Famous people born on 17 April

• TimurThe founder of the Timurid Empire · 1336–1405
  68 yrs
• Karen BlixenDanish writer · 1885–1962
  77 yrs
• Francis XavierSpanish Catholic saint and missionary · 1506–1552
  46 yrs
• Sirimavo BandaranaikePrime Minister of Ceylon (later Sri Lanka) from 1960–65, 1970–77, 1994–2000 · 1916–2000
  84 yrs
• J. P. MorganAmerican financier, banker, and art collector · 1837–1913
  75 yrs
• William HoldenAmerican actor · 1918–1981
  63 yrs
• Thornton WilderAmerican playwright and novelist · 1897–1975
  78 yrs
• Joe Alaskey ↗American actor · 1952–2016
  63 yrs
• Chandra Shekhar ↗Prime Minister of India · 1927–2007
  80 yrs
• Olivia Hussey ↗British actress · 1951–2024
  73 yrs
• Georges J. F. Köhler ↗German immunologist · 1946–1995
  48 yrs
• Alain Poher ↗French politician · 1909–1996
  87 yrs
• Taksin ↗King of Siam · 1734–1782
  47 yrs
• Chavela Vargas ↗Mexican singer · 1919–2012
  93 yrs
• Mariama Bâ ↗Senegalese writer · 1929–1981
  52 yrs
• Željko Ražnatović ↗Serbian military commandant and criminal · 1952–2000
  47 yrs
• Giovanni Battista Riccioli ↗16th century Italian theologian and astronomer · 1598–1671
  73 yrs
• Benjamin Tucker ↗American journalist and anarchist · 1854–1939
  85 yrs
• Osvaldo Dorticós ↗President of Cuba · 1919–1983
  64 yrs
• Lindsay Anderson ↗British feature-film, theatre and documentary director and film critic · 1923–1994
  71 yrs
• James Last ↗German musician · 1929–2015
  86 yrs
• Hervé Bazin ↗French writer · 1911–1996
  84 yrs
• Carl Friedrich Philipp von Martius ↗German botanist · 1794–1868
  74 yrs

Only people with a known day of birth are listed, and only people who have died. Dates are from Wikidata (CC0), last updated 22 October 2026.

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