1892–1973
J. R. R. Tolkien
English writer and philologist
81years old at death
29,827days lived
74%of the people on this site died younger
J. R. R. Tolkien was born on 3 January 1892 and died on 2 September 1973, aged 81 years and 242 days. That is 29,827 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 J. R. R. Tolkien.
Slightly shorter lives
- Pietro MascagniItalian composer known for operas · 1863–194581 yrs
- George III of Great BritainKing of Great Britain and Ireland from 1760 to 1820 · 1738–182081 yrs
- Arthur BalfourBritish Prime Minister, Conservative politician, and statesman · 1848–193081 yrs
- John Hasbrouck Van VleckAmerican physicist · 1899–198081 yrs
Slightly longer lives
- Ilya FrankSoviet physicist · 1908–199081 yrs
- VictoriaQueen of the United Kingdom from 1837 to 1901 · 1819–190181 yrs
- Pius VIPope of the Catholic Church from 1775 to 1799 · 1717–179981 yrs
- Maria MontessoriItalian physician and educator · 1870–195281 yrs
Others who died at 81
- Richard NixonPresident of the United States from 1969 to 1974 · 1913–199481 yrs
- VictoriaQueen of the United Kingdom from 1837 to 1901 · 1819–190181 yrs
- David HilbertGerman mathematician · 1862–194381 yrs
- Selma LagerlöfSwedish writer · 1858–194081 yrs
- André GideFrench author and Nobel laureate · 1869–195181 yrs
- Henri BergsonFrench philosopher · 1859–194181 yrs
- John XXIIIPriest, bishop, cardinal, pope · 1881–196381 yrs
- John McCainAmerican politician · 1936–201881 yrs
Everyone famous who died at 81
Also born on 3 January
- Clement AttleePrime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1945 to 1951 · 1883–196784 yrs
- Sergio LeoneItalian filmmaker · 1929–198960 yrs
- Ngô Đình DiệmSouth Vietnamese politician; President of South Vietnam from 1955 to 1963 · 1901–196362 yrs
- August Macke ↗German painter of the expressionist group Der Blaue Reiter · 1887–191427 yrs
- Pietro Metastasio ↗Italian poet and librettist · 1698–178284 yrs
- László Sólyom ↗Politician and former President of Hungary · 1942–202381 yrs
Famous people born on 3 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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