Born: 18 September 1709 · Died: 13 December 1784 · Age at death: 75
How old was Samuel Johnson when he died?
Samuel Johnson died aged 75. He was born on 18 September 1709 and died on 13 December 1784.
English writer and critic whose 1755 Dictionary of the English Language shaped the language, immortalised in Boswell's biography
Did you know?He was a great lover of cats and used to personally buy oysters to feed his favourite pet, Hodge.
Quick facts
Date of birth18 September 1709
Date of death13 December 1784
Age at death75
Cause of deathSurgical complications
NationalityBritish
BirthplaceLichfield, United Kingdom
Occupationlexicographer, linguist, poet
Editor's Take:
Samuel Johnson gave English its first great dictionary. He grew up poor in Lichfield, the son of a bookseller, and left Oxford without a degree. He worked for years as a struggling writer in London. His Dictionary, compiled with a few helpers over about nine years, appeared in 1755. He was also a poet, essayist, critic and editor of Shakespeare. James Boswell's biography made his wit legendary. "When a man is tired of London, he is tired of life" is his.
Key Milestones
1749: The Vanity of Human Wishes – poem
1755: Dictionary – published
1759: Rasselas – novel
1765: Shakespeare – edition
Samuel Johnson (18 September 1709 – 13 December 1784), often called Dr Johnson, was an English writer and polymath who made lasting contributions as a poet, playwright, essayist, moralist, literary critic, sermonist, biographer, editor, and lexicographer (creator of dictionaries).
