Aged 55
Famous people who died at 55
137 of the 11,867 best-known people in our data died aged 55, including Friedrich Nietzsche, Roald Amundsen and Saladin. Here are the 100 best known.
- Friedrich NietzscheGerman philosopher · 1844–1900
- Roald AmundsenNorwegian explorer; first person to reach the South Pole · 1872–1928
- SaladinSultan of Egypt and founder of the Ayyubid dynasty · c. 1138–1193
- Emily DickinsonAmerican poet · 1830–1886
- Claude DebussyFrench classical composer · 1862–1918
- Lu XunChinese novelist and essayist · 1881–1936
- Joseph BrodskyRussian-American poet, essayist, and Nobel laureate · 1940–1996
- Henry VIII of EnglandKing of England from 1509 to 1547 · 1491–1547
- HypatiaGreek Neoplatonist philosopher · c. AD 360–415
- Louisa May AlcottAmerican novelist · 1832–1888
- Antoine Henri BecquerelFrench physicist · 1852–1908
- Ferdinand de SaussureSwiss linguist and philosopher · 1857–1913
- Gustav KlimtAustrian symbolist painter · 1862–1918
- Rudolf DieselGerman inventor and mechanical engineer · 1858–1913
- Sheikh Mujibur RahmanPresident of the Provisional Government of Bangladesh and the 2nd Prime Minister and first President of Bangladesh · 1920–1975
- Frederick II, Holy Roman EmperorKing of Sicily, Holy Roman Emperor · 1195–1250
- Thomas YoungEnglish polymath · 1773–1829
- Elizabeth Barrett BrowningEnglish poet · 1806–1861
- Oswald SpenglerGerman historian and philosopher · 1880–1936
- Boris NemtsovRussian scientist, statesman and liberal politician · 1959–2015
- Ögedei KhanKhan of the Mongol Empire (c.1186-1241) · 1186–1241
- Mikhail TalSoviet-Latvian chess player · 1936–1992
- Charles VI, Holy Roman Emperor18th century Habsburg Holy Roman Emperor · 1685–1740
- Ulugh BegTimurid sultan, astronomer and mathematician · 1394–1449
- Pierre NkurunzizaPresident of Burundi from 2005 to 2020 · 1964–2020
- Tigran PetrosianSoviet Armenian Grandmaster and World Chess Champion · 1929–1984
- Francis de SalesFrench bishop, saint, writer and Doctor of the Church · 1567–1622
- Kurt AlderGerman chemist · 1902–1958
- Hugo von HofmannsthalAustrian novelist, librettist, poet, dramatist · 1874–1929
- Henry IVHoly Roman Emperor from 1084 to 1105 · 1050–1106
- Edward SapirAmerican linguist and anthropologist · 1884–1939
- Sophie GermainFrench mathematician, physicist, and philosopher · 1776–1831
- Elizabeth GaskellBritish author · 1810–1865
- Geoffrey of MonmouthHistorian and Bishop of St Asaph, Wales · c. 1100–1155
- Bujar NishaniAlbanian politician · 1966–2022
- Louis VI of France ↗King of the Franks from 1108 to 1137 · 1081–1137
- Antiochus III the Great ↗Sixth Seleucid emperor · c. 242–187 BC
- Carlos Ruiz Zafón ↗Spanish writer · 1964–2020
- Frederick I of Prussia ↗1657 – 1713, Elector of Brandenburg and Duke of Prussia in personal union (Brandenburg-Prussia) · 1657–1713
- Woody Guthrie ↗American singer-songwriter · 1912–1967
- Jan Matejko ↗Polish painter · 1838–1893
- Nikolai Vavilov ↗Russian (Soviet) agronomist, botanist and geneticist · 1887–1943
- Ernst Lubitsch ↗German-American actor and film director · 1892–1947
- Will Rogers ↗American humorist and entertainer · 1879–1935
- Bankim Chandra Chatterjee ↗Bengali writer, poet and journalist · 1838–1894
- Francisco Macías Nguema Biyoko ↗Equatoguinean politician, 1st and former President of Equatorial Guinea · 1924–1979
- John II Komnenos ↗Byzantine Emperor from 1118 to 1144 · c. 1088–1143
- Ioannis Kapodistrias ↗Greek statesman and diplomat · 1776–1831
- John III of Portugal ↗King of Portugal · 1502–1557
- Frederick VII of Denmark ↗King of Denmark from 1848 to 1863 · 1808–1863
- Konstantinos IX Monomachos ↗Byzantine emperor · c. 1000–1055
- Agha Mohammad Khan Qajar ↗Founder of the Qajar Dynasty · 1742–1797
- Mohammed Rafi ↗Indian playback singer · 1924–1980
- Robert Ley ↗German Nazi politician; indicted by the International Military Tribunal for war crimes · 1890–1945
- Birendra of Nepal ↗King of Nepal · 1945–2001
- Garret Hobart ↗Vice president of the United States from 1897 to 1899 · 1844–1899
- Jack Ruby ↗American nightclub operator who killed American presidential assassin Lee Harvey Oswald · 1911–1967
- Lee Remick ↗American actress · 1935–1991
- Ludovico Sforza ↗Duke of Milan · 1452–1508
- Matti Nykänen ↗Finnish ski jumper · 1963–2019
- Bill Haley ↗American rock and roll music pioneer · 1925–1981
- Christian III of Denmark ↗King of Denmark and Norway · 1503–1559
- John VIII Palaiologos ↗Byzantine emperor · 1392–1448
- Park Hon-young ↗North Korean politician · 1900–1955
- Ladislaus I of Hungary ↗King of Hungary from 1077 to 1095 · 1040–1095
- Otto Rank ↗Austrian psychoanalyst · 1884–1939
- Satoru Iwata ↗Japanese video game programmer and businessman · 1959–2015
- Charles Kingsley ↗British clergyman, historian and novelist · 1819–1875
- Edward Rydz-Śmigły ↗Polish general, politician, marshal of Poland, poet, and painter · 1886–1941
- Hiroaki Sato ↗Japanese association football player · 1932–1988
- Monica of Hippo ↗Christian saint; mother of St. Augustine · c. AD 332–387
- Niko Pirosmani ↗Georgian artist · 1862–1918
- Muhammad al-Baqir ↗Fifth of the Twelve Shia Imams · AD 677–733
- Catherine Cornaro ↗Queen of Cyprus · 1454–1510
- Jeconiah ↗Nineteenth King of Judah · c. 616–561 BC
- Pavel Florensky ↗Russian Orthodox theologian, priest, philosopher, mathematician, physicist, electrical engineer, inventor and Neomartyr · 1882–1937
- Théodore Rousseau ↗French painter · 1812–1867
- Giambattista Marino ↗Italian poet · 1569–1625
- Dmitry Khvorostovsky ↗Russian operatic baritone · 1962–2017
- Hossein Shahabi ↗Iranian screenwriter, producer and film director · 1967–2023
- Ranavalona III ↗Last sovereign of the Kingdom of Madagascar · 1861–1917
- Charles of Valois ↗French prince · 1270–1325
- Chlodio ↗Germanic king · c. AD 393–448
- Fyodor Ivanovich Tolbukhin ↗Soviet military commander and Marshal of the Soviet Union · 1894–1949
- Haing S. Ngor ↗Cambodian-American physician and actor · 1940–1996
- Héctor Castro ↗Uruguayan footballer · 1904–1960
- Jean-Pierre Melville ↗French filmmaker and actor · 1917–1973
- Alexander Dargomyzhsky ↗Russian composer · 1813–1869
- Alfred Brehm ↗German naturalist · 1829–1884
- Maria Alexandrovna of Russia (Marie of Hesse) ↗Empress consort of Russia · 1824–1880
- Valdemar IV of Denmark ↗King of Denmark · c. 1320–1375
- Alexander Ilyich Yegorov ↗Marshal of the Soviet Union · 1883–1939
- Louis-Eugène Cavaignac ↗French general and politician · 1802–1857
- Michael Kamen ↗American composer · 1948–2003
- Abigail Fillmore ↗First Lady of the United States from 1850 to 1853 · 1798–1853
- Alfred, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha ↗Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha from 1893 to 1900 · 1844–1900
- Pepin of Landen ↗Mayor of the Palace · c. AD 585–640
- Philippa of Lancaster ↗English noblewoman and Portuguese queen consort · 1360–1415
- Pierre Duhem ↗French physicist and historian of science · 1861–1916
- Robert Stephenson ↗British railway engineer and locomotive designer · 1803–1859
"c." means only the years are known, so the age could be a year out. Dates are from Wikidata (CC0), last updated 22 October 2026.
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