Famous birthdays by year
Famous People Born in 1871
Born in 1871? 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 155 in 2026 · Chinese zodiac: Year of the Goat
The 1870s
The most famous people born in 187120
1871–1922Marcel Proust
French novelist whose vast In Search of Lost Time, sparked by the taste of a madeleine, explores memory and time
Photo: Otto Wegener · Public domain
1871–1919Rosa Luxemburg
Polish-born Marxist theorist and revolutionary who co-founded Germany's Spartacus League and was murdered in Berlin in 1919
Photo: Unknown author · Public domain
1871–1937Ernest Rutherford
New Zealand-born physicist who discovered the atomic nucleus, split the atom and won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry
Photo: George Grantham Bain Collection (Library of Congress) · Public domain
1871–1936Grazia Deledda
Sardinian novelist of Canne al vento and the first Italian woman to win the Nobel Prize in Literature, in 1926
Photo: Nobel Foundation · Public domain
1871–1913Lesya Ukrainka
Influential Ukrainian writer, poet and feminist activist
Photo: Johann Krzanowski · Public domain
1871–1945Paul Valéry
Renowned French poet, philosopher and essayist
Photo: Henri Manuel · Public domain
1871–1950Heinrich Mann
German novelist known for his social criticism and political essays
Photo: Photographer not credited · Public domain
1871–1919Karl Liebknecht
German socialist leader and co-founder of the Spartacus League
Photo: Unknown author · Public domain
Born in 1871, month by month
- January
- Émile Borel (January 7) · French mathematician and politician who pioneered probability and measure theory
- Karl Liebknecht (January 13) · German socialist leader and co-founder of the Spartacus League
- February
- Friedrich Ebert (February 4) · First President of Germany during the Weimar Republic
- Lesya Ukrainka (February 13) · Influential Ukrainian writer, poet and feminist activist
- March
- Rosa Luxemburg (March 5) · Polish-born Marxist theorist and revolutionary who co-founded Germany's Spartacus League and was murdered in Berlin in 1919
- Heinrich Mann (March 27) · German novelist known for his social criticism and political essays
- April
- John Millington Synge (April 16) · Irish playwright and poet who co-founded the Abbey Theatre
- May
- Victor Grignard (May 6) · Nobel Prize-winning chemist who discovered the Grignard reaction
- July
- Marcel Proust (July 10) · French novelist whose vast In Search of Lost Time, sparked by the taste of a madeleine, explores memory and time
- August
- Leonid Andreyev (August 9) · Russian playwright and father of literary expressionism
- Guangxu Emperor (August 14) · Tenth emperor of the Qing dynasty who attempted the Hundred Days Reform
- Theodore Dreiser (August 27) · Naturalist novelist known for the classic American book Sister Carrie
- Albert Lebrun (August 29) · Final president of the French Third Republic during the Second World War
- Ernest Rutherford (August 30) · New Zealand-born physicist who discovered the atomic nucleus, split the atom and won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry
- September
- Grazia Deledda (September 27) · Sardinian novelist of Canne al vento and the first Italian woman to win the Nobel Prize in Literature, in 1926
- Pietro Badoglio (September 28) · Italian general and Prime Minister during World War II
- October
- Cordell Hull (October 2) · Longest-serving US Secretary of State and Nobel Peace Prize winner
- Paul Valéry (October 30) · Renowned French poet, philosopher and essayist
- November
- Stephen Crane (November 1) · Author of the American Civil War novel The Red Badge of Courage
- December
- Alexander Scriabin (December 25) · Russian composer and pianist known for his innovative harmonic style