Famous People Who Died In 1815

Michel Ney was a French military commander. One of the 18 Marshals of the Empire inaugurated by Napoléon Bonaparte, Michel Ney played important roles in the Napoleonic Wars and the French Revolutionary Wars. Nicknamed the Bravest of the Brave by Napoleon himself, Ney was renowned for his valor in wars. 

Though a doctor, Franz Mesmer studied the influence of astronomical bodies on the human body and on an invisible fluid inside it. He was a pioneer of animal magnetism, or mesmerism, which paved the path for modern-day hypnotism. Critics slammed his ideas and called him a fraud, too.

Born into a wealthy Maryland family and educated in France and Belgium, John Carroll is remembered as the first American Roman Catholic bishop and the first archbishop of Baltimore. He also established Georgetown University. Though he owned more than 100 slaves, he advocated for humane treatment of slaves.

William Nicholson is best remembered for discovering the electrolysis of water, which revolutionized the chemical industry. His inventions also include his own hydrometer and launched the first independent science journal. Inspired by his writer friend Thomas Holcroft, he also penned An Introduction to Natural Philosophy, his best-known written work.

German explorer, mathematician, and cartographer Carsten Niebuhr was part of the renowned Royal Danish Arabia Expedition, a voyage he was invited to by King Frederick V of Denmark himself. He was the only survivor of the expedition and later penned down his experiences. He was the father of Danish-German historian Barthold Georg Niebuhr.

Born to a well-known merchant and evangelist, Henry Thornton too followed in his father’s footsteps to become part of the evangelical Clapham Sect. A monetory theorist, he later became the first to explain the difference between nominal and real interest rates. The noted economist had also been a parliamentarian.

Born to a bookseller in Sagami Province, Torii Kiyonaga became of the significant figures of the ukiyo-e movement woodblock prints. His works depict exceptionally tall woman drawn in a realistic fashion. He was largely inspired by kabuki actors and courtesans and mastered the nishiki-e and bijin-ga paintings.

Ganioda'yo, better known as Handsome Lake, was a Seneca religious leader. A leader and prophet, Handsome Lake played an important role in revitalizing traditional religion among the People of the Longhouse. His teachings aimed at popularizing the traditional religious beliefs of his people, which had been marred by colonization. His teachings were later published and are practiced even today.

Remembered as one of the founders of the Baptist Missionary Society, Andrew Fuller had initially been a pastor at the Soham and Kettering Baptist Churches. He then formed his own society with William Carey and others and became its first secretary. He also assisted missionary activities in Jamaica and India.