Famous People Born In 1772

Samuel Coleridge was an English poet, philosopher, theologian, and literary critic. He is credited with co-founding the Romantic Movement in England along with his friend William Wordsworth. Despite struggling from bouts of depression and anxiety throughout his adult life, Samuel Coleridge had a major influence on American transcendentalism and writers like Ralph Waldo Emerson.

Raja Ram Mohan Roy was an Indian social and religious reformer. He is credited with co-founding the Brahmo Sabha, a social-religious reform movement. Often referred to as the Father of the Bengal Renaissance, Roy has had an influential role in fields like politics, education, and religion. In 2004, he was ranked 10th in BBC's Greatest Bengali of all time poll.

Poet and philosopher Friedrich Leopold, better known as Novalis, was a significant figure of German Romanticism. He narrated the loss of his 15-year-old fiancé to tuberculosis in his Hymns to the Night. He himself died of the disease a few years later. He was also well-versed in natural sciences.

William I of the Netherlands reigned as the king of the Netherlands from 1815 to 1840. Before declaring himself King of the Netherlands, William I had an influential career in the military. In 1790, he was made the Dutch States Army's general of infantry where he served under his father William V, who served as Captain-General. 

French social theorist Charles Fourier is regarded as one of the pioneers of utopian socialism. Apart from advocating social reconstruction based on phalanges, or Fourierism, he is also credited with coining the term feminism with respect to women’s rights. The Social Destiny of Man remains one of his notable works.

Glasgow-born civil engineer Robert Stevenson initially built lighthouses as part of the Scottish Lighthouse Board. Apart from constructing the Bell Rock Lighthouse in Scotland, he also invented the hydrophore and flashing lights. He was also the grandfather of writer Robert Louis Stevenson. He is part of the Scottish Engineering Hall of Fame.

French naturalist Étienne Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire is best remembered for his principle of unity of composition. He also laid down the idea of teratology, or the study of animal abnormalities. He was also part of Napoleon’s scientific expedition in Egypt and later taught zoology at the University of Paris.

Maria Theresa of Naples and Sicily lost 8 of her 16 siblings to smallpox in infancy. The eldest child of King Ferdinand IV & III of Naples and Sicily, Maria was also the niece of the infamous French queen Marie Antoinette. A patron of Viennese music, she loved masquerades and balls.

Dominican author and politician José Núñez de Cáceres was behind the creation of the short-lived state of Spanish Haiti, which was taken over by Haiti after 2 months. He spent his later years in Venezuela and Mexico. He was also one of the first Creole fabulists and owned a satirical newspaper.

Henry Francis Cary is best remembered for translating Dante’s Divine Comedy in blank verse. He had also penned several biographies of British and French authors. Educated at Oxford, he had also worked at the British Museum as an assistant librarian and was an Anglican clergy.

Part of the second Great Awakening, Presbyterian clergyman Gideon Blackburn had been a missionary to Cherokee areas. Apart from establishing schools for Cherokee children, he had also introduced the communities to new farming methods. He later retired to Nashville, where he taught, and also founded the Blackburn Theological Seminary in Illinois.

Barton W. Stone was an evangelist who played an important role during the Second Great Awakening in the US. He is credited with forming the Christian Church, which worked towards restoring primitive Christianity. Today, many church groups including Churches of Christ have historical connection to Stone's efforts. Atlantic Christian College in North Carolina was renamed Barton College in his honor.

Nachman of Breslov was a Polish Rabbi best remembered as the founder of the famous Breslov Hasidic movement. He managed to revive the Hasidic movement by merging in-depth Torah scholarship with the esoteric secrets of Judaism. Nachman of Breslov attracted thousands of followers and his influence continues even today through several Hasidic movements like Breslov Hasidism.

Finnish-Swedish poet Frans Mikael Franzén, who had been the Bishop of the Diocese of Härnösand, was also one of the pioneers of the Romantic movement in Sweden. Initially a professor of philosophy, he later reformed Swedish poetry, inspired by the likes of Shakespeare and Milton.

Friedrich Hornemann was a German explorer who lived and worked in Africa. He is best remembered as the first modern European to successfully cross the northeastern Sahara. Friedrich Hornemann later published a journal, which contained useful information about the then-unknown terrain of central Sudan.