1930–2002
Edsger W. Dijkstra
Dutch computer scientist
72years old at death
26,385days lived
55%of the people on this site died younger
Edsger W. Dijkstra was born on 11 May 1930 and died on 6 August 2002, aged 72 years and 87 days. That is 26,385 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 Edsger W. Dijkstra.
Slightly shorter lives
- Christiaan EijkmanDutch physician · 1858–193072 yrs
- Marcello MastroianniItalian actor · 1924–199672 yrs
- John LockeEnglish philosopher and physician · 1632–170472 yrs
- Herman MelvilleAmerican writer and poet · 1819–189172 yrs
Slightly longer lives
- Erich Maria RemarqueGerman-born novelist · 1898–197072 yrs
- Isaac AsimovAmerican writer and biochemist · 1920–199272 yrs
- Theodoric the GreatKing of the Germanic Ostrogoths and ruler of Italy · AD 454–52672 yrs
- Thomas PaineAmerican Founding Father, philosopher, and political activist · 1737–180972 yrs
Others who died at 72
- Confucius5th-century BCE Chinese philosopher and politician · c. 551–479 BCc. 72 yrs
- Louis PasteurFrench chemist and microbiologist · 1822–189572 yrs
- John LockeEnglish philosopher and physician · 1632–170472 yrs
- Dmitri MendeleevRussian chemist · 1834–190772 yrs
- AshokaMauryan emperor from 268 to 232 BCE · c. 304–232 BCc. 72 yrs
- Arthur SchopenhauerGerman philosopher · 1788–186072 yrs
- Isaac AsimovAmerican writer and biochemist · 1920–199272 yrs
- EpicurusAncient Greek philosopher · c. 342–270 BCc. 72 yrs
Everyone famous who died at 72
Also born on 11 May
- Salvador DalíSpanish artist · 1904–198984 yrs
- Richard FeynmanAmerican theoretical physicist · 1918–198869 yrs
- Camilo José CelaSpanish writer · 1916–200285 yrs
- Antony HewishEnglish physicist and radio astronomer · 1924–202197 yrs
- Irving BerlinAmerican composer and lyricist · 1888–1989101 yrs
- Pridi Banomyong ↗Thai prime minister · 1900–198382 yrs
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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