Auto industry · 1863–1947Henry Fordautomaker, industrialist, founder of Ford Motor CompanyThe farm boy from Dearborn who built his first car in a Detroit shed, founded Ford Motor Company and turned the region into the world's motor capital.DETROIT / A living lexicon / ¼
Famous Detroiters
People who were born here, moved here or built their careers in Detroit: musicians, carmakers, athletes, writers, inventors, civil-rights leaders and a few notorious names. With their dates, their Detroit story and the places where they lived, worked and played, closed ones included.
- 1,743 famous people
- 96 Detroit places
- 9 fields
Hungarian ties 21 Detroiters with Hungarian ties →
Field
Connection
Born in
A–Z (family name)
13 people
Clear filtersAuto industry · 1863–1947Henry Fordautomaker, industrialist, founder of Ford Motor CompanyThe farm boy from Dearborn who built his first car in a Detroit shed, founded Ford Motor Company and turned the region into the world's motor capital.
Science & invention · 1887–1975Kazimierz Fajansphysical chemistPolish-born pioneer of radioactivity and co-discoverer of protactinium, who taught at the University of Michigan from 1936 after leaving Nazi Germany.
Auto industry · 1893–1943Edsel Fordpresident of Ford Motor Company, art patronHenry Ford's only son led Ford from 1919 to 1943, brought style to its cars and paid for Diego Rivera's Detroit Industry murals.
Law · 1889–1982Homer S. Fergusonjudge, U.S. senator, diplomatDetroit lawyer and Wayne County circuit judge whose one-man grand jury exposed city corruption (1939–1941), launching him into the U.S. Senate (1943–1955).
Religion · 1833–1918John Samuel Foleythird Catholic Bishop of Detroit (1888–1918)Baltimore-born priest who served as Bishop of Detroit for 30 years, the longest tenure in its history, as the auto boom tripled the city's Catholic population.
Business & brands · 1854–1919Charles Lang Freerrailcar manufacturer, art collector, founder of the Freer GalleryDetroit railcar industrialist whose Asian and Whistler collection, once housed in his Ferry Avenue home, became the Smithsonian's Freer Gallery of Art.
Civil rights & activism · 1866–1950Clara Bryant Fordphilanthropist, suffragist, wife of Henry FordHenry Ford's wife and first backer, whom he called 'the Believer', who shaped Fair Lane and championed gardening, nursing and women's suffrage.
Business & brands · 1833–1907Dexter M. Ferryseed merchant, founder of D. M. Ferry & Co.Detroit merchant whose D. M. Ferry & Co. became the world's largest seed company, selling fresh seed in small paper packets across America.
Religion · 1870–1948Leo M. FranklinReform rabbi of Temple Beth ElRabbi of Temple Beth El from 1899 to 1941 who built Detroit's leading Reform congregation and two Albert Kahn temples on Woodward Avenue.
Visual art · 1896–1976Eleanor Clay Fordphilanthropist, art patron, Ford Motor Company shareholderDetroit-born niece of J. L. Hudson and wife of Edsel Ford, a major DIA patron who willed the family's Grosse Pointe estate to the public.
Auto industry · 1888–1961Lawrence P. Fisherpresident of Cadillac, Fisher Body co-ownerThe Fisher brother who ran Cadillac and discovered designer Harley Earl, bringing him to Detroit to style the 1927 LaSalle.The lexicon keeps growing. Every entry lists its sources at the bottom. Dates were checked against Wikidata and Wikipedia. The texts are our own.