Historical Archives & Public Figures

Louis-Joseph Janvier

Haiti

1855 – 1911 (55 years old)

Pioneering Haitian physician, diplomat, and intellectual who authored 'La République d'Haïti et ses visiteurs' in 1883.

Port-au-Prince, Haiti

1 Full Record →

Sciences & Discovery

3,319

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Jacobus Henricus van 't Hoff

Netherlands

1852 – 1911 (58 years old)

Inaugural winner of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry (1901) who founded modern stereochemistry, chemical kinetics, and osmotic pressure theory.

Berlin, Germany

3,319 Full Record →

Humanitarian & Peace

40

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Frances Ellen Watkins Harper

United States

1825 – 1911 (85 years old)

Celebrated African American abolitionist orator and poet acclaimed as the 'Mother of African American Journalism', whose bestselling poetry and 1892 novel 'Iola Leroy' championed Black freedom, temperance, and women's rights.

Collingdale (Pennsylvania), United States

40 Full Record →

Politics

1

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Sultan Senoussi

Muhammad al-Sanusi of Dar al-Kuti

Historical Central Africa

c. 1850 – 1911-01-12 (61 years old)

Formidable Sultan of Dar al-Kuti who constructed the fortified palace-citadel 'Tata of Ndélé' (UNESCO tentative site) and fell in battle defending his sovereign sultanate against French troops in 1911.

Ndélé, Bamingui-Bangoran, Central African Republic

1 Full Record →

History

1

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Alexandros Papadiamantis

Greece

1851 – 1911 (59 years old)

Revered Greek writer known as the 'Saint of Greek Letters', master of the short story, author of 'The Murderess'.

Skiathos, Greece

1 Full Record →

Law

3

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John Mensah Sarbah

Ghana

1864-06-03 – 1910-11-27 (46 years old)

First indigenous barrister from the Gold Coast called to the English Bar, legal scholar who codified 'Fanti Customary Laws', and defender of African land ownership against the Public Lands Bill.

Cape Coast, Ghana

3 Full Record →

Literature & Poetry

44

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Count Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy

Лев Николаевич Толстой

Russia

9 September 1828 – 20 November 1910 (82 years old)

Colossus of world literature whose epic panoramic masterworks War and Peace and Anna Karenina captured the entire canvas of human life, and whose later Christian anarchist pacifism (The Kingdom of God Is Within You) inspired Mahatma Gandhi.

Astapovo (Lipetsk Oblast), Russia

44 Full Record →

Humanitarian & Peace

43

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Henry Dunant

Jean Henri Dunant

Switzerland

1828 – 1910 (82 years old)

Swiss humanitarian whose horror at the slaughter of the 1859 Battle of Solferino inspired him to found the International Committee of the Red Cross and spark the Geneva Convention, recipient of the first Nobel Peace Prize in 1901.

Zurich, Switzerland

43 Full Record →

Resistance & Human Rights

44

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Henri Dunant

Jean-Henri Dunant

Switzerland

8 May 1828 – 30 October 1910 (82 years old)

Henri Dunant was a Swiss humanitarian, social reformer, and author whose harrowing eyewitness experience at the Battle of Solferino in 1859 inspired him to create the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and initiate the 1864 Geneva Convention. For revolutionizing humanitarian international law and wartime civilian protections, Dunant was awarded the inaugural Nobel Peace Prize in 1901.

Heiden, Switzerland

44 Full Record →

Resistance & Human Rights

12

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Cheikh Ma El Aïnin

الشيخ ماء العينين (محمد المصطفى)

Mauritania

1831 – 1910 (79 years old)

Legendary Saharan Sufi leader, scholar, and armed resistance commander who built the fortress city of Smara in 1898 and mobilized Saharan and Mauritanian tribes in armed jihad against French colonial conquest.

Tiznit, Morocco

12 Full Record →

Monarchs, Kings & Royalty

44

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King Chulalongkorn

Phra Bat Somdet Phra Poramintharamaha Chulalongkorn (Rama V)

Thailand

1853 – 1910 (57 years old)

Fifth monarch of Siam (1868–1910) under the Chakri Dynasty, revered as 'The Great Beloved King', who abolished human slavery, modernized government and railways, and preserved Siam's independence as the only uncolonized nation in Southeast Asia.

Bangkok, Thailand

44 Full Record →

Resistance & Human Rights

34

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Sheikh Ma al-'Aynayn

الشيخ ماء العينين القلقمي

Mauritania

1830 – 1910 (80 years old)

Saharan spiritual titan, scholar, and anti-colonial commander who founded the holy city of Smara, authored over 300 manuscripts, and united Saharan and Mauritanian tribes against French expansion.

Tiznit, Morocco

34 Full Record →

Monarchs, Kings & Royalty

65

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King Chulalongkorn (Rama V)

พระบาทสมเด็จพระจุลจอมเกล้าเจ้าอยู่หัว / รัชกาลที่ ๕

Thailand

1853 – 1910 (57 years old)

Fifth monarch of Siam's Chakri dynasty who modernized Thailand's legal and administrative systems and preserved national independence from European colonization.

Bangkok, Thailand

65 Full Record →

Arts & Music

33

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William Holman Hunt

Great Britain

1827 – 1910 (83 years old)

Co-founder of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood who remained faithful to its hyper-realistic, moral principles for life, painting 'The Light of the World' and traveling to Palestine for 'The Scapegoat'.

London, United Kingdom

33 Full Record →

Philosophy & Thought

39

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William James

United States

1842 – 1910 (68 years old)

American philosopher and psychologist who founded American psychology with The Principles of Psychology and popularized Pragmatism, radical empiricism, and The Varieties of Religious Experience.

Cambridge (Massachusetts), United States

39 Full Record →

Humanitarian & Peace

68

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Gustave Moynier

Louis Gabriel Gustave Moynier

Switzerland

21 September 1826 – 21 August 1910 (83 years old)

Gustave Moynier was a Swiss jurist and humanitarian who co-founded the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) alongside Henri Dunant in 1863. Serving as ICRC President for forty-seven years (1863–1910), he drafted the first Geneva Convention and pioneered international humanitarian law, being the first person in history to propose a permanent international criminal court in 1872.

Geneva, Switzerland

68 Full Record →

Humanitarian & Peace

38

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Florence Nightingale

Italy

12 May 1820 – 13 August 1910 (90 years old)

Florence Nightingale was a British social reformer, statistician, and the foundational philosopher of modern professional nursing. Gaining worldwide renown as 'The Lady with the Lamp' during the Crimean War for her nightly rounds tending wounded soldiers at Scutari hospital, she pioneered epidemiological data visualization and established the world's first secular nursing school at St Thomas' Hospital.

East Wellow, Hampshire, United Kingdom

38 Full Record →

Arts & Music

32

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Arkhip Ivanovich Kuindzhi

Архип Иванович Куинджи

Russia

1841 – 1910 (69 years old)

Pontic Greek-Russian landscape painter whose breathtaking optical effects of glowing moonlight in 'Moonlit Night on the Dnieper' caused spectators to weep in darkened exhibition rooms.

Saint Petersburg, Russia

32 Full Record →

Public Figures & Cultural Luminaries