Famous People Who Died In 1933

The 30th president of the United States, Calvin Coolidge started his career as a lawyer before becoming an influential American politician. A man of few words with a dry sense of humor, Calvin Coolidge represented the middle class, which worked in his favor. Despite being a reclusive politician, Coolidge gave 520 press conferences, making himself available to reporters quite often.

Annie Besant was a British theosophist, socialist, writer, orator, educationist, women's rights activist, and philanthropist. Despite being British, Besant supported India's freedom movement and even joined the Indian National Congress. She is also credited with co-founding Banaras Hindu University. Besant also helped launch the Indian Home Rule movement to campaign for democracy in the country.

Alva Belmont was an American socialite who played a major role in the women's suffrage movement in the United States of America. Remembered for her intelligence, energy, and strong opinions, Belmont is credited with founding the Political Equality League which aimed at promoting suffrage-supporting politicians. Alva Belmont is also credited with co-founding the National Woman's Party in 1916.

Canadian women’s rights activist Emily Murphy was part of The Famous Five, a group of women activists who launched the Persons Case to make women eligible to be part of the Senate. Murphy also served as the first police magistrate in Canada and the British Empire.

Famous for his designs of car and airplane engines, fifteen years old Frederick Henry Royce learned engineering through hands-on during his apprenticeship at Great Northern Railway Company rather than through education. At twenty-one, he started his own engineering business, manufacturing electrically driven cranes, dynamos, and motors, eventually drawing the attention of C.S. Rolls, co-founding the Rolls Royce Company with him.

Russian naval officer and explorer Grand Duke Alexander Mikhailovich was the brother-in-law of the last emperor of Russia, Emperor Nicholas II. He played a significant role in the development of Russian military aviation during WWI. He spent his later life in exile in Paris and conducted many archaeological expeditions.

Austrian architect Adolf Loos is often compared to American architect Frank Lloyd Wright in terms of his contribution. Loos believed architecture shouldn’t contain the extra elements and ornaments promoted by Art Nouveau. Mostly known for his residential projects, he built modern buildings such as the Goldman and Salatsch Building.

Knud Rasmussen was a Greenlandic–Danish polar explorer. He was the first European to cross the Northwest Passage via dog sled. Also an anthropologist, he is often referred to as  the "father of Eskimology." As a young man,  he pursued an unsuccessful career as an actor and opera singer before embarking on his major explorations. 

Widely regarded as one of the most distinguished Greek poets of the 20th century, Constantine Peter Cavafy became known for his own individual style. During his lifetime, he preferred to share his work through local newspapers and magazines only. His first book was published two years after his death. He also worked as a journalist and a civil servant.

One of the 10 children of legendary English author Charles Dickens, Henry Fielding Dickens was named after author Henry Fielding. A Cambridge alumnus, he had initially studied math. However, he later took up law and became a successful barrister. He had also been a Liberal Party member.

Hipólito Yrigoyen was an Argentine politician best remembered for his service as the President of Argentina on two occasions; from 1916 to 1922 and again from 1928 to 1930. He is also remembered for introducing numerous social reforms, including compulsory pensions, regulation of working hours, and improvements in factory conditions, for which he was called the father of the poor.

Society Architect Addison Mizner is remembered for designing resorts and Palm Beach mansions for the rich. He developed much of Boca Raton and also designed structures such as the Everglades Club and John F. Kennedy's Winter White House. His designs remain archived at the Society of the Four Arts Library.

Irish author George Moore had initially aspired to be a painter and had even traveled to Paris to study the art. However, he soon ditched painting and devoted himself to writing instead. His novels, such as A Modern Lover, showed how much he was inspired by French realism.

Lyric poet Stefan George was a significant part of the 19th-century German Aestheticism. While studying in Paris, he was influenced by Symbolists. He established the George-Kreis school of literature and launched its popular journal, Blätter für die Kunst. He also exhibited homosexual tendencies in his love poems dedicated to Maximin.

Sándor Ferenczi is best remembered for his research on free association and the psychoanalytic theory. Initially an army doctor, he specialized in subjects such as neuropathology and hypnosis. He was also close to Sigmund Freud and later taught at the University of Budapest. He also established the Hungarian Psychoanalytic Society.

Best known for his iconic novel The Prisoner of Zenda, Anthony Hope specialized in cloak-and-sword romances and eventually created a separate genre, known as the Ruritanian romance, set in the mythical country of Ruritania. He was also knighted for his achievements but eventually succumbed to throat cancer.

Matilda Sissieretta Jones was an American soprano and the highest-paid African-American performer of her generation. She is credited with founding the Black Patti Troubadours, an acrobatic and musical act comprising 40 comedians, dancers, jugglers, and a chorus of 40 singers. In 2013, Matilda Sissieretta Jones was made an inductee of the Rhode Island Music Hall of Fame. 

Known as successful businesswoman, Catherine Anselm Gleason had many firsts to her credit. The first woman to study engineering at Cornell University, she later became the first female to become receiver of a bankrupt company and successfully restored it.  Later, she also became the first female president of a national bank, and member of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers.

Sir Edward Grey spent a long 11-year stint as the British foreign secretary, the longest uninterrupted tenure anybody has had in the same post. He is known for his support of France in the Moroccan crises and his iconic “the lamps are going out” remark made to the Westminster Gazette.

Albert Calmette was a French bacteriologist, physician, and immunologist. He is credited with discovering the Bacillus Calmette-Guérin. He is also credited with inveting the first antivenom for snake bites. Albert Calmette also helped develop amylolysis, which was used extensively in industrial brewing.

Paul Ehrenfest was an Austrian-Dutch theoretical physicist. A close associate of Albert Einstein, whom he had met during his visit to Prague in 1912, Ehrenfest frequently hosted Einstein in Leiden where he was serving as a professor. Paul Ehrenfest is best remembered for his work in the field of statistical mechanics.