- May 8 Clara Fey, German Roman Catholic Nun and the founder of the Sisters of the Poor Child Jesus, dies at 79
- May 21 August Kundt, German physicist, (sound vibration, test of Kundt), dies at 54
- May 21 Emile Henry, French anarchist (b. 1872)
- May 24 William Joseph Westbrook, British sacred music composer, dies at 63