Famous People Who Died In 1880

Mary Ann Evans, known by her pseudonym George Eliot, was an English poet, novelist, translator, and journalist. One of the most prominent writers of the Victorian era, Eliot's works are known for their psychological insight, realism, and detailed description of the countryside. Her novel Middlemarch was voted one of the greatest literary works in a 2007 poll conducted by Time.

Gustave Flaubert was a French novelist best remembered for his first novel Madame Bovary, which was later adapted into an opera. One of the most influential French novelists of all time, Flaubert is widely regarded as the main exponent of literary realism in France. His work inspired his protégé and short story writer Guy de Maupassant, who later achieved much acclaim.

Lucretia Mott was an American women's rights activist, abolitionist, and social reformer. Mott played a major role in the events leading up to the Seneca Falls Convention, the first gathering supporting women's rights in the USA. Lucretia Mott's work influenced Elizabeth Cady Stanton whom she mentored. In 1983, she was inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame.

Maria Alexandrovna of Hesse was the daughter of Prince Hereditary Ludwig of Hesse and Princess Wilhelmine of Baden. She was the first wife of Russian Emperor Alexander II. She was a co-founder of the Russian Red Cross and established Russia's first all-female schools. She also helped her husband end serfdom in Russia. She suffered from tuberculosis and died in 1880. 

Henryk Wieniawski was a Polish composer, violinist, and pedagogue. He is often counted among the greatest violinists of all time. He was also one of the most important players in London's Beethoven Quartet Society. Henryk Wieniawski is still revered by violinists all over the world. 

Edwin Drake, or Colonel Drake, was the first American to drill an oil well successfully. Initially a railroad worker, he later helped develop Titusville and other oil-rich areas of northwestern Pennsylvania into booming oil-drilling zones. His failure to patent his techniques led to his poverty in his final years.

Legendary Norwegian violinist Ole Bull had started training in the violin at age 5. He had his own style of playing multiple tones at once. He later developed a colony of his own in Pennsylvania and named it New Norway, also known as the Ole Bull Colony.

Viennese artist Peter Johann Nepomuk Geiger, who served as Professor of the Viennese Academy of Art, is noted for his erotic drawings, illustrations of historical works and poetry, and oil paintings for the Austrian Royal Family. His notable works include illustration of Anton Ziegler's Vaterländischen Immortellen, and illustrations of William Shakespeare, Goethe and Friedrich Schiller for the Royal Family.

Born to an engineer father, British missionary Alfred Saker had built a small steam engine by 16. Intelligent and well-read, he later departed on a mission to Africa, eventually setting up the city of Victoria, now known as Limbe, in Cameroon. He is also credited with translating the Bible into Douala.

Scottish botanist and traveler Robert Fortune was involved in a lot of exploratory projects, which took him to China and Taiwan. He is credited with the development of the tea business in India, as part of the East India Company’s campaign. He also brought in many trees, shrubs, and flowers to Europe.

Hector Lefuel was a French architect best remembered for his outstanding work on the Louvre Palace, including the reconstruction of the Pavillon de Flore and Napoleon III's Louvre expansion. Hector Lefuel is also credited with designing funerary monuments of important and influential personalities like François Bazin and Daniel-François-Esprit Auber.

Estanislao del Campo was an Argentine poet best remembered for his satirical poem Fausto which was published in 1866. Born into a unitarian family, Estanislao del Campo also fought in the battles of Pavón and Cepeda, defending Buenos Aires' rights. A street and a town in Argentina are named in his honor.

John Sutter, also known as Don Juan Sutter, was a German-born Swiss colonizer who established Sutter's Fort, or modern-day Sacramento, the capital of California. After one of his employees, a carpenter named James W. Marshall, found gold in his area in 1848, the California Gold Rush began.

Magnus Brostrup Landstad was a Norwegian poet, parish priest, and hymn writer. He is credited with publishing the first collection of Norwegian traditional ballads in 1853. He is remembered for incorporating contemporary Norwegian language into his hymns, which contributed greatly to Norwegian romantic nationalism. His most prominent hymnal Landstads kirkesalmebog was used by the Church of Norway for many years.

George Ripley was an American journalist, Unitarian minister, and social reformer. He is best remembered for his association with Transcendentalism. Ripley is credited with founding a Utopian community named Brook Farm in Massachusetts. He later established himself as a literati, working for the New York Tribune and publishing the New American Cyclopaedia.

Tom Taylor was an English biographer, dramatist, critic, and public servant. He also contributed as an editor for the popular British weekly magazine, Punch. His best-known playwright work Our American Cousin has gained historical significance as Abraham Lincoln was assassinated in 1865 while watching this particular play.