanian) and a number of Indic languages (Hindi, Bengali, Sinhala, and Nepali), as well as Persian, German, Russian, Arabic, and some Chinese. He also studied Latin, Ancient Greek, Sanskrit, Old Scandinavian, and Old Icelandic.{{cite book|last=Erard|first=Michael|author-link=Michael Erard|year=2012|title=Babel No More: The Search for the World's Most Extraordinary Language Learners|url=https://archive.org/details/babelnomoresearc0000erar/page/118/mode/2up|location=New York|publisher=Free Press|pages=118–119|isbn=978-1-4516-2825-8}}

• Michael Henry Heim (1943–2012), American literary translator. He knew twelve languages and translated from eight of them: Russian, Czech, Serbo-Croatian, German, Dutch, French, Romanian, and Hungarian.{{cite web|last=Fox|first=Margalit|author-link=Margalit Fox|date=4 October 2012|title=Michael Henry Heim, Literary Translator, Dies at 69|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/05/arts/michael-henry-heim-literary-translator-dies-at-69.html|website=The New York Times|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130104083443/http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/05/arts/michael-henry-heim-literary-translator-dies-at-69.html?_r=0|archive-date=4 January 2013|url-status=live}}
• John Boswell (1947–1994), American historian. He spoke or read several Scandinavian languages, Old Icelandic, German, French, Spanish, Italian, Latin, Greek, early and modern Russian, Old Church Slavonic, Armenian, Persian, Arabic, Hebrew, Syriac, and Akkadian.{{cite web|first=David W.|last=Dunlap|author-link=David W. Dunlap|date=25 December 1994|title=John E. Boswell, 47, Historian Of Medieval Gay Culture, Dies|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1994/12/25/obituaries/john-e-boswell-47-historian-of-medieval-gay-culture-dies.html|website=The New York Times|archive-url=https://archive.today/20140527185054/http://www.nytimes.com/1994/12/25/obituaries/john-e-boswell-47-historian-of-medieval-gay-culture-dies.html|archive-date=27 May 2014|url-status=live}}{{cite book|author-first=Jane|author-last=Kamensky|author-link=Jane Kamensky|year=1998|chapter=Fighting (over) Words: Speech, Power, and the Moral Imagination in American History|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CbPfEWBfwk0C&pg=PA120|editor1-first=Richard Wightman|editor1-last=Fox|editor2-first=Robert B.|editor2-last=Westbrook|editor-link2=Robert B. Westbrook (historian)|title=In Face of the Facts: Moral Inquiry in American Scholarship|location=Cambridge|publisher=Cambridge University Press|page=120|isbn=052162133X}}
• Daniel Kane (1948–2021), Australian linguist. He knew English, Italian, French, Spanish, Latin, Russian, Chinese, Jurchen, Khitan, and Esperanto.{{cite web|title=World-renowned linguist an expert in ancient Chinese script|url=https://www.smh.com.au/national/world-renowned-linguist-an-expert-in-ancient-chinese-script-20210607-p57yr7.html|website=The Sydney Morning Herald|date=18 June 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210618035305/https://www.smh.com.au/national/world-renowned-linguist-an-expert-in-ancient-chinese-script-20210607-p57yr7.html|archive-date=18 June 2021|url-status=live}}{{cite web|title=Daniel Kane 1948–2021|url=https://esperanto.org.au/daniel-kane-passing/|publisher=Australian Esperanto Association|date=25 April 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211213224335/https://esperanto.org.au/daniel-kane-passing/|archive-date=13 December 2021|url-status=live}}
• J. Jayalalithaa (1948–2016), Indian politician and actress. She spoke Tamil, Malayalam, Kannada, Telugu, Hindi, and English.{{cite web|title=Jayalalithaa to debut in Hindi for campaigns|url=http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1872517.cms|website=The Economic Times|date=8 April 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140119083039/http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1872517.cms|archive-date=19 January 2014|url-status=dead}}
• Sergei Starostin (1953–2005), Russian linguist. He spoke Russian, Polish, English, German, and French, and could read a further thirteen Slavic languages, as well as Chinese, Japanese, Dutch, Spanish, Italian, Latin, Greek, and Sanskrit. Through his research, he had some knowledge of a wide range of other languages.{{cite journal|surname=Woodward|first=Richard B.|author-link=Richard B. Woodward|year=2006|title=The Man Who Loved Languages|url=https://pdfhost.io/v/7eArCNScE_The_Man_Who_Loved_Languages.pdf|journal=The American Scholar|volume=75|issue=4|pages=44–57|jstor=41222651|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210515131039/https://pdfhost.io/v/7eArCNScE_The_Man_Who_Loved_Languages.pdf|archive-date=15 May 2021|url-status=live}}
• Dikembe Mutombo (1966–2024), Congolese basketball player. He spoke English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Tshiluba, Swahili, Lingala, and two other Central African languages.{{cite web|last=Stuter|first=Bret|title=Former Sixer Dikembe Mutombo Prepares For HOF Induction Ceremony|url=https://thesixersense.com/2015/08/26/former-sixer-dikembe-mutombo-prepares-for-hof-induction-ceremony/4/|website=FanSided|date=26 August 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150905194041/https://thesixersense.com/2015/08/26/former-sixer-dikembe-mutombo-prepares-for-hof-induction-ceremony/4/|archive-date=5 September 2015|url-status=live}}
• Shahab Ahmed (1966–2015), Pakistani scholar. He mastered around fifteen languages.{{cite web|last=Feldman|first=Noah|author-link=Noah Feldman|date=20 September 2015|title=An Extraordinary Scholar Redefined Islam|url=http://www.bloombergview.com/articles/2015-09-20/an-extraordinary-scholar-redefined-islam|website=Bloomberg|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191016235955/https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2015-09-20/an-extraordinary-scholar-redefined-islam|archive-date=16 October 2019|url-status=live}}
• Moses McCormick (1981–2021), American YouTuber. He spoke around twenty languages at a basic conversational level.{{cite web|last=Ha|first=Thu-Huong|date=8 May 2017|title=An American conversant in 20 languages delights strangers in their native tongues|url=https://qz.com/977173/language-coach-moses-mccormick-charms-walmart-shoppers-by-conversing-in-their-native-tongues/|website=Quartz|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170508162257/https://qz.com/977173/language-coach-moses-mccormick-charms-walmart-shoppers-by-conversing-in-their-native-tongues/|archive-date=8 May 2017|url-status=live}}

• Peter Turkson (1948–), Ghanaian Catholic cardinal. In addition to his native language, Fante, he speaks a number of other Ghanaian languages, as well as English, French, Italian, German, and Hebrew. He also knows Latin and Greek.{{cite web|last1=Jones|first1=Sam|last2=Hirsch|first2=Afua|date=11 February 2013|title=Who will be the next pope? The contenders for Vatican's top job|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/feb/11/next-pope-contenders-vatican-job|website=The Guardian|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130905030731/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/feb/11/next-pope-contenders-vatican-job|archive-date=5 September 2013|url-status=live}}
• Mohamoud Dirir Gheddi (1959–) Ethiopian politician. He speaks Somali, Oromo, Amharic, Harari, Arabic, English, French, and some Tigrigna.{{cite web|last=Mahifere|first=Seifu|title=His Excellency Ambassador Mahmoud Dirir, Minister of Culture & Tourism, Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia: A Life in Politics and Diplomacy|url=https://www.africa-ata.org/et_dirir.htm|website=Africa Travel Magazine|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060614001452/https://www.africa-ata.org/et_dirir.htm|archive-date=14 June 2006|url-status=live}}
• Trevor Noah (1984–), South African comedian. He speaks English, Afrikaans, Zulu, Xhosa, Tswana, Tsonga, and some German.{{cite web|date=22 November 2016|title=Trevor Noah Says He Grew Up 'In The Shadow Of A Giant' (His Mom)|url=https://www.npr.org/2016/11/22/503009220/trevor-noah-looks-back-on-childhood-in-the-shadow-of-a-giant-his-mom|publisher=NPR|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161123070011/https://www.npr.org/2016/11/22/503009220/trevor-noah-looks-back-on-childhood-in-the-shadow-of-a-giant-his-mom|archive-date=23 November 2016|url-status=live}}

• Lokesh Chandra (1927–), Indian scholar. He knows Sanskrit, Pali, Hindi, Avestan, Old Persian, Greek, Latin, French, German, English, Russian, Chinese, Tibetan, Mongolian, Japanese, and Indonesian.{{cite web|title=Lokesh Chandra New ICCR President|url=http://www.outlookindia.com/news/article/lokesh-chandra-new-iccr-president/865968|website=Outlook|date=30 October 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141103022944/http://www.outlookindia.com/news/article/lokesh-chandra-new-iccr-president/865968|archive-date=3 November 2014|url-status=dead}}
• Mickey Curtis (1938–), Japanese actor and singer. He speaks Japanese, English, German, French, Italian, and Thai.{{cite web|language=ja|script-title=ja:ミッキー・カーチス｜ワタナベエンターテインメント|url=https://www.watanabepro.co.jp/mypage/10000004/|publisher=Watanabe Entertainment|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140529170553/https://www.watanabepro.co.jp/mypage/10000004/|archive-date=29 May 2014|url-status=dead}}
• Bartholomew (1940–), Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople. He knows Turkish, Greek, English, German, French, Italian, and Latin.{{cite web|title=Biography of His All Holiness Patriarch Bartholomew|url=https://www.goarch.org/-/biography-ecumenical-patriarch|publisher=Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210801021015/https://www.goarch.org/-/biography-ecumenical-patriarch|archive-date=1 August 2021|url-status=live}}
• Levon Ter-Petrosyan (1945–), former president of Armenia. He speaks Armenian, Russian, French, English, German, Arabic, and Assyrian. He also knows a number of ancient languages.{{cite web|title=Լևոն Տեր-Պետրոսյան|url=http://avproduction.am/?ln=am&page=person&id=2229|website=Avproduction.am|language=hy|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150218212558/http://avproduction.am/?ln=am&page=person&id=2229|archive-date=18 February 2015|url-status=dead}}{{cite web|last=Hakobyan|first=Tatul|author-link=Tatul Hakobyan|date=27 March 2009|title=Armenia is a homeland for the Assyrians, who have no homeland|url=http://www.reporter.am/go/article/2009-03-27-armenia-is-a-homeland-for-the-assyrians-who-have-no-homeland|website=The Armenian Reporter|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090415001835/http://www.reporter.am/go/article/2009-03-27-armenia-is-a-homeland-for-the-assyrians-who-have-no-homeland|archive-date=15 April 2009|url-status=dead}}
• Gloria Macapagal Arroyo (1947–), former president of the Philippines. She speaks Tagalog, Kapampangan, Ilocano, Cebuano, Spanish, and English.{{cite web|title=Profiling Gloria Macapagal Arroyo: 10 Things That Make Her Royally Unsinkable|url=http://www.spot.ph/newsfeatures/46441/profiling-gloria-macapagal-arroyo-10-things-that-make-her-royally-unsinkable|website=Spot.ph|date=1 September 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100903110628/https://www.spot.ph/newsfeatures/46441/profiling-gloria-macapagal-arroyo-10-things-that-make-her-royally-unsinkable|archive-date=3 September 2010|url-status=live}}
• Malcolm Ranjith (1947–), current archbishop of Colombo. He speaks Sinhala, English, German, French, Spanish, Italian, Tamil, and Indonesian. He also knows Latin, Greek, and Hebrew.{{cite web|title=Sri Lanka overjoyed as prelate named cardinal|url=http://catholicnews.sg/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=5136&catid=255&Itemid=473|website=Catholic News|date=7 November 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170116204701/http://catholicnews.sg/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=5136&catid=255&Itemid=473|archive-date=16 January 2017|url-status=dead}}
• Rambhadracharya (1950–), Indian religious leader. He speaks English, French, Sanskrit, Hindi, Bhojpuri, Maithili, Odia, Gujarati, Punjabi, Marathi, Magahi, Awadhi, and Braj, as well as a number of other Indic languages.{{cite web|title=Brief profile of Guruji|url=http://www.jrhu.com:80/index_files/The_chancellor.htm|publisher=Jagadguru Rambhadracharya Handicapped University|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150509211412/http://www.jrhu.com:80/index_files/The_chancellor.htm|archive-date=9 May 2015|url-status=dead}}
• Péter Frankl (1953–), Hungarian mathematician, now living in Japan. He speaks eleven languages, including Hungarian, Japanese, Chinese, English, and French.{{cite web|last=Maruko|first=Mami|date=15 March 2011|title=Juggler of two professions in Japan|url=https://www.japantimes.co.jp/community/2011/03/15/our-lives/juggler-of-two-professions-in-japan/|website=The Japan Times|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170318035410/https://www.japantimes.co.jp/community/2011/03/15/our-lives/juggler-of-two-professions-in-japan/|archive-date=18 March 2017|url-status=live}}
• Kamal Haasan (1954–), Indian actor. He speaks Tamil, Malayalam, Kannada, Telugu, Hindi, Marathi, and English.{{cite web|title=Movies: Kamal, as we know him|url=http://www.rediff.com/movies/2000/nov/08kamal.htm|website=Rediff.com|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030304111653/https://www.rediff.com/movies/2000/nov/08kamal.htm|archive-date=4 March 2003|url-status=live}}
• Shabnam Mausi (1955–), Indian politician. She speaks twelve languages.{{cite web|title=8 Indian transgender people who were the firsts in their fields|url=https://www.indiatoday.in/education-today/gk-current-affairs/story/list-of-transgenders-firsts-who-made-it-big-in-their-fields-1276415-2018-07-03|website=India Today|date=3 July 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180703150906/https://www.indiatoday.in/education-today/gk-current-affairs/story/list-of-transgenders-firsts-who-made-it-big-in-their-fields-1276415-2018-07-03|archive-date=3 July 2018|url-status=live}}
• Naela Chohan (1958–), Pakistani diplomat. She speaks Urdu, Punjabi, Bengali, Persian, English, French, and Spanish.{{cite web|title=Interview with Naela Chohan|url=https://www.polyglotassociation.org/members/naela-chohan|publisher=International Association of Hyperpolyglots|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201023113847/https://www.polyglotassociation.org/members/naela-chohan|archive-date=23 October 2020|url-status=live}}
• Prakash Raj (1965–), Indian actor. He speaks Kannada, Tulu, Tamil, Malayalam, Telugu, Hindi, and English.{{cite web|last=Dutta|first=Amrita|date=13 January 2018|title=What lies behind the dissent of Prakash Raj?|url=https://indianexpress.com/article/express-sunday-eye/prakash-raj-5023061/|website=The Indian Express|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180113211735/https://indianexpress.com/article/express-sunday-eye/prakash-raj-5023061/|archive-date=13 January 2018|url-status=live}}
• Hikmat Hasanov (1975–), Azerbaijani military officer. He speaks Azerbaijani, Turkish, Armenian, Russian, English, and Persian.{{cite web|title=Erməni dilini mükəmməl bilən generalımız - Hikmət Həsənovun doğum günüdür|url=http://femida.az/az/news/91786/ermeni-dilini-mukemmel-bilen-generalimiz-hikmet-hesenovun-dogum-gunudur|website=Femida.az|language=az|date=9 October 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201006220832/https://femida.az/az/news/91786/ermeni-dilini-mukemmel-bilen-generalimiz-hikmet-hesenovun-dogum-gunudur|archive-date=6 October 2020|url-status=live}}{{cite web|title=Aprel qəhrəmanı: Azərbaycan Ordusunun 5 xarici dil bilən generalı - FOTOLAR|url=https://sumqayitxeber.com/aprel-qehremani-azerbaycan-ordusunun-5-xarici-dil-bilen-generali-fotolar/|website=Sumqayitxeber.com|language=az|date=9 October 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201006215952/https://sumqayitxeber.com/aprel-qehremani-azerbaycan-ordusunun-5-xarici-dil-bilen-generali-fotolar/|archive-date=6 October 2020|url-status=live}}
• Priya Anand (1986–), Indian actress. She speaks Tamil, Telugu, Hindi, Bengali, Marathi, Spanish, and English.{{cite web|title=Interview with Priya Anand|url=http://www.idlebrain.com/celeb/interview/priyaanand.html|website=Idlebrain.com|date=13 April 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100417015018/https://www.idlebrain.com/celeb/interview/priyaanand.html|archive-date=17 April 2010|url-status=live}}
• Henrikh Mkhitaryan (1989–), Armenian footballer. He speaks Armenian, Russian, English, German, French, and Portuguese.{{cite web|language=ru|title=Генрих Мхитарян: "Каждый получает свой шанс"|url=https://www.golosarmenii.am/article/49845/genrix-mxitaryan-kazhdyj-poluchaet-svoj-shans|website=Golos Armenii|date=13 February 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170213122031/https://www.golosarmenii.am/article/49845/genrix-mxitaryan-kazhdyj-poluchaet-svoj-shans|archive-date=13 February 2017|url-status=live}}

• John C. Wells (1939–), British phonetician. He studied Latin and Ancient Greek at university, and speaks English, German, Welsh, French, Spanish, Italian, Modern Greek, and Esperanto with varying degrees of fluency. He also has some knowledge of Polish, Russian, Swedish, Danish, Norwegian, and Japanese.{{cite web|title=Professor J.C. WELLS: brief curriculum vitae|url=https://www.phon.ucl.ac.uk/home/wells/cv.htm|publisher=University College London|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20031114065106/http://www.phon.ucl.ac.uk:80/home/wells/cv.htm|archive-date=14 November 2003|url-status=live}}
• Werner Herzog (1942–), German filmmaker. In addition to his native Bavarian, he knows German, English, Ancient Greek, Modern Greek, Latin, Spanish, French, and some Italian.{{cite web|last=Brooks|first=Xan|date=19 June 2020|title=Werner Herzog: 'I'm fascinated by trash TV. The poet must not avert his eyes'|url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2020/jun/19/werner-herzog-im-fascinated-by-trash-tv-the-poet-must-not-avert-his-eyes|website=The Guardian|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200619054738/https://www.theguardian.com/film/2020/jun/19/werner-herzog-im-fascinated-by-trash-tv-the-poet-must-not-avert-his-eyes|archive-date=19 June 2020|url-status=live}}{{cite web|last=O'Reilly|first=Séamas|date=31 January 2022|title=Werner Herzog Explains This Screenshot|url=https://www.vulture.com/2022/01/werner-herzog-will-not-speak-french.html|website=Vulture|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220131132002/https://www.vulture.com/2022/01/werner-herzog-will-not-speak-french.html|archive-date=31 January 2022|url-status=live}}
• Queen Silvia of Sweden (1943–), spouse of King Carl XVI Gustaf. The daughter of a German father and a Brazilian mother, she speaks German and Portuguese natively. She also knows Spanish, French, English, and Swedish,{{cite web|title=Biography|url=https://www.kungahuset.se/royalcourt/royalfamily/hmqueensilvia/biography.4.396160511584257f2180002273.html|publisher=Swedish Royal Court|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100623082927/https://www.kungahuset.se/royalcourt/royalfamily/hmqueensilvia/biography.4.396160511584257f2180002273.html|archive-date=23 June 2010|url-status=dead}} and has some knowledge of Swedish sign language.{{cite web|title=Essener LVR-Schule zu Gast bei Königin Silvia von Schweden|url=http://www.taubenschlag.de/meldung/4478|website=Taubenschlag.de|lang=de|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100425002047/http://www.taubenschlag.de/meldung/4478|archive-date=25 April 2010|url-status=dead}}
• André Rieu (1949–), Dutch violinist and conductor. He speaks Dutch, English, German, French, Spanish, and Italian.{{cite web|title=André Rieu: Concerts, wife, net worth and more facts about the violinist|url=https://www.classicfm.com/artists/andre-rieu/pictures/andre-rieu-facts/|publisher=Classic FM|archive-url=https://archive.today/20230113065144/https://www.classicfm.com/artists/andre-rieu/pictures/andre-rieu-facts/music/|archive-date=13 January 2023|url-status=live}}
• Arsène Wenger (1949–), French football manager. He speaks French, German, English, Spanish, and Italian, and has some knowledge of Japanese.{{cite web|last=McCarra|first=Kevin|author-link=Kevin McCarra|date=16 April 2003|title=United by passion, divided by ambition, Ferguson and Wenger define an era|url=https://www.theguardian.com/football/2003/apr/16/sport.comment|website=The Guardian|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131027110109/https://www.theguardian.com/football/2003/apr/16/sport.comment|archive-date=27 October 2013|url-status=live}}{{cite web|last=Griffiths|first=Nia|date=19 January 2018|title=7 languages: Has Wenger finally met his multilingual match in Mkhitaryan?|url=https://dailycannon.com/2018/01/7-languages-wenger-finally-met-multilingual-match-mkhitaryan/|website=Daily Cannon|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201026123725/https://dailycannon.com/2018/01/7-languages-wenger-finally-met-multilingual-match-mkhitaryan/|archive-date=26 October 2020|url-status=live}}
• Noel Malcolm (1956–), British historian. He speaks most Western and Eastern European languages.{{cite web|title= Noel Malcolm|url=https://harpercollins.co.uk/blogs/authors/noel-malcolm|publisher=HarperCollins|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220519032100/https://harpercollins.co.uk/blogs/authors/noel-malcolm|archive-date=19 May 2022|url-status=live}}
• Ranga Yogeshwar (1959–), Luxembourgish physicist and science journalist. He speaks Luxembourgish, German, English, French, Hindi, Tamil, Kannada, and Malayalam.{{cite web|last=Dohnke|first=Kay|date=April 2018|title=We Need to Change|url=https://schaeffler-tomorrow.de/en/article/we-need-to-change|publisher=Schaeffler|archive-url=https://archive.today/20230113064401/https://schaeffler-tomorrow.de/en/article/we-need-to-change|archive-date=13 January 2023|url-status=live}}
• Johan Vandewalle (1960–), Belgian linguist. In 1987, at the age of twenty-six, he won the Polyglot of Flanders/Babel Prize, after demonstrating communicative competence in nineteen languages (Arabic, Azerbaijani, Bashkir, Dutch, English, French, German, Italian, Kyrgyz, Persian, Russian, Swahili, Tajik, Tatar, Turkish, Turkmen, Tuvan, Uyghur, and Uzbek).{{cite book|last=Erard|first=Michael|author-link=Michael Erard|year=2012|title=Babel No More: The Search for the World's Most Extraordinary Language Learners|url=https://archive.org/details/babelnomoresearc0000erar/page/248/mode/2up|location=New York|publisher=Free Press|pages=249–253|isbn=978-1-4516-2825-8}}{{cite web|title=Polyglot of Flanders/Babel Prize certificate|url=http://users.telenet.be/orientaal/getuigschrift02.jpg|date=23 January 1987|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200607192425/http://users.telenet.be/orientaal/getuigschrift02.jpg|archive-date=7 June 2020|url-status=dead}}
• Frans Timmermans (1961–), Dutch politician. He speaks Dutch, English, German, French, Italian, and Russian.{{cite web|last=O'Leary|first=Naomi|date=16 May 2019|title=Frans Timmermans' greatest strength is his greatest weakness|url=https://www.politico.eu/article/frans-timmermans-spitzenkandidat-greatest-strength-weakness-brussels/|website=Politico|archive-url=https://archive.today/20230113070157/https://www.politico.eu/article/frans-timmermans-spitzenkandidat-greatest-strength-weakness-brussels/|archive-date=13 January 2023|url-status=live}}
• Sigrid Kaag (1961–), Dutch politician. She speaks Dutch, English, German, French, Spanish, and Arabic.{{cite web|last=Yoon|first=Sangwon|date=16 May 2014|title=Sigrid Kaag: Woman who's 'more man than any man'|url=https://gulfnews.com/lifestyle/sigrid-kaag-woman-whos-more-man-than-any-man-1.1332215|website=Gulf News|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200611155526/https://gulfnews.com/lifestyle/sigrid-kaag-woman-whos-more-man-than-any-man-1.1332215|archive-date=11 June 2020|url-status=live}}
• Elia Wallgrén (1961–), Finnish Orthodox archbishop. He speaks Finnish, Estonian, Swedish, English, German, Spanish, Czech, Polish, and Russian with varying degrees of fluency.{{cite web|title=Elia Wallgrén|url=https://ort.fi/arkkipiispa/|website=Ort.fi|language=fi|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250302195440/https://ort.fi/arkkipiispa/|archive-date=2 March 2025|url-status=live}}
• José Mourinho (1963–), Portuguese football manager. He speaks Portuguese, Spanish, Italian, French, Catalan, and English.{{cite web|title=Jose Mourinho: Five top facts you might not know|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/36359723|publisher=BBC|date=26 May 2016|archive-url=https://archive.today/20230113071305/https://www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/36359723|archive-date=13 January 2023|url-status=live}}
• Ioannis Ikonomou (1964–), translator at the European Commission. He speaks thirty-two modern languages, including twenty-one of the twenty-four official languages of the European Union (the three exceptions being Estonian, Maltese, and Irish). Among the other languages that he speaks are Russian, Bengali, Persian, Turkish, Arabic, Hebrew, Amharic, and Mandarin. He has also studied a number of ancient languages, such as Old Church Slavonic, Classical Armenian, Sanskrit, Sogdian, and Assyro-Babylonian.{{cite web|last=Rice|first=Xan|date=3 August 2015|title=The man who speaks 32 languages – and counting|url=https://www.newstatesman.com/politics/education/2015/08/man-who-speaks-32-languages-and-counting|website=New Statesman|archive-url=https://archive.today/20230113071651/https://www.newstatesman.com/long-reads/2015/08/man-who-speaks-32-languages-and-counting|archive-date=13 January 2023|url-status=live}}
• Karin Kneissl (1965–), Austrian diplomat and politician. She speaks German, English, French, Italian, Spanish, and Arabic, and has some knowledge of Russian, Hungarian, and Hebrew.{{cite web|title=Dr. Karin Kneissl|url=http://www.kkneissl.com/en/about-me/pdf/cv-english|website=Kkneissl.com|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230408121802/http://www.kkneissl.com/en/about-me/pdf/cv-english|archive-date=8 April 2023|url-status=live}}
• Connie Nielsen (1965–), Danish actress. She speaks Danish, Norwegian, Swedish, English, German, French, Italian, and some Spanish.{{cite web|last=Vaughan|first=Brendan|date=29 January 2007|title=A Woman We Love: Connie Nielsen|url=http://www.esquire.com/women/ESQ0303-MAR_NIELSON_rev_2|website=Esquire|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150211183139/http://www.esquire.com/entertainment/interviews/a1726/esq0303-mar-nielson-rev-2/|archive-date=11 February 2015|url-status=live}}
• Anatoly Moskvin (1966–), Russian linguist, arrested in 2011 after twenty-six mummified bodies were discovered in his home. He has studied thirteen languages.{{cite web|title=Russian historian kept 29 mummified bodies at home, police say|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/nov/07/russian-historian-mummified-bodies-police|website=The Guardian|date=7 November 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131001064405/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/nov/07/russian-historian-mummified-bodies-police|archive-date=1 October 2013|url-status=live}}
• Mikheil Saakashvili (1967–), former president of Georgia. He speaks Georgian, Russian, Ukrainian, English, and French,{{cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/3231852.stm|title=Profile: Mikhail Saakashvili|publisher=BBC|date=25 January 2004|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230106163215/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/3231852.stm|archive-date=6 January 2023|url-status=live}} and has some command of Spanish{{cite web|last=Murray|first=Don|date=29 February 2008|title=Can bountiful Georgia escape the Russian bear?|url=http://www.cbc.ca/news/reportsfromabroad/murray/20080229.html|publisher=CBC|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080302213121/http://www.cbc.ca/news/reportsfromabroad/murray/20080229.html|archive-date=2 March 2008}} and Ossetian.{{cite web|last=Smock|first=John|date=13 August 2004|title=As prospect of South Ossetian conflict grows, Georgia prepares to send troops to Iraq|url=http://www.eurasianet.org/departments/insight/articles/eav081304.shtml|website=Eurasianet|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040826035657/http://www.eurasianet.org/departments/insight/articles/eav081304.shtml|archive-date=26 August 2004}}
• Gianni Infantino (1970–), current president of FIFA. Born in Switzerland to Italian parents, he speaks Italian, French, and Swiss German natively. He also knows English, Spanish, Portuguese, and Arabic.{{cite web|title=Gianni Infantino|url=https://www.fifa.com/about-fifa/the-president/gianni-infantino.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304081743/http://www.fifa.com/about-fifa/the-president/gianni-infantino.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=4 March 2016|publisher=FIFA}}
• Željko Joksimović (1972–), Serbian singer-songwriter. He speaks Serbian, Russian, Polish, Greek, English, and French.{{cite web|language=hr|title=Željko Joksimović: Ne promatram se kao da sam zgodan!|url=http://dnevnik.hr/showbizz/glazba/najzgodniji-pjevac-na-balkanu-zeljko-joksimovic-zapalio-arenu.html|website=Dnevnik.hr|date=11 December 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101212204158/https://dnevnik.hr/showbizz/glazba/najzgodniji-pjevac-na-balkanu-zeljko-joksimovic-zapalio-arenu.html|archive-date=12 December 2010|url-status=live}}
• Clarence Seedorf (1976–), Dutch former footballer. He speaks Dutch, English, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, and Surinamese.{{cite web|title=6 reasons why Clarence Seedorf Is AC Milan's Best Bet|url=http://www.swide.com/sport-man/clarence-seedorf-is-the-new-ac-milan-coach-6-reasons-why-he-was-destined-for-it/2014/01/17|website=Swide|date=17 January 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924112642/http://www.swide.com/sport-man/clarence-seedorf-is-the-new-ac-milan-coach-6-reasons-why-he-was-destined-for-it/2014/01/17|archive-date=24 September 2015}}
• Richard Simcott (1977–), British language consultant. He speaks sixteen languages (English, French, Spanish, Welsh, German, Macedonian, Swedish, Italian, Serbian, Portuguese, Czech, Catalan, Russian, Dutch, Romanian, and Albanian){{cite web|last=Leland|first=John|author-link=John Leland (journalist)|date=9 March 2012|title=Adventures of a Teenage Polyglot|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/11/nyregion/a-teenage-master-of-languages-finds-online-fellowship.html|website=The New York Times|archive-url=https://archive.today/20220709005304/https://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/11/nyregion/a-teenage-master-of-languages-finds-online-fellowship.html|archive-date=9 July 2022|url-status=live}} and can use around fifty languages in total to some degree.{{cite web|last=Simcott|first=Richard|date=12 August 2022|title=Experience: I speak more than 50 languages|url=https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2022/aug/12/experience-i-speak-more-than-50-languages|website=The Guardian|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220812090405/https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2022/aug/12/experience-i-speak-more-than-50-languages|archive-date=12 August 2022|url-status=live}}
• Zdeno Chára (1977–), Slovak ice hockey player. He speaks Slovak, Czech, Polish, Russian, Swedish, German, and English.{{cite web|last=Bishop|first=John|date=21 July 2010|title=Bruins by the Numbers: 33|url=http://bruins.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=534759|website=BostonBruins.Com|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171021005029/https://www.nhl.com/bruins/news/bruins-by-the-numbers-33/c-534759|archive-date=21 October 2017|url-status=live}}
• Daniel Tammet (1979–), British author. In his book Born on a Blue Day, he states that he knows ten languages: English, German, Icelandic, French, Spanish, Romanian, Welsh, Lithuanian, Finnish, and Esperanto.{{cite book|last=Tammet|first=Daniel|date=2007|title=Born on a Blue Day|url=https://archive.org/details/bornonblueday0000tamm/page/14/mode/2up|location=London|publisher=Hodder|page=14|isbn=978-0-340-89975-5}}
• Victor Bayda ({{c.|1981–}}), Russian linguist. He speaks Russian, Irish, Scottish Gaelic, Welsh, Icelandic, Swedish, English, Dutch, German, and French.{{cite web|last=Mac an tSíthigh|first=Seán|date=21 February 2019|title=Russian man appointed Irish language officer in Kerry Gaeltacht|url=https://www.rte.ie/news/ireland/2019/0220/1031818-victor-bayda-irish-language/|website=RTÉ|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190220233655/https://www.rte.ie/news/ireland/2019/0220/1031818-victor-bayda-irish-language/|archive-date=20 February 2019|url-status=live}}
• Philip Crowther (1981–), Luxembourgish journalist. He speaks Luxembourgish, German, English, French, Spanish, and Portuguese.{{cite web|last=Makoni|first=Abbianca|date=13 January 2021|title=Journalist Philip Crowther wows Twitter with TV reports - in six different languages|url=https://www.standard.co.uk/news/world/journalist-six-languages-philip-crowther-b875069.html|website=Evening Standard|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210113183926/https://www.standard.co.uk/news/world/journalist-six-languages-philip-crowther-b875069.html|archive-date=13 January 2021|url-status=live}}
• Mikel Arteta (1982–), Spanish football manager. He speaks Basque, Spanish, Catalan, Portuguese, French, Italian, and English.{{cite web|last=Marland|first=Daniel|date=19 July 2020|title=Mikel Arteta spoke to his Arsenal players in three different languages during Manchester City game|url=https://www.sportbible.com/football/football-news-reactions-take-a-bow-mikel-arteta-brilliantly-spoke-to-his-players-in-different-languages-20200719|website=SPORTbible|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201031095202/https://www.sportbible.com/football/football-news-reactions-take-a-bow-mikel-arteta-brilliantly-spoke-to-his-players-in-different-languages-20200719|archive-date=31 October 2020|url-status=live}}
• Novak Djokovic (1987–), Serbian tennis player. He speaks Serbian, English, German, French, Italian, and Spanish.{{cite web|last=Bevis|first=Marianne|date=22 December 2012|title=Bleacherreport: Has the Djoker in the Pack Come of Age?|url=https://novakdjokovic.com/en/news/media/bleacherreport-has-the-djoker-in-the-pack-come-of-age/|website=Novakdjokovic.com|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150205051055/https://novakdjokovic.com/en/news/media/bleacherreport-has-the-djoker-in-the-pack-come-of-age/|archive-date=5 February 2015|url-status=live}}{{cite web|last=Meyer|first=Luke|date=11 September 2023|title=Speaking Fluent Spanish. Novak Djokovic confirms he will the Davis Cup in Spain, While Carlos Alcaraz…|url=https://tennistonic.com/tennis-news/616280/speaking-fluent-spanish-novak-djokovic-confirms-he-will-the-davis-cup-in-spain-while-carlos-alcaraz/|website=Tennistonic.com|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230914181030/https://tennistonic.com/tennis-news/616280/speaking-fluent-spanish-novak-djokovic-confirms-he-will-the-davis-cup-in-spain-while-carlos-alcaraz/|archive-date=14 September 2023|url-status=live}}
• Ivan Rakitić (1988–), Croatian footballer. He speaks Croatian, English, German, French, Italian, and Spanish.{{cite web|last=Rakitić|first=Ivan|date=19 September 2017|title=A Croatian Guy Walks into a Bar|url=https://www.theplayerstribune.com/articles/ivan-rakitic-barcelona|website=The Players' Tribune|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201109031245/https://www.theplayerstribune.com/articles/ivan-rakitic-barcelona|archive-date=9 November 2020|url-status=live}}
• Miralem Pjanić (1990–), Bosnian footballer. He speaks Bosnian, Luxembourgish, German, English, French, and Italian.{{cite web|title=Miralem Pjanić - a polyglot|url=https://www.sarajevotimes.com/miralem-pjanic-a-polyglot/|website=Sarajevo Times|date=10 April 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200612124210/https://sarajevotimes.com/miralem-pjanic-a-polyglot/|archive-date=12 June 2020|url-status=live}}
• Romelu Lukaku (1993–), Belgian footballer. He speaks Dutch, English, German, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, and Lingala.{{cite web|last=Varley|first=Ciaran|date=10 June 2020|title=Footballer or teacher? The stars who could do both|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/52986933|publisher=BBC|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200611100112/https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/52986933|archive-date=11 June 2020|url-status=live}}

• Powell Janulus (1939–), Canadian court interpreter. According to the 1986 Guinness Book of World Records, he "has worked with 41 languages in the Provincial Court of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada."{{cite book|editor-last=McWhirter|editor-first=Norris|editor-link=Norris McWhirter|year=1986|title=1986 Guinness Book of World Records|url=https://archive.org/details/1986guinnessbook00mcwh/page/190/mode/2up|location=New York|publisher=Bantam Books|page=191|isbn=0-553-25454-5}}
• Stephen Krashen (1941–), American linguist. He knows English, German, Yiddish, Spanish, French, Hebrew, and Amharic.{{cite web|title=Montreal Language Festival 2017 at Concordia's downtown campus Aug. 25-27|url=https://www.thesuburban.com/life/lifestyles/montreal-language-festival-2017-at-concordia-s-downtown-campus-aug-25-27/article_49f222c8-7f93-11e7-9292-d3f3ef12eb61.html|website=The Suburban|date=12 August 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210504160810/https://www.thesuburban.com/life/lifestyles/montreal-language-festival-2017-at-concordia-s-downtown-campus-aug-25-27/article_49f222c8-7f93-11e7-9292-d3f3ef12eb61.html|archive-date=4 May 2021|url-status=live}}
• Steve Kaufmann (1945–), Canadian businessman. He has some understanding of twenty languages, although his ability to speak and write these languages varies to a considerable degree. Some of the languages he has studied are French, Spanish, Portuguese, German, Swedish, Russian, Japanese, Mandarin, and Cantonese.{{cite web|last=Little|first=Oliver|date=2 October 2019|title=20 languages? Not enough! The polyglot adding Catalan to his résumé|url=https://www.catalannews.com/life-style/item/20-languages-not-enough-the-polyglot-adding-catalan-to-his-resume|website=Catalan News|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221126214019/https://www.catalannews.com/life-style/item/20-languages-not-enough-the-polyglot-adding-catalan-to-his-resume|archive-date=26 November 2022|url-status=live}}{{cite web|title=How to Learn Any Language|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yZF0djgU704|publisher=YouTube|date=20 August 2020|archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/yZF0djgU704|archive-date=6 December 2021|url-status=live}}{{cbignore}}
• Pope Leo XIV (1955–), leader of the Catholic Church. He speaks English, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, and French, and can read Latin and German.{{cite web|first=Christopher|last=White|date=30 April 2025|title=Interest in polyglot US Cardinal Prevost rises as Italian diplomat's chances fade|url=https://www.ncronline.org/vatican/vatican-news/papal-front-runner-interest-polyglot-us-cardinal-prevost-rises-italian|website=National Catholic Reporter|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250501060251/https://www.ncronline.org/vatican/vatican-news/papal-front-runner-interest-polyglot-us-cardinal-prevost-rises-italian|archive-date=1 May 2025|url-status=dead}}
• Viggo Mortensen (1958–), Danish-American actor. He grew up bilingual in English and Spanish, and later learnt Danish, Italian, and French. He also has some knowledge of Arabic.{{cite web|last=Anderson|first=Ariston|date=2 September 2014|title=Venice: Viggo Mortensen Talks Mastering New Languages|url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/venice-viggo-mortensen-talks-mastering-729431|website=The Hollywood Reporter|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210511135425/https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/general-news/venice-viggo-mortensen-talks-mastering-729431/|archive-date=11 May 2021|url-status=live}}
• Julie Payette (1963–), former governor general of Canada. She speaks French and English natively, and can converse in Spanish, Italian, Russian, and German.{{cite web|title=Biography of Julie Payette|date=February 2008|url=http://www.asc-csa.gc.ca/eng/astronauts/canadian/former/bio-julie-payette.asp|publisher=Canadian Space Agency|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170919032007/https://www.asc-csa.gc.ca/eng/astronauts/canadian/former/bio-julie-payette.asp|archive-date=19 September 2017|url-status=live}}
• Alexander Argüelles (1964–), American linguist. He speaks most of the Germanic and Romance languages (in particular, German, Dutch, Swedish, French, Spanish, Portuguese, and Italian), as well as Russian, Korean, and Arabic, and he has a reading knowledge of many more languages, such as Persian and Old Norse.{{cite book|last=Erard|first=Michael|author-link=Michael Erard|year=2012|title=Babel No More: The Search for the World's Most Extraordinary Language Learners|url=https://archive.org/details/babelnomoresearc0000erar|location=New York|publisher=Free Press|isbn=978-1-4516-2825-8}}{{cite news|last=Lim|first=Yan Liang|date=1 April 2012|title=One man, 50 languages|url=http://www.pdf-archive.com/2014/12/08/one-man-50-languages/one-man-50-languages.pdf|newspaper=The Sunday Times|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150811032020/http://www.pdf-archive.com/2014/12/08/one-man-50-languages/one-man-50-languages.pdf|archive-date=11 August 2015}}{{cite web|title=A Stroll with Alexander Arguelles (For International Mother Language Day)|url=http://writeparagraphs.blogspot.co.uk/2014/02/a-stroll-with-alexander-arguelles-for.html|website=Writeparagraphs.blogspot.com|date=21 February 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140324031901/https://writeparagraphs.blogspot.com/2014/02/a-stroll-with-alexander-arguelles-for.html|archive-date=24 March 2014|url-status=live}}
• Alberto Lati (1978–), Mexican sports journalist. He speaks Spanish, English, Hebrew, Portuguese, German, Italian, Mandarin, Japanese, French, Greek, and Zulu with varying degrees of fluency.{{cite web|title=Mandarín, zulú, griego y todos los idiomas que habla Alberto Lati|url=https://www.milenio.com/deportes/extra-cancha/alberto-lati-cuantos-idiomas-habla-el-comentarista-deportivo|website=Milenio|lang=es|date=13 May 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200521002034/https://www.milenio.com/deportes/extra-cancha/alberto-lati-cuantos-idiomas-habla-el-comentarista-deportivo|archive-date=21 May 2020|url-status=live}}
• Timothy Doner (1995–), American analyst focusing on the Middle East. He speaks English, German, French, Persian, Arabic, and Hebrew,{{cite web|last=Talkoff|first=Emma K.|date=25 September 2014|title=A Talk With the Polyglot|url=https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2014/9/25/talk-with-polyglot/|website=The Harvard Crimson|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140929050844/https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2014/9/25/talk-with-polyglot/|archive-date=29 September 2014|url-status=live}} and has some knowledge of a number of other languages, including Dutch, Yiddish, Italian, Latin, Russian, Croatian, Hindi, Pashto, Kurdish, Turkish, Indonesian, Mandarin, Hausa, Swahili, Xhosa, and Ojibwe.{{r|Talkoff|Leland}}

• Sam Lim (1961–), Malaysian-born Australian politician. He can speak ten languages, including Malay, Indonesian, Mandarin, and Burmese.{{cite web|last=Chen|first=Helen|date=29 January 2021|title=Officer who speaks 10 languages wins top police award for pandemic outreach|url=https://www.sbs.com.au/language/chinese/en/podcast-episode/officer-who-speaks-10-languages-wins-top-police-award-for-pandemic-outreach/faahc7ym6|publisher=Special Broadcasting Service|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230105061845/https://www.sbs.com.au/language/chinese/en/podcast-episode/officer-who-speaks-10-languages-wins-top-police-award-for-pandemic-outreach/faahc7ym6|archive-date=5 January 2023|url-status=live}}
• Ghil'ad Zuckermann (1971–), Israeli linguist, now living in Australia. He can speak eleven languages, and has some knowledge of eleven more.{{cite web|last1=Goldsworthy|first1=Anna|author-link=Anna Goldsworthy|date=September 2014|title=Voices of the Land|url=https://www.themonthly.com.au/issue/2014/september/1409493600/anna-goldsworthy/voices-land|website=The Monthly|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140905070955/https://www.themonthly.com.au/issue/2014/september/1409493600/anna-goldsworthy/voices-land|archive-date=5 September 2014|url-status=live}}

• Ziad Fazah (1954–), Liberian-born Lebanese language teacher, now living in Brazil. He is famous for claiming to speak more than fifty languages, and for a time was listed in The Guinness Book of Records. It is unclear how many languages he can in fact speak.{{cite book|last=Erard|first=Michael|author-link=Michael Erard|year=2012|title=Babel No More: The Search for the World's Most Extraordinary Language Learners|url=https://archive.org/details/babelnomoresearc0000erar/page/106/mode/2up|location=New York|publisher=Free Press|pages=106–110|isbn=978-1-4516-2825-8}}
• Andrew Divoff (1955–), Venezuelan actor and producer. He speaks Spanish, Portuguese, Catalan, French, Italian, English, German, and Russian.{{cite magazine|last=Lanyon|first=Mary-Justine|date=Winter 2015–2016|title=A 'Bad Guy' with a Heart of Gold|url=http://threemarmbrewing.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/ExcerptLakeArrowheadMagazine.pdf|magazine=Lake Arrowhead Magazine|pages=41–43|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180207123129/https://threemarmbrewing.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/ExcerptLakeArrowheadMagazine.pdf|archive-date=7 February 2018|url-status=live}} At one time he also knew Romanian, but forgot it through lack of use.{{cite web|title=Toxic Shock TV - Actor Andrew Divoff Interview|url=http://www.shockya.com/interviews/andrew_divoff.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081208003312/http://www.shockya.com/interviews/andrew_divoff.htm|archive-date=8 December 2008|url-status=dead}}
• Sérgio Meira (1968–), Brazilian linguist. He speaks Portuguese, French, Italian, Spanish, Romanian, English, German, and Esperanto, and to a lesser extent Catalan, Dutch, Russian, and Tiriyó.{{cite web|title=Curriculum Vitae: Dr. Sérgio Meira de Santa Cruz Oliveira|url=http://4gp.me/busd/1607597263576.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201210104841/http://4gp.me/busd/1607597263576.pdf|archive-date=10 December 2020}} He can read with a dictionary Swedish, Latin, and Greek (both classical and modern), and has considerable knowledge of Volapük.{{cite web|title=Dö Kadäm Volapüka|url=http://volapuk.evertype.com/kadam/kadam.html|website=International Community of Friends of Volapük|lang=vo|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141109201455/http://volapuk.evertype.com/kadam/kadam.html|archive-date=9 November 2014|url-status=live}}

{{reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Polyglots}}

Category:Linguistics lists

Category:Multilingualism