Joel Tyler Headley was an American clergyman, historian, author, newspaper editor, adventurer and politician who served as Secretary of State of New York. Headley belonged to the American Party.

Johan Bojer was a popular Norwegian novelist and dramatist. He principally wrote about the lives of the poor farmers and fishermen, both in his native Norway and among the Norwegian immigrants in the United States. He was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature five times.

Johan Huizinga was a Dutch historian and one of the founders of modern cultural history.

Johann Beckmann (1739–1811) was a German scientific author and coiner of the word technology, to mean the science of trades. He was the first man to teach technology and write about it as an academic subject.

Johann David Wyss was a Swiss author, best remembered for his book The Swiss Family Robinson (1812). He was born and died in Bern. It is said that he was inspired by Daniel Defoe's Robinson Crusoe, but wanted to write a story from which his own children would learn, as the father in the story taught important lessons to his children. The Swiss Family Robinson was first published in German in 1812, then translated into English two years later. It has since become one of the most popular books of all time. The book was edited by his son, Johann Rudolf Wyss, a scholar known for writing the Swiss national anthem, Rufst du, mein Vaterland. Another of Wyss's sons, Johann Emmanuel Wyss, illustrated the book. Johann David Wyss outlived his son Johann Rudolf, who had died at the age of 48, dying in 1818 at the age of 74.

Johann Friedrich Herbart was a German philosopher, psychologist and founder of pedagogy as an academic discipline.

Johann Georg Ritter von Zimmermann / Johann Georg Zimmermann was a Swiss philosophical writer, naturalist, and physician. He was the private physician of George III and later Frederick the Great.

Johann Jakob Hottinger was a Swiss historian. He was a great-grandson of philologist Johann Heinrich Hottinger (1620–1667).

Johann Joachim Winckelmann was a German art historian and archaeologist. He was a pioneering Hellenist who first articulated the differences between Greek, Greco-Roman and Roman art. "The prophet and founding hero of modern archaeology", Winckelmann was one of the founders of scientific archaeology and first applied the categories of style on a large, systematic basis to the history of art. Many consider him the father of the discipline of art history. He was one of the first to separate Greek Art into periods, and time classifications.

Johann Nikolaus Forkel was a German musicologist and music theorist, generally regarded as among the founders of modern musicology. His publications include Johann Sebastian Bach: His Life, Art, and Work, the first substantial survey on the life and works of Johann Sebastian Bach.