- Dec 2 Pierre Waldeck-Rousseau, French politician (29th Prime Minister of France), born in Nantes, France (d. 1904)
- Dec 6 Henryk Jarecki, Polish composer, born in Warsaw, Poland (d. 1918)
- Dec 22 Andreas Hallén, Swedish composer, born in Gothenburg, Sweden (d. 1925)
- Dec 31 Ferdinand Domela Nieuwenhuis, Dutch socialist politician (1st Socialist MP in parliament), born in Amsterdam, Netherlands (d. 1919)
- Dec 31 Richard Kleinmichel, German pianist, composer (Manon), and arranger (Wagner operas for piano), born in Posen, Prussian Grand Duchy of Posen (now Poznań, Poland) (d. 1901)