- Jan 6 Étienne François Geoffroy, French physician and chemist (1718 affinity table), dies at 58
- Jan 21 Thomas Woolston, English theologian (b. 1669)
- Jan 27 Bartolomeo Cristofori, Italian instrument maker - considered the inventor of the piano, dies at 75
- Feb 20 Friederich Karl Erbach, German composer, dies at 50
- Feb 22 Frederik Ruysch, Dutch anatomist and botanist (developed techniques for preserving specimens), dies at 92
- Feb 27 Angelo Predieri, Italian composer, dies at about 76
- Mar 8 Ferdinand Brokoff, Czech sculptor and carver of the Baroque era, dies at 42
- Mar 15 Adolf H. van Rechteren, Dutch diplomat and politician, dies at 75
- Apr 10 Maximilian Dietrich Freisslich, composer, dies at 58
- May 1 Johann Ludwig Bach, German violinist and composer, dies at 54
- Aug 17 Johann Augustin Kobelius, German Baroque composer, dies at 57
- Sep 1 Pierre Danican Philidor, French composer, dies at 50
- Sep 7 Yevdokiya Lopukhina, Tsarina of Russia as the first wife of Peter I of Russia, dies at 62
- Sep 20 Sicco van Goslinga, Fries diplomat/sect of High Council, dies at 67
- Nov 2 Johann Matthias Leffloth, composer, dies at 26
- Dec 26 Antoine Houdar de la Motte, French writer (b. 1672)
- Dec 29 Brook Taylor, English mathematician, discoverer of Taylor's Theorem, dies at 46