; Lived in Clarens •
Élisée Reclus (1830–1905), renowned French geographer, writer and
anarchist; resided in Clarens from 1872. •
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840–1893), the Russian composer of the Romantic period, wrote his
Violin Concerto in Clarens in 1878; it is one of the best known violin concertos ever written. •
Jens Peter Jacobsen (1847-1885), the Danish writer, resided in Montreux in the winter of 1877-78 and featured the town of Clarens in his novel
Niels Lyhne. •
Sholem Aleichem (1859–1916), the Yiddish classic writer, resided in Clarens in 1912. •
Igor Stravinsky (1882–1971), the Russian composer, lived in Clarens during the summers of 1910 to 1915. He composed his ballets
The Rite of Spring and
Pulcinella here. •
Jacqueline de Quattro (born 1960), a member of the
National Council of Switzerland and former member of the
Council of State of Vaud. ; Died in Clarens •
David Urquhart (1805–1877), British diplomat, writer and politician, MP for
Stafford 1847 to 1852, introduced the Turkish bath to Britain; lived in Clarens from 1864 and is buried there. •
Paul Kruger (1825–1904), former President of the
Transvaal Republic up to and including the
Second Boer War, lived his final year in self-imposed exile in Clarens after escaping from
South Africa, and died there.
Clarens, Free State, a small town in South Africa, was named in his honour. •
Johannes van Laar (1860–1938), Dutch chemist who is best known for the equations regarding chemical activity (Van Laar equation). ; Buried in Clarens •
Henri-Frédéric Amiel (1821–1881), Swiss poet, diarist, moral philosopher. •
Sydney Chaplin (1885–1965), British actor and the elder half-brother of Sir
Charlie Chaplin. He died in
Nice and was buried in Clarens. •
Oskar Kokoschka (1886–1980), Austrian artist, poet and playwright of expressionistic portraits and landscapes, lived in Montreux from 1947 to 1980, where he died. He is buried in Clarens. •
Vladimir Nabokov (1899–1977), Russian-born novelist, poet, translator and entomologist; in 1961 he and Véra moved from the United States to Montreux, where he subsequently died. He is buried in Clarens. •
Joan Sutherland (1926–2010), Australian soprano, leading exponent of
bel canto. == Education ==