Famous People Who Died In 1825

Antonio Salieri was an Italian classical composer, conductor, and teacher considered a key figure in the development of late 18th-century opera. He was a protégé of eminent composer Christoph Willibald Gluck. For several years, he served as the director of the Italian opera by the Habsburg court. His works were performed widely across Europe during his lifetime. 

Alexander I was the emperor of Russia and the eldest son of Paul I. While he was initially a friend of Napoleon Bonaparte, he later joined hands with his opponents to defeat him. He was also part of the Congress of Vienna and later contributed to the formation of the Holy Alliance.

Jacques-Louis David was a French painter. Widely regarded as the greatest painter of the Neoclassical era, David's works had a strong influence in France in the early-19th century. His works are often linked to the birth of Romanticism. Many of his pupils, such as Antoine-Jean Gros and Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres, went on to become successful and popular painters.

Swiss artist Henry Fuseli is remembered for the drama and sensuality showcased in his paintings. Though born to a landscape and portrait painter, he was initially taught theology. After leaving the country due to political risks, he made it to Britain and Italy. He later contributed to the Boydell Shakespeare Gallery.

James Wilkinson served the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War and also revealed Aaron Burr’s conspiracy to the U.S. government. While he worked against the Spanish people as part of the U.S. army, he was later revealed to be a Spanish spy, also known as Number Thirteen.

Maha Bandula was a military leader best remembered for his association with the Royal Burmese Armed Forces, where he served as the  commander-in-chief from 1821 until his demise in 1825. He played an important role in the First Anglo-Burmese War. Maha Bandula is widely regarded as a national hero for his resistance against the British.

A legend during the American Revolutionary War, Ann Bailey was a British-born American woman, who took up arms to become a frontier scout, messenger and spy. She became a heroine when during the seize of Fort Lee, she made a hundred miles single-person ride through host of besiegers and forestland to get powder supply and thus saved the Clendenin's Settlement.

Jean Paul was a German writer best remembered for his humorous stories and novels. While many of his fans hold him in high regard, his critics treat his work with indifference. Due to such a disparity, Paul holds an unusual position in German literary history. Robert Schumann admired Jean Paul's works, which served as an inspiration to the former's Papillons. 

Lady Anne Barnard was a Scottish socialite, artist, and travel writer. She is best remembered for her five-year stay in Cape Town, during which she wrote a series of letters to Viscount Melville. Her letters became a prominent source of information about social life in South Africa at the time. She is also remembered for her ballad Auld Robin Gray.

French naturalist Bernard Germain de Lacépède is best known for his contribution to fellow French naturalist Comte de Buffon's Histoire Naturelle. He enriched the world’s knowledge of fishes and reptiles. Following the rise of Napoleon, Lacépède joined the French Senate and later became a minister of Bourbon state.

The son of a painter father, Vladimir Borovikovsky grew up to be a master of ecclesiastic painting and portraits. He was patronized by Empress Catherine II and commissioned to decorate her palace with his works. A 1794 portrait of the empress, drawn by him, was the first instance of sentimentalism in painting.

One of the best-known ukiyo-e wood-block printers, Utagawa Toyokuni was the son of a puppet maker and grew up to be one of the leaders of the Utagawa school of Japanese art. He specialized in nishiki-e prints such as Portraits of Actors in Their Various Roles and also often drew women.

Henri de Saint-Simon was a French political, economic, and socialist theorist and businessman. His ideology was the inspiration behind the political and economic movement known as Saint-Simonianism. He left a major influence in the fields of politics, economics, sociology, and philosophy of science. His ideas also inspired and influenced the concept of utopian socialism.  

Polish lyric poet of the Enlightenment era, Franciszek Karpiński is best remembered for his religious hymns and patriotic verses. Initially a court poet, he later retired to his farm. The Polish Christmas carol God is Born remains one of his best works. He mentioned a certain Justina in many of his poems.

Best known for publishing The Family Shakespeare volumes, which made Shakespeare’s plays appealing to children, Thomas Bowdler was also a qualified doctor. His technique of diluting Shakespeare’s works gave rise to the word bowdlerize, which describes the over-simplification of books, films, or series, for making them family-friendly.

Best known for including political and social themes in her writings, Anna Letitia Barbauld was a renowned poet, essayist, and children’s author. She was the only daughter of Unitarian John Aikin and taught at the Palgrave Academy. She is remembered for her iconic hymn “Life! I Know Not What Thou Art.”