Famous People Who Died In 1862

The tenth president of the United States, John Tyler was dubbed His Accidency as he became the president after the sudden death of President William Henry Harrison when the former was serving as the vice president. Tyler's acceptance of full presidential powers set a prominent precedent and served as a model for succession to the future presidents.

Henry David Thoreau was an American philosopher, essayist, poet, and naturalist. He is credited with popularizing transcendentalism and simple living. His philosophy of civil disobedience, which was detailed in his essay of the same name, later influenced world-renowned personalities like Leo Tolstoy, Martin Luther King Jr., and Mahatma Gandhi.

Martin Van Buren was an American statesman credited with co-founding the Democratic Party, one of the world's oldest and contemporary political parties. He served as the eighth president of the US and later became a prominent anti-slavery abolitionist leader. He also played a key role in forming the two-party system in the US.

A major force behind setting up the colonies of South Australia and New Zealand Edward, English economist Gibbon Wakefield lent his name to the colonizing plan called the Wakefield scheme. He formulated the Canadian colonial policy Durham Report. Interestingly, he had been convicted of abducting and marrying a 15-year-old girl.

Initially a teacher, Dimitar Miladinov later established himself as a major Bulgarian poet and folklorist. He was also a major pillar of the Bulgarian national movement, or the Bulgarian Renaissance. His collection of folk songs is also considered crucial to the growth of Macedonian literature and culture.

Thomas Jefferson Hogg was a British writer and barrister. He is remembered for his friendship and numerous collaborations with Percy Bysshe Shelley. While studying at the University College, Oxford, Hogg and Shelley worked on a controversial essay called The Necessity of Atheism which ultimately resulted in their expulsion from Oxford.

British landscape painter William Turner of Oxford is often mistaken for the famous painter J. M. W. Turner, who was also from England. Turner was a lifelong member of the Watercolor Society, founded by his mentor John Varley. Oxford from Hinksey Hill remains one of his best-known works.

Karl Nesselrode was a Russian German diplomat remembered for his service as the Foreign Minister of the Russian Empire from 1816 to 1856. Nesselrode played a major role during the negotiations with the USA, which defined the boundary between the Oregon Country and Russian America; Nesselrode was a plenipotentiary during the negotiations that culminated in the Russo-American Treaty of 1824.

Sir Benjamin Collins Brodie, 1st Baronet, was an English surgeon and physiologist best remembered for his pioneering research into joint and bone disease. He was elected a member of the Royal Society in 1810 where he published many papers describing investigations in physiology. From 1858 to 1861, Sir Benjamin Collins Brodie served as the 29th President of the Royal Society.

Uruguayan poet Francisco Acuña de Figueroa is remembered for his iconic poems such as Salve Multiforme. He also penned the national anthems of both Uruguay and Paraguay. He had succeeded his father as the state treasurer and had headed the Public Library and Museum as its director.

Austrian singer, actor, and playwright Johann Nestroy was part of the popular Austrian tradition of the Biedermeier era in Central Europe. He took part in the Revolutions of 1848 and the new liberal spirit which was spreading across Europe at that time reflected in his works. He penned around 80 comedies, including Einen Jux will er sich machen.

Ludwik Władysław Franciszek Kondratowicz was a renowned Polish poet, better known by his pseudonym, Władysław Syrokomla. Though he died before turning 40, he left behind a vast legacy of poems, comedies, satires, and translations. He also contributed to rural tourism through his poetic descriptions of his trips in Lithuania.

Charles Ellet Jr. was an American civil engineer who is credited with designing and constructing several major canals, railroads, and suspension bridges. He also played an important role in the American Civil War; Ellet's ram ships were largely responsible for the victory of the Union Army at the First Battle of Memphis.

Thomas Stewart Traill had donned many hats. Initially a practicing physician, he was also interested in zoology and helped John James Audubon publish The Birds of America. He was also a chemist and a meteorologist and spent his life teaching at the University of Edinburgh. He also edited Encyclopædia Britannica’s 8th edition.

Jean-Baptiste Biot was a French physicist, mathematician, and astronomer. He was a co-discoverer of what became known as the Biot-Savart law of magnetostatics. He is also credited with establishing the reality of meteorites. He made major contributions to the fields of optics and magnetism as well. Cape Biot in eastern Greenland is named in his honor. 

The 1st president of Paraguay, Carlos Antonio López started his career as a lawyer. His tenure was marked by corruption, as he owned half the country’s lands. However, he encouraged European professionals to visit his country and engage in trade. He also abolished slavery and torture.

Božena Němcová was a Czech writer who was active during the Czech National Revival movement. She is best remembered for her 1855 novel Babička (The Grandmother), which was inspired by her own childhood in the Ratibořice village where she spent most of her time with her maternal grandmother, Magdalena Novotná. Božena Němcová's image is portrayed on the 500 CZK currency note.  

Justinus Kerner was a German physician, medical writer, and poet. He is credited to have given the first detailed description of botulism. He studied medicine at the University of Tübingen. He wrote several medical books, including the first treatise on sebacic acid and botulism. As a poet, he is remembered for his sensitive, dreamlike, and melancholy poetry.