Famous birthdays by year
Famous People Born in 1919
Born in 1919? 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 107 in 2026 · Chinese zodiac: Year of the Goat
The 1910s
The most famous people born in 191934
1919–2013Doris Lessing
British novelist raised in Southern Rhodesia who wrote The Golden Notebook and won the Nobel Prize in Literature at 88
Photo: Oskars Vizbulis · Public domain
1919–2008Edmund Hillary
New Zealand mountaineer who with Tenzing Norgay made the first confirmed ascent of Mount Everest in 1953
Photo: Photographer unidentified. Retouched by TimofKingsland . · Public domain
1919–2010J. D. Salinger
American author of The Catcher in the Rye, narrated by Holden Caulfield, who withdrew from public life
Photo: Lotte Jacobi · Public domain
1919–1980Mohammad Reza I of Iran
Last Shah of Iran, who ruled from 1941 and modernised the country before being overthrown in the 1979 revolution
Photo: Ghazarians · Public domain
1919–1952Eva Perón
Argentine actress who became First Lady as the wife of Juan Perón, champion of the poor and women's suffrage, known as Evita
Photo: Pinélides Fusco · Public domain
1919–2013Mikhail Kalashnikov
Russian general who designed the AK-47 assault rifle
Photo: Министерство обороны Российской Федерации · CC BY 4.0
1919–2014Pete Seeger
American folk singer and activist who popularised Where Have All the Flowers Gone?
Photo: Fred Palumbo , World Telegram staff photographer · Public domain
1919–2000Pierre Trudeau
Long-serving Canadian Prime Minister and father of Justin Trudeau
Photo: United Press International · Public domain
Born in 1919, month by month
- January
- J. D. Salinger (January 1) · American author of The Catcher in the Rye, narrated by Holden Caulfield, who withdrew from public life
- Giulio Andreotti (January 14) · Italian politician who served seven terms as prime minister
- Jackie Robinson (January 31) · First African American to play in modern Major League Baseball
- February
- Andreas Papandreou (February 5) · Greek politician who served three terms as the Prime Minister
- Jack Palance (February 18) · Oscar-winning American actor famous for playing tough villains and outlaws
- March
- Jennifer Jones (March 2) · Oscar-winning actress who starred in The Song of Bernadette
- Nat King Cole (March 17) · American jazz pianist and influential pop singer
- April
- Joseph Murray (April 1) · Surgeon who performed the first successful human kidney transplant
- Ian Douglas Smith (April 8) · Former Prime Minister who led Rhodesia's white minority government
- Donald J. Cram (April 22) · Nobel Prize-winning chemist who helped develop the field of host-guest chemistry
- May
- Pete Seeger (May 3) · American folk singer and activist who popularised Where Have All the Flowers Gone?
- Georgios Papadopoulos (May 5) · Greek military officer who led the 1967 coup d'état
- Eva Perón (May 7) · Argentine actress who became First Lady as the wife of Juan Perón, champion of the poor and women's suffrage, known as Evita
- Margot Fonteyn (May 18) · Legendary English ballerina and star of the Royal Ballet
- July
- Walter Scheel (July 8) · Former President and Foreign Minister of West Germany
- Iris Murdoch (July 15) · Booker Prize-winning novelist and philosopher
- Edmund Hillary (July 20) · New Zealand mountaineer who with Tenzing Norgay made the first confirmed ascent of Mount Everest in 1953
- August
- Godfrey Hounsfield (August 18) · Electrical engineer who co-invented the CT scanner
- Amrita Pritam (August 31) · Influential Punjabi poet and novelist who wrote Pinjar
- September
- Fausto Coppi (September 15) · Italian cyclist who won the Tour de France twice
- Matilde Camus (September 26) · Spanish poet and non-fiction writer from Cantabria
- October
- James M. Buchanan (October 3) · Nobel Prize-winning economist who developed public choice theory
- Donald Pleasence (October 5) · Prolific English actor known for the Halloween film series
- Siad Barre (October 6) · Military leader who served as President of Somalia for two decades
- Kiichi Miyazawa (October 8) · Japanese politician who served as Prime Minister in the early 1990s
- Zhao Ziyang (October 17) · High-ranking Chinese politician and General Secretary of the Communist Party
- Pierre Trudeau (October 18) · Long-serving Canadian Prime Minister and father of Justin Trudeau
- Doris Lessing (October 22) · British novelist raised in Southern Rhodesia who wrote The Golden Notebook and won the Nobel Prize in Literature at 88
- Mohammad Reza I of Iran (October 26) · Last Shah of Iran, who ruled from 1941 and modernised the country before being overthrown in the 1979 revolution
- November
- Mikhail Kalashnikov (November 10) · Russian general who designed the AK-47 assault rifle
- Veronica Lake (November 14) · Hollywood actress famous for her signature "peek-a-boo" hairstyle
- Frederik Pohl (November 26) · Science fiction author and editor known for The Space Merchants
- December
- Inder Kumar Gujral (December 4) · Former Prime Minister of India and diplomat
- William Lipscomb (December 9) · Nobel Prize-winning chemist known for his work on boron compounds