Born: 3 April 1660 · Died: 24 April 1731 · Age at death: 71
How old was Daniel Defoe when he died?
Daniel Defoe died aged 71. He was born on 3 April 1660 and died on 24 April 1731.
English writer, journalist and spy whose Robinson Crusoe is often called the first English novel
Did you know?He worked as a secret agent and spy for the British government alongside his career as a journalist and novelist.
Quick facts
Date of birth3 April 1660
Date of death24 April 1731
Age at death71
NationalityEnglish
BirthplaceLondon, United Kingdom
Occupationjournalist, novelist, prose writer
Editor's Take:
Defoe was a merchant, spy, pamphleteer and journalist long before he became a novelist. When he finally wrote fiction, in his late fifties, he helped invent the English novel. Robinson Crusoe gave readers a realistic, detailed account of survival that felt like true reportage. He followed it with vivid stories of crime and plague told from the inside. His plain, factual style shaped the way novels would be written for centuries.
Key Milestones
1703: Pillory – punished for satire
1719: Robinson Crusoe – published
1722: Moll Flanders – novel
1722: A Journal of the Plague Year – book
Daniel Defoe ( c. 1660 – 24 April 1731) was an English writer, journalist, merchant and spy. He is famous for his novels Robinson Crusoe (1719), Moll Flanders (1722) and Roxana: The Fortunate Mistress (1724).
