Famous People Born In 1833

Alfred Nobel was a Swedish chemist, engineer, and inventor. A prolific inventor, he held 355 different patents. Most popular as the inventor of dynamite, he was concerned with how he would be remembered after his death and bequeathed his fortune to the Nobel Prize institution. A wide traveler, he was proficient in several languages.

Benjamin Harrison was the 23rd U.S. President and is remembered for his efforts to pass the McKinley Tariff and the Sherman Antitrust Act. A qualified lawyer, he was the great-grandson of Benjamin Harrison V. Known for strengthening the Navy, he also attempted to secure the voting rights of African–Americans.

Charles George Gordon was a British administrator and Army officer. He is best remembered for his work as the commander of the Ever Victorious Army in China, which played a key role in suppressing the Taiping Rebellion. The force, under Gordon's command, was also able to defeat much larger forces, earning him the nickname Chinese Gordon.

Aleksandr Borodin was a Russian musical composer. He was one of the popular 19th-century group of musicians known as The Five, who worked together to create a national style of classical music. A chemist and doctor by profession, Borodin also made important contributions to organic chemistry. His best known work as a chemist is his work pertaining to organic synthesis.

Manuel González Flores was a Mexican military general turned politician who served as the 35th President of Mexico from 1880 to 1884. Prior to joining politics, he played significant roles in the Mexican–American War and the Reform War, as an army man. His tenure as the president saw major diplomatic and domestic achievements. 

Ferdinand von Richthofen, also known as Baron von Richthofen, was a German geographer who discovered quite a few places in and around China, thus contributing to his book China, the Results of My Travels and the Studies Based Thereon. He worked on chorography and chorology and also developed geomorphology.

Ricardo Palma was a Peruvian author, scholar, librarian, and politician. He became interested in politics as a young man and held several political positions. He began writing seriously following the birth of his first son, for whom he used to write fantastic tales. He went on to pursue a literary career and published various articles and books. 

Belgian painter and graphic artist Félicien Rops is best remembered for his association with symbolism and Fin-de Siecle, and for his prints. Part of the Les Vingt group of artists, he created masterpieces such as Absinthe Drinker and Lady with the Puppet. He also experimented with erotic themes.

Archduke Karl Ludwig of Austria was the younger brother of both Maximilian I of Mexico and Franz Joseph I of Austria. Ludwig is remembered as the father of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria whose assassination in Sarajevo is widely regarded as the most immediate cause of the First World War. Ludwig's grandson Charles I was the last emperor of Austria.

Élie Ducommun was a Swiss peace activist best remembered for winning the 1902 Nobel Peace Prize. He is credited with founding the League of Peace and Freedom in 1867. In 1891, he was chosen to serve as the director of the first non-governmental international peace organization, International Peace Office. Élie Ducommun served in this position until his death in 1906.

Sophus Bugge was a Norwegian linguist and philologist best remembered for his work on runic alphabets. He also made significant contributions to the study of the Oscan, Romance, Celtic, Etruscan, and Umbrian languages. Sophus Bugge's scientific work was of primary importance for the runic research and Norse philology.

Paul Bert was a French physiologist, zoologist, and politician. Referred to as the Father of Aviation Medicine, Bert is best remembered for his 1878 work La Pression barometrique, which explains the physiological effects of air-pressure. Paul Bert is also credited with describing oxygen toxicity for the first time.

A strong supporter of positivism and a critic of Marxism, German philosopher Eugen Dühring was also a qualified lawyer. An eye ailment which took away his sight in the end made him quit law and focus on philosophy instead. A fine writer, too, he penned books such as Capital und Arbeit.

After a 10-year stint as an engineer working to construct and install submarine telegraph cables, Fleeming Jenkin published reports establishing the ohm as the unit of electrical resistance. He is also remembered as the inventor of the cable car and taught at institutes such as the University of Edinburgh.

The 14th president of Ecuador, Luis Cordero Crespo started his career as a Progresistas party politician. He was forced to resign following the sale of the flag scandal. However, all charges against him were later dropped. He had also been the President of the Provisional Government of Quito.

Initially a novelist, Lillie Devereux Blake later devoted her life to the cause of women’s suffrage and empowerment of women. Raised in an affluent neighborhood, she was taught in the best schools. She had taken to writing after finding herself in a financial crisis following her husband’s suicide.