Gerardus Mercator (1512–1594), map maker.
Born in Rupelmonde in Flanders, he lived in Duisburg from 1552 until his death. His great world map of 1569 uses a new projection, now called the 'Mercator projection', on which sailing courses of constant bearing appear as straight lines; nautical charts still use it. His close friend Frans Hogenberg, who also has a street in Gasperich, made a portrait of him in 1574.