Famous People Who Died In 1863

Eugène Delacroix was a French Romantic artist who is widely regarded as the patriarch of the French Romantic school. As a muralist and painter, Delacroix's study of the optical effects of color inspired the work of the Impressionists. In fact, his work inspired a generation of impressionists.

Part of the legendary folklorist duo known as the Brothers Grimm, Jacob Grimm gave to the world Grimm’s Fairy Tales, along with his younger brother, Wilhelm Grimm. The son of a lawyer, he, too, had initially studied law. He also contributed immensely to Germanic linguistics, with his Grimm's law.

Known for his stance against alcoholism, publishing six time-honored sermons on it, Presbyterian minister Lyman Beecher also worked for women’s education. An active participant in theological controversies, adhering to the New School Presbyterian branch of schism, he was once tried for heresy. However, he is equally remembered for fathering thirteen children, seven of whom earned distinction in their chosen field.

Alfred de Vigny was a French poet whose poem La Maison du berger is regarded by some as the greatest 19th-century French poem. One of the leaders of French Romanticism, Vigny also wrote philosophical novels. Also regarded as a thinker, Alfred de Vigny was one of the first French poets to develop a serious interest in Buddhism.

Confederate soldier Sam Davis, who was captured, convicted and executed by Union forces at just 21 years of age in Pulaski, Tennessee, during the American Civil War, is remembered for his courage and loyalty and lauded as the Boy Hero of the Confederacy. A martyr to the Confederate cause, Davis was eulogized by Middle Tennesseeans for his bravery and sacrifice.

Stonewall Jackson was a commander of the Confederate States Army. He played a major role as a Confederate general in the American Civil War, winning several significant battles in the Eastern Theater of the war. Considered one of the most tactically sound commanders in the history of the US, Jackson was idolized by George Patton, Chesty Puller, and Alexander Vandegrift.

Shi Dakai was a Chinese poet and one of the most important leaders in the Taiping Rebellion. Shi Dakai's heroics as a magnificent general inspired his fellow clansman Zhu De who went on to establish the Red Army, which came to be known as the People's Liberation Army.

Richard Whately was an English logician, academic, rhetorician, economist, theologian, and philosopher. His influential work Elements of Logic, which popularized the study of logic in the United States of America and in Britain, inspired several logicians including Charles Sanders Peirce, who read the book when he was 12 years old.

At 7’9”, Angus MacAskill was known as the world’s talent natural giant. The Scottish-born Canadian earned the nickname Gille Mòr, or Big Boy, in his neighborhood. Apart from touring the world for shows, he also worked at P.T. Barnum's circus and performed in front of Queen Victoria at Windsor Castle.

Born to working-class parents in Ireland, Mary Burns is remembered as the lifelong companion of German philosopher, political theorist, and socialist Friedrich Engels. Burns and Engels didn’t believe in the institution of marriage and thus co-habited without marrying. Following her death, Engels began living with her sister.

Christian Friedrich was a German physician and statesman. He served as the physician and secretary to Prince Leopold of Saxe-Coburg and eventually became influential in Belgian and British politics. Queen Victoria approved of him, and with her support, he played a major role in British politics. He was raised to the rank of baron by the king of Saxony.

Italian astronomer, microscopist and botanist Giovanni Battista Amici is best-remembered for effecting significant improvements in mirrors of reflecting telescopes and development of microscope. His subjects of studies included the satellites of Jupiter and double stars in astronomy and infusoria and fructification of plants in biology. He invented dipleidoscope and direct vision prism and was the first to discover pollen tubes.

Swiss mathematician Jakob Steiner is remembered for pioneering the field of projective geometry. Born to a farmer, he didn’t have initial schooling and couldn’t write until age 14. His parents were against his decision to join school at 18. He later rose to be a significant figure of synthetic geometry.

Edward Robinson was a biblical scholar best remembered for his work Biblical Researches in Palestine. Regarded as the first major work in Biblical Archaeology and Biblical Geography, his work earned him the titles, Founder of Modern Palestinology and Father of Biblical Geography. He is also remembered for translating scriptural works.

Remembered for his depictions of rural life, Irish painter William Mulready had initially gained fame for his still-life paintings and was then inspired by Dutch painters to paint detailed narratives. He also designed the Mulready stationery, including the first postage envelopes and lettersheets in Britain.

Professor and historian Peter Andreas Munch is regarded as one of the pioneers of the Norwegian nationalist school of historiography. He was also known for his translations of Norse legends and for his History of the Norwegian People. He believed in the racial superiority of Norwegians over Danes and Swedes.