- May 3 Howard T Ricketts, American pathologist (studied typhus fever), dies of typhus at 39
- May 6 Edward VII, King of England (1901-10), dies at 68
- May 10 Stanislao Cannizzaro, Italian chemist, dies at 85
- May 10 William Huggins, discoverer of stellar nature of Andromeda, dies
- May 16 Henri E Cross [Delacroix], French painter, dies at 53
- May 18 Flor van Duyse, composer, dies at 66
- May 18 Eliza Orzeszkowa, Polish novelist (Dziurdziowie), dies at 68
- May 18 Pauline Viardot, French mezzo-soprano and composer, dies at 88
- May 20 Jean-Baptiste Theodore Weckerlin, French composer, dies at 88
- May 22 Jules Renard, French writer (Le plaisir the rompre), dies at 46
Robert Koch
May 27 Robert Koch, German pioneering bacteriologist (TB, Cholera, Nobel Prize 1905), dies at 66
Robert Koch
- May 29 Mily Balakirev, Russian pianist and composer (Islamej, Tamara), dies at 73
Elizabeth Blackwell
May 31 Elizabeth Blackwell, English-American physician who was the first woman to receive a medical degree in the United States, dies at 89
Elizabeth Blackwell