1932–1985
Dian Fossey
American zoologist, gorilla researcher
53years old at death
19,703days lived
20%of the people on this site died younger
Dian Fossey was born on 16 January 1932 and died on 26 December 1985, aged 53 years and 344 days. That is 19,703 days in all.
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Who lived about as long
Everyone here is ranked by days lived. These are the people just either side of Dian Fossey.
Slightly shorter lives
- Dante Gabriel RossettiEnglish poet, illustrator, painter, and translator · 1828–188253 yrs
- Charles VI of FranceKing of France from 1380 to 1422 · 1368–142253 yrs
- René DescartesFrench philosopher, mathematician, and scientist · 1596–165053 yrs
- Maria Meneghini CallasAmerican-Greek operatic soprano · 1923–197753 yrs
Slightly longer lives
- Mahmud II30th Sultan of the Ottoman Empire · 1785–183953 yrs
- Marcellus IIPope of the Catholic Church and bishop of Rome from 9 April to 1 May 1555 · 1501–155553 yrs
- Xerxes IFifth Achaemenid emperor · c. 519–465 BCc. 54 yrs
- Pepin the ShortKing of the Franks from 751 to 768 · c. AD 714–768c. 54 yrs
Others who died at 53
- Vladimir LeninFounding leader of the Soviet Union · 1870–192453 yrs
- René DescartesFrench philosopher, mathematician, and scientist · 1596–165053 yrs
- Pyotr Ilyich TchaikovskyRussian composer · 1840–189353 yrs
- Enrico FermiItalian–American physicist · 1901–195453 yrs
- Al-GhazaliPersian Sunni Muslim scholar and mystic · c. 1058–1111c. 53 yrs
- James K. PolkPresident of the United States from 1845 to 1849 · 1795–184953 yrs
- Mary ShelleyEnglish writer · 1797–185153 yrs
- John von NeumannHungarian and American mathematician and physicist · 1903–195753 yrs
Everyone famous who died at 53
Also born on 16 January
- Susan SontagAmerican writer and filmmaker, professor, and activist · 1933–200471 yrs
- Fulgencio BatistaPresident of Cuba, 1940–1944; dictator, 1952-1959 · 1901–197372 yrs
- Callixtus IIIPope of the Catholic Church from 1455 to 1458 from the Borgia family · 1379–145879 yrs
- Johannes RauGerman politician (SPD), 8th president of Germany from 1999 until 2004 · 1931–200675 yrs
- AaliyahAmerican R&B singer · 1979–200122 yrs
- Vittorio Alfieri ↗Italian noble, dramatist and poet · 1749–180354 yrs
Famous people born on 16 January
Where this comes from
Dates are from Wikidata (free to use under CC0), last updated 22 October 2026. Dates in old records are sometimes disputed.
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