One of the famous people born in Gdańsk is JAN HEWELIUSZ (Johannes Hevelius), a well-known 17th century Pole. He founded modern selenography, discovered four comets, and observed sunspots, stars, planets and their satellites.Heweliusz also a constructed telescopes and other instruments, including the pendulum clock.

The long list of famous people from Gdansk includes: Daniel Fahrenheit, Artur Schopehauer, Gunter Grass and Lech Wałęsa.