1596–1650
René Descartes
French philosopher, mathematician, and scientist
53years old at death
19,675days lived
20%of the people on this site died younger
René Descartes was born on 31 March 1596 and died on 11 February 1650, aged 53 years and 317 days. That is 19,675 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 René Descartes.
Slightly shorter lives
- Maria Meneghini CallasAmerican-Greek operatic soprano · 1923–197753 yrs
- Alfred RosenbergBaltic German architect, Nazi politician and ideologue · 1893–194653 yrs
- Hermann GöringGerman Nazi politician, military leader, and convicted war criminal · 1893–194653 yrs
- Vladimir LeninFounding leader of the Soviet Union · 1870–192453 yrs
Slightly longer lives
- Charles VI of FranceKing of France from 1380 to 1422 · 1368–142253 yrs
- Dante Gabriel RossettiEnglish poet, illustrator, painter, and translator · 1828–188253 yrs
- Dian FosseyAmerican zoologist, gorilla researcher · 1932–198553 yrs
- Mahmud II30th Sultan of the Ottoman Empire · 1785–183953 yrs
Others who died at 53
- Vladimir LeninFounding leader of the Soviet Union · 1870–192453 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
- Ivan the TerribleTsar of all Russia from 1547 to 1584 · 1530–158453 yrs
Everyone famous who died at 53
Also born on 31 March
- Johann Sebastian BachGerman composer · 1685–175065 yrs
- Joseph HaydnAustrian composer · 1732–180977 yrs
- Octavio PazMexican writer, poet an diplomat · 1914–199884 yrs
- Benedict XIVPope of the Catholic Church from 1740 to 1758 · 1675–175883 yrs
- William Lawrence BraggAustralian-born British physicist and X-ray crystallographer · 1890–197181 yrs
- A. KollontaĭSoviet revolutionary, ambassador, diplomat, feminist · 1872–195279 yrs
Famous people born on 31 March
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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