Famous People Who Died In 1823

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.

Giovanni Battista Belzoni was an Italian explorer and archaeologist of Egyptian antiquities. A pioneer in the field of Egyptian archaeology, Belzoni was the first person to enter the famous Pyramid of Khafre. Belzoni is also credited with unblocking the entrance of the temple at Abu Simbel and discovering the tomb of Seti I, which is referred to as Belzoni's Tomb. 

Lazare Carnot was a French physicist, mathematician, and politician. His role in the Napoleonic Wars and French Revolutionary Wars earned him the sobriquet Organizer of Victory. Carnot is credited with developing innovative defensive designs for forts, such as the Carnot wall which served as a defensive mechanism against infantry and artillery attack.

Best known for developing the Charles’s law, which explains the expansion of gases when heated, Jacques Charles was a prominent French physicist. He was the first to ascend in a hydrogen-filled gas balloon, thus pioneering hot-air balloon flight. The Académie des Sciences member later became a professor of physics.

Daniel Steibelt was a German composer and pianist who lived and worked in Paris and London. A prolific composer, Steibelt's works became popular throughout Europe. He also contributed immensely to several dramatic operas, such as Romeo et Juliette which was produced in 1793 at the Théâtre Feydeau.

The man who penned the first published study of pathology in English, Matthew Baillie was an Oxford-educated physician who was later also named a Fellow of The Royal Society. He also inherited the estates of his physician uncle William Hunter and taught at his medical school for a while.

Abraham-Louis Breguet was a French horologist who made several innovations in watchmaking in the course of his illustrious career. Widely regarded as the leading watchmaker of his generation, Breguet's clients included members of the European nobility and leading public figures in France. Counted among the greatest horologists of all time, Abraham-Louis Breguet is credited with founding the popular Breguet company.

William Bartram was an American ornithologist, botanist, explorer, and natural historian. He is best remembered for authoring an acclaimed book, which is now known as Bartram's Travels. The book chronicles Bartram's explorations of the British colonies in North America. William Bartram was also one of America's first ornithologists.

Spanish military general Rafael del Riego led the Liberal Triennium in Spain. His early military career was spent fighting the French invading forces during the Peninsular War. His revolt against Ferdinand VII was against the king’s treatment of the army and his American campaign and restored the constitution for 3 years.

Aaron Arrowsmith was an English cartographer, publisher, and engraver. Aaron, who belonged to the famous Arrowsmith family of geographers, is best remembered for producing the maps of Scotland and North America, which are counted among his most celebrated productions.

Joseph Nollekens was a British sculptor best remembered for his portrait busts. One of the most fashionable portrait sculptors of his generation, Nollekens was also widely regarded as the best English sculptor of the late-18th century. Joseph Nollekens' famous statue Faith in Wetheral Parish Church is considered his finest work.  

One of the most prominent Swedish romantic poets, Erik Johan Stagnelius worked as a civil servant in Stockholm. He is best known for his dramas The Martyrs and The Bacchantes. Not much is known about his life, except that he died of a chronic and mysterious condition at age 29.

Swiss scientist and politician Hans Conrad Escher von der Linth was also a talented artist. He led the Great Council of the Helvetic Republic as its president and co-launched the reformist journal Schweizer Republikaner. His best-known projects remain the survey of the Swiss Alps and his plan to tame the Linth river.

Scottish engineer and political economist William Playfair is best-remembered as the inventor of statistical graphs and secret agent for Great Britain during its war with France. He published the first data graphs in his book The Commercial and Political Atlas. He used line, area and bar charts to represent the economy of 18th Century England and introduced the pie chart.

Betty Zane is remembered as the heroine of the second siege of Fort Henry that took place in September 1782, during the American Revolutionary War. She volunteered and thrived in carrying gunpowder from her brother’s home to the fort when the garrison was running low on ammunition, thus allowing them to continue to fight and hold the fort.