Historical Archives & Public Figures

Alfred Russel Wallace

Great Britain

1823 – 1913 (90 years old)

British naturalist and explorer who independently conceived the theory of evolution through natural selection and founded biogeography.

Broadstone, Dorset, United Kingdom

1,686 Full Record →

Politics

4

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Paul de Smet de Naeyer

Belgium

1843 – 1913 (70 years old)

Prominent Flemish Catholic industrialist, banker, and Prime Minister of Belgium who governed for nearly a decade, overseeing major social legislation and modernizing the ports of Antwerp and Zeebrugge.

Sint-Amandsberg (Ghent), Belgium

4 Full Record →

Literature & Poetry

9

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Ruhi al-Khalidi

روحي الخالدي

Palestine

1864 – 6 August 1913 (49 years old)

Pioneering Ottoman-Palestinian comparative literature scholar, author of 'Tarikh Ilm al-Adab', and member of the Ottoman Parliament for Jerusalem.

Jerusalem, Palestine

9 Full Record →

Humanitarian & Peace

37

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Tobias Michael Carel Asser

Netherlands

28 April 1838 – 29 July 1913 (75 years old)

Tobias Asser was an eminent Dutch jurist who pioneered the international codification of private international law. He initiated and presided over the Hague Conferences on Private International Law (1893–1904), co-founded the Institut de Droit International, and helped create the Hague Academy of International Law, receiving the 1911 Nobel Peace Prize.

The Hague, Netherlands

37 Full Record →

Literature & Poetry

9

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Camille Lemonnier

Belgium

1844 – 1913 (69 years old)

Fierce naturalist novelist and art critic known as 'the Belgian Zola' whose 1881 masterpiece Un Mâle provoked obscenity trials and heralded the late nineteenth-century renaissance of Belgian French-language letters.

Ixelles (Brussels), Belgium

9 Full Record →

Politics

1

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Marie Popelin

Belgium

1846-09-16 – 1913-06-05 (66 years old)

Trailblazing feminist who became Belgium's first woman Doctor of Laws in 1888; denied admission to the bar in the famous 'Popelin Affair', she founded the Belgian League for the Rights of Women.

Ixelles, Brussels, Belgium

1 Full Record →

Literature & Poetry

1

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Soledad Acosta de Samper

Soledad Acosta Kemble de Samper

Colombia

1833-05-05 – 1913-03-17 (79 years old)

Preeminent nineteenth-century Colombian woman of letters who authored over twenty novels, fifty short stories, and founded 'La Mujer' magazine in 1878 to champion women's higher education and professional rights.

Bogotá, Colombia

1 Full Record →

Resistance & Human Rights

38

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Harriet Tubman

Araminta Ross (Harriet Tubman)

United States

c. March 1822 – 10 March 1913 (~91 years old)

Iconic American abolitionist and political activist who escaped slavery and subsequently made roughly 13 missions to rescue approximately 70 enslaved people using the network of antislavery activists and safe houses known as the Underground Railroad.

Auburn, New York, United States

38 Full Record →

Literature & Poetry

8

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Pauline Johnson

Tekahionwake

Canada

10 March 1861 – 7 March 1913 (51 years old)

Celebrated Mohawk-Canadian poet and theatrical performer whose dramatic recitations and lyrical verse brought Indigenous heritage to Victorian audiences worldwide.

Vancouver, Canada

8 Full Record →

Literature & Poetry

8

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E. Pauline Johnson (Tekahionwake)

Emily Pauline Johnson

Canada

1861 – 1913 (51 years old)

Celebrated Mohawk poet and dramatic performer who toured the world in dual Indigenous and Victorian costume, reciting verses such as The Song My Paddle Sings and preserving coastal Salish legends in Vancouver.

Vancouver, Canada

8 Full Record →

Statesmanship & Statesmen

40

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Francisco I. Madero

Francisco Ignacio Madero Gonzalez

Mexico

1873 – 1913 (39 years old)

Mexican revolutionary leader and democratic President (1911–1913) known as the 'Apostle of Democracy', whose 1910 Plan of San Luis Potosi ignited the Mexican Revolution and overthrew the thirty-four-year dictatorship of Porfirio Diaz.

Mexico City, Mexico

40 Full Record →

Science

3

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Hjalmar Johansen

Fredrik Hjalmar Johansen

Norway

1867-05-15 – 1913-01-04 (45 years old)

Heroic Norwegian polar explorer and world-champion gymnast who accompanied Fridtjof Nansen on his dash to the Farthest North (86°14'N) and joined Amundsen's South Pole expedition.

Skien, Norway

3 Full Record →

Literature & Poetry

6

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Mir Mosharraf Hossain

মীর মশাররফ হোসেন

Bangladesh

1847-11-13 – 1912-12-19 (65 years old)

Pioneering nineteenth-century author considered the first major modern Muslim novelist in Bengali, celebrated for his monumental epic romance 'Bishad Sindhu' ('Ocean of Sorrow') on the tragedy of Karbala.

Baliakandi, Rajbari, Bangladesh

6 Full Record →

Literature & Poetry

2

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Arturo Borja

Arturo Borja Pérez

Ecuador

1892-09-15 – 1912-11-13 (20 years old)

Brilliant, tragic pioneer of the 'Generación Decapitada' whose lyrical collection 'La flauta de ónix' and musical sonnets introduced French Parnassian decadence to Ecuador before his suicide at age twenty.

Quito, Ecuador

2 Full Record →

History

0

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Alpha Yaya Diallo

Guinea

1830 – 1912 (82 years old)

King of Labé (Fouta Djallon) who led fierce resistance against French colonial subjugation, National Hero of Guinea.

Conakry, Guinea

0 Full Record →

Humanitarian & Peace

35

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Auguste Marie François Beernaert

Belgium

26 July 2014 – 6 October 1912 (83 years old)

Auguste Beernaert was a Belgian statesman who served as Prime Minister of Belgium from 1884 to 1894. A champion of international law, he represented Belgium at the 1899 and 1907 Hague Peace Conferences, presided over the Inter-Parliamentary Union, and promoted social legislation and Congo reform, sharing the 1909 Nobel Peace Prize with Paul-Henri d'Estournelles de Constant.

Watermael-Boitsfort, Brussels, Belgium

35 Full Record →

Prophets & Divine Messengers

9

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Sadok Ghileb

الصادق غلب

Tunisia

c. 1840 AD – 1912 (72 years old)

Prominent municipal leader and Sheik al-Medina (Mayor of Tunis) who preserved the architectural identity of the ancient medina while introducing modern sanitation, water distribution, and lighting.

Tunis, Tunisia

9 Full Record →

Humanitarian & Peace

41

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Louisa Twining

Great Britain

1820 – 1912 (91 years old)

Réformatrice sociale victorienne, fondatrice de la Workhouse Visiting Society, qui consacra cinquante ans à humaniser les hospices de pauvres et à professionnaliser les soins aux vieillards indigents.

London, United Kingdom

41 Full Record →

Public Figures & Cultural Luminaries