Famous People Who Died In 1904

Anton Chekhov was a Russian short-story writer and playwright. Widely regarded as one of the greatest writers of short fiction, Chekhov's works have influenced the progression of the modern short story. As a playwright, Anton Chekhov is credited with influencing the rise of modernism in theatre, along with August Strindberg and Henrik Ibsen.

Antonín Dvořák was a Czech composer who achieved worldwide recognition for his works. His life and career inspired the 1980 historical biographical film Concert at the End of Summer, in which Dvořák was played by actor Josef Vinklář. Canadian children's author Ian Krykorka has based many of his works on some of Antonín Dvořák's operas.

Chief Joseph, a leader of the Nez Percé tribe of Native Americans, had initially agreed to the U.S. demand of them moving into a reservation in Idaho. However, fearing retaliation after his men killed a few whites, he attempted an escape to Canada, leading his people through an arduous trek.

Henry Morton Stanley was a Welsh-American explorer, journalist, colonial administrator, soldier, politician, and author. He is remembered for his exploration of central Africa and his search for the source of the River Nile. Stanley received an honorary title of knighthood in 1899. His life and career inspired the 1939 movie Stanley and Livingstone, where Stanley was played by Spencer Tracy.

Paul Kruger was a South African politician who served as the last State President of the South African Republic. Revered by his admirers as a tragic folk hero, Kruger was one of the most influential military and political personalities in 19th-century South Africa. His life inspired the 1941 German film Ohm Krüger, in which Kruger was played by Emil Jannings.

Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi was a French painter and sculptor remembered for designing the Statue of Liberty. He is also credited with designing other iconic statues like The Lion of Belfort and Marquis de Lafayette. In addition to being a sculptor, Bartholdi also played an important role in the Franco-Prussian War of 1870, serving as a liaison officer to Giuseppe Garibaldi.

Eadweard Muybridge was an English photographer best remembered for his contribution to photographic studies of motion. Muybridge achieved international prominence when he exhibited photographs of Yosemite Valley in 1868. He is said to have inspired several artists and inventors like Sol LeWitt, Thomas Eakins, William Dickson, and Francis Bacon.

Friedrich Ratzel was a German ethnographer and geographer. He was the first person to use the term Lebensraum, which would later become an important and popular word among the National Socialists. Also an influential writer, Friedrich Ratzel's works served as a justification for imperial expansion. 

Cambodian ruler Norodom, the eldest son of King Ang Duong, was trained in the concepts of Buddhism from an early age. His initial goals included strengthening ties between Siam (Thailand) and Cambodia. A treaty he signed with France handed over Cambodia’s foreign relations to the French.

George Frederic Watts was a British painter best remembered for his association with the Symbolist movement. Watts achieved fame for his allegorical works like Love and Life and Hope. In addition to being a painter, George Frederic Watts was also a sculptor. He is credited with sculpting the famous Physical Energy statue at Rhodes Memorial in South Africa.

Legendary American investment banker Marcus Goldman was born into a German Jewish family of farmers and was part of the first wave of Jewish immigration to America. He went from being a peddler to founding Goldman Sachs, which is now one of the largest investment banks of the world.

Though a qualified doctor, Samuel Smiles later never practiced and switched to journalism instead, working for Leeds Times. His best-known work remains Self-Help, a motivational self-improvement guide for the youth, which denounced materialism and advocated thrift. His other significant work was the 5-volume Lives of the Engineers.

Lafcadio Hearn was a writer best remembered for writing about Japanese culture. His writings about Japan threw light on the previously unknown but fascinating culture of Japan. It also helped the Western world understand Japanese culture. Many of his stories have been adapted into films and theatrical productions.

Niels Ryberg Finsen was a Danish-Faroese scientist and physician. Finsen's method to treat diseases, such as lupus vulgaris, using concentrated light radiation, earned him the 1903 Nobel Prize in Medicine and Physiology. Copenhagen University Hospital houses the famous Finsen Laboratory, which is named in his honor.

Vasily Vereshchagin was a Russian war artist who became one of the earliest artists from Russia to be recognized internationally. Vereshchagin is best remembered for his realist war scenes which were not printed or exhibited extensively due to their graphic nature. Vasily Vereshchagin is one of the most popular Russian war artists of all time.

Sir Leslie Stephen was an English historian, biographer, author, critic, and mountaineer. Leslie Stephen also took an active part in the organized humanist movement, serving as the president of the West London Ethical Society on multiple occasions. He was the father of famous author, Virginia Woolf, and painter, Vanessa Bell.

Welsh-born Samuel M. Jones moved to the US with his family at age 3. Poverty forced him to work, first in a sawmill and then on a steamship. He later opened an oil-pumping machine factory and became well-liked for his Golden Rule. He also served as a Republican mayor of Toledo.

Étienne-Jules Marey was a French scientist, chronophotographer, and physiologist. He is best remembered for his work which played a major role in the development of physical instrumentation, cardiology, cinematography, aviation, and the science of laboratory photography. Étienne-Jules Marey is widely regarded as a pioneer of photography.

Daniel Decatur Emmett was an American entertainer and songwriter best remembered for composing the popular song, Dixie. Daniel Decatur Emmett is credited with founding the famous 19th-century group of entertainers called the Virginia Minstrels. The group helped invent an entertainment form that came to be known as the minstrel show. His life and career inspired a biographical film titled Dixie.

Sociologist and criminologist Gabriel Tarde is best remembered for his theory of social interaction. Initially a magistrate, he later taught modern philosophy. He is remembered for his ideas on imitation and his criticism of the concept of the atavistic criminal. He also penned a sci-fi novel.

 Russian chemist Vladimir Vasilyevich Markovnikov is best remembered for formulating the Markovnikov's rule or Markownikoff's rule, which elucidates the outcome of some addition reactions. His other contributions in the field of organic chemistry include finding carbon rings with over six carbon atoms and also displaying that although butyric and isobutyric acids have different structures, they have the same chemical formula (C4H8O2).

Best known for his book The Light of Asia, a narrative poem on Gautama Buddha, English poet and journalist Edwin Arnold had initially been a school teacher. He later also worked as a journalist, before turning to writing full-time. His The Song Celestial was a poetic version of the Bhagavad Gita.

George Salmon initially gained fame as a remarkable mathematician only to switch to theology in his later years. A linen merchant’s son, he graduated from Trinity College on a scholarship and then taught at Trinity and made developments in the study of algebraic geometry. He was later ordained a priest.