Historical Figures Who Died in 1879

Mar 1 Joachim Heer, Swiss politician, dies at 54
Mar 2 John Eberhard Faber, German-American pencil manufacturer and built 1st large-scale pencil factory in US, dies at 56
Mar 30 David van der Kellen, Dutch coin engraver, dies at 74
Mar 30 Thomas Couture, French painter/author, dies at 63
Apr 4 Heinrich Wilhelm Dove, Prussian physicist and meteorologist, dies at 75
Apr 8 Anthony Panizzi, Italian librarian at British Museum, dies at 81
Apr 16 Bernadette of Lourdes [Bernadette Soubirous], French saint (saw Virgin Mary at Lourdes), dies from tuberculosis at 35 in Nevers, France
Apr 18 Anthony Pannizi, Italian-born British librarian (British Museum), dies at 81
Apr 29 Douglas H. Cooper, American Brigadier General (Confederate Army), dies at 63
Apr 30 Emma Smith, Inaugural President of the Women's Relief Society of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, dies at 74
Apr 30 Sarah Josepha Hale, American writer (Mary Had a Little Lamb), editor, activist, and founder of the Seaman's Aid Society of Boston, dies at 90
May 4 William Froude, English engineer and naval architect, dies at 68
May 15 Gottfried Semper, German architect (b. 1803)
May 17 Asa Packer, railroad magnate and founder of Lehigh Valley Railroad (b. 1805)
May 21 Arturo Prat, Chilean naval officer (b. 1848)

May 24 William Lloyd Garrison, American abolitionist, and publisher ("The Liberator"), dies at 73

Jun 1 Napoléon IV, Prince Imperial, Head of the House of Bonaparte (1873-79), killed in action during the Anglo-Zulu war at 23
Jun 11 Willem, (crown)prince of Orange, dies of bronchitis or murder at 39
Jul 16 Edward Deas Thomson, Australian politician (b. 1800)
Jul 17 Maurycy Gottlieb, Ukrainian painter (b. 1856)
Aug 3 Joseph Severn, English painter (b. 1793)
Aug 8 Immanuel Hermann Fichte, German philosopher, dies at 83
Aug 27 Rowland Hill, English inventor who introduced 1st adhesive postage stamp (1840), dies at 84
Aug 30 John B Hood, confederate general (lost Atlanta), dies at 48
Aug 31 William Barber, 6th US chief engraver (1844-79), dies
Sep 14 Bernhard von Cotta, German geologist, dies at 70
Sep 17 Eugène Viollet-le-Duc, French architect (restored medieval monuments including city of Carcassonne), dies at 65
Sep 28 Nathan Cook Meeker, American journalist and social reformer, murdered by Ute Indians at 62
Oct 8 Miguel Grau Seminario 'Gentleman of the Seas', Peruvian Admiral, dies during the Battle of Angamos at 45
Oct 13 Henry Charles Carey, American economist (Principles of Poli Economy), dies at 85
Oct 14 F Kornberger, writer, dies at 58

Oct 26 Angelina Grimké, American abolitionist, women's rights activist and suffragette (An Appeal to the Christian Women of the South), dies at 74

Oct 27 John Wilkins Whitfield, American Brigadier General (Confederate Army), dies at 61
Oct 28 Marie Roch Louis Reybaud, French writer (b. 1799)
Oct 31 Big Snake, brother of Ponca chief Standing Bear, dies
Oct 31 Jacob Abbott, American author (b. 1803)
Oct 31 Joseph Hooker, American General (b. 1814)
Nov 1 Zachariah Chandler, American merchant and politician (found Republican Party), dies at 65

Nov 5 James Clerk Maxwell, Scottish physicist (speed of light), dies of abdominal cancer at 48

Dec 6 Erastus Brigham Bigelow, American inventor of weaving machine, dies at 65
Dec 7 Jón Sigurðsson, Icelandic independence fighter and Icelandic historian, dies at 68
Dec 18 Charley Parkhurst, American stagecoach driver who disguised herself as a women for 30 years, dies at 67