Famous birthdays by year

Famous People Born in 1861

Born in 1861? 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 165 in 2026 · Chinese zodiac: Year of the Rooster

The 1860s

The most famous people born in 186117

1861–1941

Rabindranath Tagore

Bengali poet, composer and painter who wrote Gitanjali and became the first non-European to win the Nobel Prize in Literature

Rabindranath Tagore (Bengali:; 7 May 1861 – 7 August 1941) was a Bengali poet, author, playwright, musician, composer, philosopher, social reformer, painter, and one of the foremost figures of the Bengal Renaissance.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

LiteratureDied aged 80

View profile Photo (modified): Generalstabens litografiska anstalt · Public domain

1861–1930

Fridtjof Nansen

Norwegian explorer who crossed Greenland and drifted in the Arctic ice, then won the Nobel Peace Prize for helping refugees

Fridtjof Wedel-Jarlsberg Nansen (Norwegian:; 10 October 1861 – 13 May 1930) was a Norwegian polymath and Nobel Peace Prize laureate. He gained prominence at various points in his life as an explorer, a scientist, a diplomat, a humanitarian, and the co-founder of the Fatherland League.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

ExplorationDied aged 68

View profile Photo (modified): Henry Van der Weyde · Public domain

1861–1947

Alfred North Whitehead

British mathematician and philosopher who co-authored Principia Mathematica

Alfred North Whitehead (15 February 1861 – 30 December 1947) was an English mathematician and philosopher. He created the philosophical school known as process philosophy, which has been applied in a wide variety of disciplines, including ecology, theology, education, physics, biology, economics, and psychology.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

ScienceDied aged 86

View profile Photo (modified): unknown · Public domain

1861–1896

José Rizal

Filipino nationalist and polymath who became a national hero

José Protasio Rizal Mercado y Alonso Realonda (Spanish:, Tagalog:; June 19, 1861 – December 30, 1896) was a Filipino nationalist, writer, and polymath active at the end of the Spanish colonial period of the Philippines. He is popularly considered to be a national hero of the Philippines.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

LiteratureDied aged 35

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1861–1938

Charles Édouard Guillaume

Swiss physicist who discovered the nickel-steel alloys Invar and Elinvar

Charles-Édouard Guillaume (French:; 15 February 1861 – 13 June 1938) was a Swiss physicist who received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1920 "for the service he had rendered to precision measurements in physics by his discovery of anomalies in nickel steel alloys." In 1919, he gave the fifth Guthrie Lecture at the…

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

ScienceDied aged 77

View profile Photo (modified): Auguste Léon · Public domain

1861–1925

Rudolf Steiner

Austrian philosopher and founder of the Waldorf education system

Rudolf Joseph Lorenz Steiner (German:; 27 or 25 February 1861 – 30 March 1925) was an Austrian New Age guru, philosopher, occultist, social reformer, architect, esotericist, and claimed clairvoyant and speaker with the dead.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

ArtDied aged 64

View profile Photo (modified): Otto Rietmann · Public domain

1861–1938

Georges Méliès

Pioneering French filmmaker who developed early special effects

Marie-Georges-Jean Méliès ( mayl-YES, French:; 8 December 1861 – 21 January 1938) was a French filmmaker, actor, magician, and toymaker. He led many technical and narrative developments in the early days of cinema, primarily in the fantasy and science fiction genres.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

FilmDied aged 76

View profile Photo (modified): Georges Méliès · Public domain

1861–1926

Mehmed VI

The final Sultan of the Ottoman Empire

Mehmed VI Vahideddin (Ottoman Turkish: محمد سادس, romanized: Meḥmed-i sâdis, or وحيد الدين, Vaḥîdü'd-Dîn; Turkish: VI. Mehmed or Vahideddin, also spelled as Vahidettin; 14 January 1861 – 16 May 1926), also known as Şahbaba (lit.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

Notable PeopleDied aged 65

View profile Photo (modified): anonymous court photographer · Public domain

Born in 1861, month by month

January
- Victor Horta (January 6) · Belgian architect who was a pioneer of the Art Nouveau style
- Mehmed VI (January 14) · The final Sultan of the Ottoman Empire
February
- Lou Andreas-Salomé (February 12) · Pioneering psychoanalyst known for her relationships with major European thinkers
- Alfred North Whitehead (February 15) · British mathematician and philosopher who co-authored Principia Mathematica
- Charles Édouard Guillaume (February 15) · Swiss physicist who discovered the nickel-steel alloys Invar and Elinvar
- Rudolf Steiner (February 25) · Austrian philosopher and founder of the Waldorf education system
- Ferdinand I of Bulgaria (February 26) · Ruler who declared Bulgaria's independence from the Ottoman Empire
May
- Rabindranath Tagore (May 6) · Bengali poet, composer and painter who wrote Gitanjali and became the first non-European to win the Nobel Prize in Literature
June
- José Rizal (June 19) · Filipino nationalist and polymath who became a national hero
- Frederick Hopkins (June 20) · Nobel Prize-winning biochemist who discovered vitamins
August
- Edith Roosevelt (August 6) · First Lady of the United States and wife of Theodore Roosevelt
October
- Fridtjof Nansen (October 10) · Norwegian explorer who crossed Greenland and drifted in the Arctic ice, then won the Nobel Peace Prize for helping refugees
November
- Georgy Lvov (November 2) · First prime minister of the Russian Republic in 1917
- James Naismith (November 6) · Canadian-American physical educator who invented the game of basketball
December
- Georges Méliès (December 8) · Pioneering French filmmaker who developed early special effects
- Pehr Evind Svinhufvud (December 15) · Finnish politician who served as the third President of Finland
- Italo Svevo (December 19) · Italian novelist best known for the novel Zeno's Conscience

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