Famous People Born In 1811

Franz Liszt was a Hungarian composer, conductor, arranger, music teacher, and virtuoso pianist of the Romantic era. Considered one of the greatest pianists ever, Liszt's works influenced his contemporaries and successors alike. Perhaps his greatest legacy is his work as a teacher, although his rich body of work might suggest otherwise; he taught people like Karl Klindworth among other pianists.

Chang Bunker was a Siamese-American man and one-half of the popular conjoined twin brothers. Chang and his conjoined twin Eng were two of the most studied human beings during the 19th century. They toured the United States and Europe as part of their freak shows, gaining financial success and fame. They are credited with coining the colloquial term Siamese twins.

Napoleon II was the son of Emperor Napoleon I and Empress Marie Louise. He was the titular Emperor of the French for a few weeks in 1815. He was just a small child when he became the disputed emperor following his father’s abdication. He died as a young man before getting the chance to serve his nation. 

Évariste Galois was a French mathematician best remembered for solving a 350-year-old problem when he was still in his teens. His work formed the basis for group theory and Galois theory, two important branches of abstract algebra. Also a political activist, Évariste Galois died at the age of 20 after suffering wounds in a duel.

Charles Sumner was an American statesman, academic lawyer, and orator. As the leader of the anti-slavery forces in Massachusetts, Sumner played a major role during the American Civil War. He also played a crucial role during the Reconstruction era, seeking equal rights to the freedmen.

Horace Greeley was an American publisher and newspaper editor. He is credited with founding the New-York Tribune, for which he also served as an editor. He is also credited with popularizing the New-York Tribune, which became the highest-circulating newspaper in America. Long active in politics, Greeley helped found the Republican Party in 1854. 

Chemist Robert Bunsen paved the path for spectrum analysis with his discovery that every element emits a light of a particular wavelength. He also co-developed and lent his name to the Bunsen burner. He almost died of arsenic poisoning and lost sight in his right eye in a laboratory explosion.

French astronomer Urbain Le Verrier revolutionized celestial mechanics by ascertaining the existence of Neptune by mathematical means. Apart from winning the Royal Society of London’s Copley Medal, he had also led the Observatory of Paris as its director. His name remains one of the 72 engraved on the Eiffel Tower.

Chinese military general and Confucian scholar Zeng Guofan is best remembered for his efforts in crushing the Taiping Rebellion. Apart from being a court scholar of the Qing rulers, he also served on various prominent boards. His writings have been preserved as a collection of 156 books.

George Gilbert Scott was a British architect best remembered for his contribution to the Gothic Revival style of architecture. Scott is credited with designing and altering over 800 buildings, including several churches and cathedrals. He served as the architect of several iconic edifices like The St. Pancras Renaissance London Hotel, The Foreign and Commonwealth Office, and St Mary's Cathedral, Glasgow.

French socialist and politician Louis Blanc is best remembered for supporting the formation of "social workshops" led by workers. He initially studied law, before he started writing for journals and then eventually launched his own newspaper, Revue du progress, which published his most notable work L’Organisation du travail.

Born to a carpenter in Glasgow, James Young initially assisted his father but later gained an interest in chemistry. He grew up to invent a process of extracting oil from coal and oil shales. Owing to his paraffin oil company, which he owned, he later earned the nickname Paraffin Young.

John Humphrey Noyes was an American preacher, religious philosopher, and utopian socialist. He was the founder of the Putney, Oneida, and Wallingford Communities. He decided to devote his life to religion at a young age and studied at the Yale Theological Seminary. He was also involved in political activism and helped organize an anti-slavery society in the United States. 

Marie Pleyel was a Belgian concert pianist who amazed the audience with her young virtuosity at the age of eight when she first gave her formal recital. She went on to become one of the most famous and admired pianists of the 1830s.

Scottish obstetrician James Young Simpson is remembered as the first to use chloroform as an anesthetic in medicine. A University of Edinburgh professor, he was later made a queen’s physician in Scotland. He also received the title of a baronet. His research also included leprosy and fetal pathology.

Adam Kok III was a South African political leader who served as the leader of the Griqua people. He played a major role in founding Griqualand East, which is now known as New Griqualand. Kok III. He is also credited with establishing an efficient method of government in order to benefit the Griqua people.

While Archibald Campbell Tait, the Archbishop of Canterbury, is best remembered for trying to mitigate the Church of England conflict during the Oxford Movement, his contributions in other fields were of no less importance. His inauguration of the Bishop of London's Fund and his work on the Royal Commission on Ritual are still remembered by one and all.

Legendary Italian opera singer Giulia Grisi was the opera world’s prima donna for over 3 decades. She was 17 when she made her debut with Zelmira. She later also soared to fame in Paris and London. She later married opera singer and Italian nobleman and knight Giovanni Matteo Mario.

Sakuma Shōzan was a major force behind the modernization of Japan and believed in the motto "Eastern ethics, Western techniques." He learned Dutch and taught himself techniques of making sophisticated weapons. He was assassinated by nationalists while trying to bridge gaps between the shogun and the emperor.

Known for constructions such as the Severn Tunnel and the Charing Cross and Cannon Street railways, John Hawkshaw was initially employed with the Manchester and Leeds Railway. His work was spread across Egypt, India, and the Netherlands. He was eventually knighted and made a fellow of the Royal Society.

Friedrich Hecker was a German lawyer, revolutionary, and politician. Hecker was one of the most famous agitators and speakers of the German revolutions of 1848–1849. Like many other Forty-Eighters who left their motherland after the revolutions failed, Friedrich Hecker moved to the United States where he served in the Federal Army during the Civil War.

Ferdinand Hiller was a German pianist, composer, conductor, music director, and writer. He is credited with composing six operas and a violin concerto among other works. He also worked as a lecturer and writer and contributed immensely to several newspapers. Some of his published works are Musikalisches und Persönliches and Goethes musikalisches Leben.