Famous birthdays by year

Famous People Born in 1850

Born in 1850? Meet the well-known people who share your birth year, from the biggest names to the ones you might not expect, month by month.

Turning 176 in 2026 · Chinese zodiac: Year of the Dog

The 1850s

The most famous people born in 185015

1850–1893

Guy de Maupassant

French master of the short story who wrote Boule de Suif and The Necklace and the novel Bel-Ami

Henri René Albert Guy de Maupassant (UK:, US:; French:; 5 August 1850 – 6 July 1893) was a 19th-century French author, celebrated as a master of the short story and associated with the naturalist literary school of thought, depicting human lives, destinies, and social forces in disillusioned and often pessimistic…

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

LiteratureDied aged 42

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Photo: Nadar · Public domain

1850–1894

Robert Louis Stevenson

Scottish author of Treasure Island, Kidnapped and Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde who died in Samoa

Robert Louis Stevenson (born Robert Lewis Balfour Stevenson; 13 November 1850 – 3 December 1894) was a Scottish novelist, essayist, poet and travel writer.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

LiteratureDied aged 44

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Photo: Henry Walter Barnett · Public domain

1850–1918

Karl Ferdinand Braun

Nobel Prize-winning physicist who developed the cathode-ray tube

Karl Ferdinand Braun (German:; 6 June 1850 – 20 April 1918) was a German applied physicist who shared the 1909 Nobel Prize in Physics with Guglielmo Marconi for their contributions to the development of radio. With his two circuit system, long range radio transmissions and modern telecommunications were made possible.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

ScienceDied aged 67

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Photo: Unknown author · Public domain

1850–1937

Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk

Founding father and first president of independent Czechoslovakia

Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk (7 March 1850 – 14 September 1937) was a Czechoslovak statesman, political activist and philosopher who served as the first president of Czechoslovakia from 1918 to 1935. He is regarded as the founding father of Czechoslovakia.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

PoliticsDied aged 87

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Photo: Státní grafická škola v Praze / Karel Novák (1875–1950) · Public domain

1850–1891

Sofia Kovalevskaya

First woman to hold a modern university professorship in Northern Europe

Sofya Vasilyevna Kovalevskaya (Russian: Софья Васильевна Ковалевская; born Korvin-Krukovskaya; 15 January 1850 – 10 February 1891) was a Russian mathematician who made noteworthy contributions to analysis, partial differential equations and mechanics. She was a pioneer of equality for women in mathematics.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

ScienceDied aged 41

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Photo: Unknown author · Public domain

1850–1889

Mihai Eminescu

Celebrated Romantic poet and influential figure in Romanian literature

Mihai Eminescu (Romanian pronunciation:; born Mihail Eminovici; 15 January 1850 – 15 June 1889) was a Romanian Romantic poet, novelist, and journalist from Moldavia, generally regarded as the most famous and influential Romanian poet.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

LiteratureDied aged 39

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Photo: Jan Tomas · Public domain

1850–1935

Charles Richet

Nobel Prize-winning physiologist who discovered anaphylaxis

Charles Robert Richet (French pronunciation:; 25 August 1850 – 4 December 1935) was a French physiologist at the Collège de France and immunology pioneer. In 1913, he won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine "in recognition of his work on anaphylaxis".

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

LiteratureDied aged 85

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Photo: Unknown author · Public domain

1850–1932

Eduard Bernstein

German politician who founded evolutionary socialism and social democracy

Eduard Bernstein (German:; 6 January 1850 – 18 December 1932) was a German social democratic politician and socialist theorist.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

PoliticsDied aged 82

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Photo: Unknown author · Public domain

Born in 1850, month by month

January
- Sofia Kovalevskaya (January 3) · First woman to hold a modern university professorship in Northern Europe
- Eduard Bernstein (January 6) · German politician who founded evolutionary socialism and social democracy
- Pierre Loti (January 14) · French novelist and naval officer known for his exotic fiction
- Mihai Eminescu (January 15) · Celebrated Romantic poet and influential figure in Romanian literature
March
- Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk (March 7) · Founding father and first president of independent Czechoslovakia
May
- Oliver Heaviside (May 18) · British physicist who adapted complex equations for practical electrical engineering
June
- Karl Ferdinand Braun (June 6) · Nobel Prize-winning physicist who developed the cathode-ray tube
- Horatio Kitchener, 1st Earl Kitchener (June 24) · British Field Marshal featured on famous World War I recruitment posters
- Ivan Vazov (June 27) · Bulgarian poet and novelist known as the father of Bulgarian literature
- Lafcadio Hearn (June 27) · Writer who introduced Japanese legends and culture to the West
July
- Hipólito Yrigoyen (July 13) · Two-time President of Argentina during the early twentieth century
August
- Guy de Maupassant (August 5) · French master of the short story who wrote Boule de Suif and The Necklace and the novel Bel-Ami
- Charles Richet (August 25) · Nobel Prize-winning physiologist who discovered anaphylaxis
October
- Henry Louis Le Châtelier (October 8) · Formulating a chemical principle to predict systems in equilibrium
November
- Robert Louis Stevenson (November 13) · Scottish author of Treasure Island, Kidnapped and Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde who died in Samoa

1852 →