Famous People Born in 1853

Vincent van Gogh

Dutch Post-Impressionist painter of The Starry Night and Sunflowers, who sold little in his lifetime but became one of art's most loved figures

Vincent Willem van Gogh (Dutch:; 30 March 1853 – 29 July 1890) was a Dutch Post-Impressionist painter who is among the most famous and influential figures in the history of Western art.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

Photo: Vincent van Gogh · CC BY-SA 4.0

Hendrik Lorentz

Dutch physicist whose Lorentz transformations paved the way for relativity, sharing the 1902 Nobel Prize in Physics

Hendrik Antoon Lorentz (18 July 1853 – 4 February 1928) was a Dutch theoretical physicist who shared the 1902 Nobel Prize in Physics with Pieter Zeeman for their discovery and theoretical explanation of the Zeeman effect.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

Photo: Unknown author · Public domain

José Martí

Cuban national hero, poet and leader of the independence movement

José Julián Martí Pérez (Spanish:; 28 January 1853 – 19 May 1895) was a Cuban nationalist, poet, philosopher, essayist, journalist, translator, professor, and publisher, who is considered a Cuban national hero because of his role in the liberation of his country from Spain.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

Photo: Cuba. Secretaría de Instrucción Pública y Bellas Artes. · CC0

Cecil John Rhodes

British imperialist, mining magnate and founder of Rhodesia

Cecil John Rhodes ( SES-əl ROHDZ; 5 July 1853 – 26 March 1902) was a British mining magnate and politician in southern Africa who served as Prime Minister of the Cape Colony from 1890 to 1896.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

Photo: unattributed · Public domain

Heike Kamerlingh Onnes

Nobel Prize-winning physicist who first liquefied helium

Heike Kamerlingh Onnes (Dutch:; 21 September 1853 – 21 February 1926) was a Dutch experimental physicist who became the first to liquefy helium, cooling it to near 1.5 kelvin (K). For this work, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1913.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

Wilhelm Ostwald

Nobel Prize-winning chemist who helped found physical chemistry

Wilhelm Friedrich Ostwald (German:; 2 September 1853 – 4 April 1932) was a Baltic German chemist and philosopher. Ostwald is credited with being one of the founders of the field of physical chemistry, with Jacobus Henricus van 't Hoff, Walther Nernst and Svante Arrhenius.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

Photo: Nobel Foundation · Public domain

Chulalongkorn

Reformist Thai monarch who modernised his nation and abolished slavery

Chulalongkorn (20 September 1853 – 23 October 1910), posthumously honoured as King Chulalongkorn the Great, was the fifth king of Siam from the Chakri dynasty, titled Rama V.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

Photo: Bain News Service, publisher. · Public domain

Albrecht Kossel

Nobel Prize-winning biochemist who discovered the five bases of DNA

Ludwig Karl Martin Leonhard Albrecht Kossel (German pronunciation:; 16 September 1853 – 5 July 1927) was a German biochemist and pioneer in the study of genetics.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

Photo: Kossel,_Albrecht_(1853-1927).jpg : George Grantham Bain Collection (Library of Congress) derivative work: Materialscient · Public domain