Famous People Who Died In 1822

William Herschel was a German-born British astronomer and composer. He pioneered the use of astronomical spectrophotometry and discovered infrared radiation. Impressed by his work, King George III appointed him the Court Astronomer. Herschel often collaborated with his sister, Caroline Lucretia Herschel, a fellow astronomer. In 1816, he was made a Knight of the Royal Guelphic Order. 

E. T. A. Hoffmann was a German author, jurist, artist, composer, and music critic. His stories served as an inspiration and laid the foundation for The Tales of Hoffmann by Jacques Offenbach. The Nutcracker by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky is also based on Hoffmann's The Nutcracker and the Mouse King. Hoffmann is among the most influential authors of the Romantic Movement.

Antonio Canova was an Italian Neoclassical sculptor widely regarded as the greatest of the Neoclassical artists. He was famous for his marble sculptures. His work was inspired by the Baroque and the classical revival. His most notable works include Psyche Revived by Cupid's Kiss and Perseus Triumphant. Unlike many of his contemporaries, he refused to take in pupils. 

Remembered for his song Mazurek Dąbrowskiego, which later became the Polish national anthem, author Józef Wybicki had begun his career as a court official. He also worked as a diplomat, as an advisor of the Confederacy. He was also part of the Kościuszko Uprising and presided over the Supreme Court of Congress Poland.

Savoyard-French chemist Claude Louis Berthollet is known for reorganising chemical nomenclature with his colleagues and for introducing the use of chlorine gas as a commercial bleach. He developed a solution of sodium hypochlorite as a modern bleaching agent, first ascertained the elemental composition of ammonia gas, and introduced the reversible reaction concept leading to development of the chemical equilibrium concept.

Paolo Ruffini was at the same time a mathematician and a physician. He was the first to claim that the general quintic equation had no algebraic solution. Ruffini was briefly banned from teaching when he refused to submit to the new republic following the rise of Napoleon.

Sold as a slave in childhood, Denmark Vesey adopted the surname of his master. He later purchased his freedom with the money he had won in a lottery. Earning a living as a carpenter, he simultaneously launched a slave rebellion and planned a coup but was eventually hanged to death.

Armand-Emmanuel de Vignerot du Plessis, duc de Richelieu was a French statesman. He served as an officer in the Russian Imperial Army during the French Revolutionary Wars and Napoleonic Wars. He was a royalist and actively supported monarchy during the Bourbon Restoration, following which he became the prime minister of France. He was married to Alexandrine Rosalie Sabine de Rochechouart-Faudoas.  

Ottoman leader Ali Pasha was born into a poor family but later, through deceit and murder, rose to be the pasha, or provincial governor, of Janina, or Ioannina, the center of Greek culture. He later extended his rule to most of Albania and Macedonia. He was eventually shot dead by his enemies.

John Honeyman was a British informant and American spy for George Washington, the first president of the United States. His primarily duty was to spread disinformation. John Honeyman also gathered the intelligence that facilitated George Washington's triumph in the Battle of Trenton.

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.

One of the best portrait painters to have existed during the reign of Catherine the Great, Dmitry Levitzky was taught the basics of art by his engraver father. He had also mastered gravure printing. Though he had earned many commissions in his lifetime, he didn’t earn enough and died amid poverty.