- Dec 6 Albert de Vriendt, Flemish historical painter and etcher, born in Ghent, belgium (d. 1900)
Robert Koch (1843-1910)
Dec 11 German pioneering bacteriologist (TB, cholera, Nobel Prize 1905), born in Clausthal, Hanover
- Dec 13 George Stephănescu, Romanian composer, born in Bucharest, Romania (d. 1925)
- Dec 21 Thomas Bracken, Irish-born New Zealand poet, born in Clones, County Monaghan (d. 1898)
- Dec 23 Richard Conner, American Civil War Medal of Honor Recipient (d. 1924)
- Dec 24 Lydia Koidula, Estonian poet, born in Vändra, Estonia (d. 1886)
- Dec 29 Elisabeth of Wied [pseudonym Carmen Sylva], Queen consort of Romania and poet, born in Neuwied, Germany (d. 1916)