Famous People Born In 1749

Regarded as the greatest literary figure in Germany's modern era, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe was a statesman and writer. Apart from writing poetry and prose, he also wrote treatises on color, anatomy, and botany. Thanks to his literary genius, Goethe was made part of the Duke's privy council in Weimar and he implemented several reforms at the University of Jena.

Edward Jenner was an English scientist and physician. Referred to as the father of immunology, Jenner is credited with pioneering the concept of vaccines. Jenner's work laid the foundation for subsequent discoveries in the field of immunology; his work is believed to have saved more lives than any other work. In 2002, Jenner was included in BBC’s Greatest Britons list.

Though French scholar Pierre-Simon Laplace is primarily known for his work on the solar system, his research extended to areas such as mathematics and physics, apart from astronomy. Widely known as the Newton of France, he escaped being executed during the French Revolution, owing to his lack of political views.

Honoré Gabriel Riqueti, comte de Mirabeau was the son of renowned economist Victor Riqueti. A bout of small pox disfigured his face permanently but that didn’t stop him from rising as a leader of the French Revolution. However, posthumously, he was proved to be a royalist.

Best known for discovering nitrogen gas, Scottish chemist Daniel Rutherford was also initially a practicing physician. A skilled botanist, he also taught botany at the University of Edinburgh. His other inventions include the maximum and minimum thermometers. He also co-founded the Royal Society of Edinburgh.

Jean-Marie Collot d'Herbois was a French actor, essayist, dramatist, and revolutionary. He played an important role during the Reign of Terror, serving as one of the most important members of the Committee of Public Safety. Although he is credited with saving Madame Tussaud from the Guillotine, Collot d'Herbois oversaw the execution of over 2,000 people in Lyon.

German geologist Abraham Gottlob Werner is known as the founder of the Neptunist school that stated that all rocks an aqueous origin. He also rejected uniformitarianism of geological evolution. He also coined the term geognosy. Not too fond of reading mail, he learned of his membership of the Académie des Sciences from a journal.

Gilbert Blane was a Scottish physician best remembered for his association with the Royal Navy. Initially appointed as Lord Rodney's physician aboard HMS Sandwich, Blane worked hard to ameliorate the health of sailors by introducing health reform in the Navy; he revamped the diet and ensured the fleet took proper sanitary precautions.

Polish scholar, teacher, administrator and Jesuit priest Tadeusz Brzozowski was the first world-wide general of the restored Society of Jesus. When Pope Pius VII restored the Society of Jesus across the globe, he elected Brzozowski as the twentieth Superior General of the Society of Jesus. Brzozowski translated Claude-Adrien Nonnotte’s work Dictionnaire philosophique de la religion into Polish.

A renowned Japanese painter of the late Tokugawa period and founder of the Kishi School of Painting, Kishi Ganku is noted for his realistic solid style. Beginning his education with the Kano style, he later studied Maruyama-Shijō school and also from Chinese painter Shen Nan-p’in. Mostly noted for his paintings of tigers, he also painted portraits, landscapes, flowers, and birds.  

It is believed Jean-Baptiste-Joseph Delambre had acquired his habit of reading from his fear of losing his eyesight. He later became a professor of astronomy and served Paris Observatory as its director. He also penned significant works such as Histoire de l'astronomie. His name remains engraved on the Eiffel Tower.