- Jan 1 Heinrich Rudolf Hertz, German physicist, dies at 36
- Jan 8 Pierre-Joseph van Beneden, paleont (life of tapeworms), dies at 84
- Jan 13 Nadezhda von Meck, Russian patroness of Pyotr Tchaikovsky (b. 1831)
- Jan 19 Francois Haverschmidt, Dutch writer (Snikken en grimlachjes), dies at 58
- Feb 13 Franjo Rački, Croatian historian and politician, dies at 65
- Feb 14 Eugène Charles Catalan, French-Belgian mathematician (worked on continued fractions, descriptive geometry, number theory and combinatorics), dies at 79
- Feb 21 Gustave Caillebotte, French painter (Rue de Paris) and member of Impressionists, dies at 45
- Mar 12 Illarion Pryanishnikov, Russian painter (b. 1840)
- Mar 20 Lajos Kossuth, Governor-President of Hungary (1849), dies at 91
- Mar 26 Alfred H. Colquitt, American lawyer and Brigadier General (Confederate Army), dies at 69
- Mar 27 Verney Lovett Cameron, English explorer (Tanganyika), dies at 49
- Apr 8 Bankim Chandra Chatterjee, Indian novelist (Mrinalini, Anandamath), dies at 55
- Apr 11 Constantin Lipsius, German architect (b. 1832)
- Apr 14 Adolf Friedrich von Schack, German poet, dies at 78
- 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)
- Jun 3 Karl Eduard Zachariae, German expert on Byzantine Law (b. 1812)
- Jun 22 Alexandre-Antonin Taché, Canadian archbishop (b. 1823)
- Jun 24 Marie François Sadi Carnot, President of France (1887-94), assassinated by Italian anarchist Sante Geronimo Caserio at 56
- Jul 1 Julius van Zuylen van Nyevelt, Dutch minister of Foreign affairs, dies at 77
- Jul 1 Allan Pinkerton, American private detective and founder of Chicago detective agency, dies at 64
- Jul 5 Betty Paoli, writer, dies
- Jul 17 Josef Hyrtl, Austrian anatomist, dies at 83
- Jul 18 Leconte de Lisle, French poet and writer, dies at 75
- Aug 3 George Inness, American landscape painter (Delaware Water Gap), dies at 69
- Aug 16 Herman van der Tuuk, Dutch linguist (Toba Batak grammar), dies at 70
- Aug 26 PPH van Ham, general-major, dies in battle on Lombok
- Aug 26 Te Wherowhero Tāwhia, Second Māori King and leader of the Waikato tribes in New Zealand, dies at 71 or 72
- Sep 8 Hermann von Helmholtz, German physician and physicist, dies at 73
- Sep 17 Deng Shichang, Chinese admiral (b. 1849)
- Sep 24 Martinus Nijhoff, Dutch publisher (Van Dale) and founder (Martinus Nijhoff Publishers), dies at 68
- Oct 7 Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr., American physician and author (Old Ironsides), dies at 85
- Oct 8 Norbert Rillieux, American chemical engineer and inventor (sugar refiner), dies at 88
- Oct 19 James Darmesteter, French author and antiquarian (translations of the Avesta, the sacred scripture of Zoroastrianism), dies at 45
- Oct 20 James Anthony Froude, English historian and novelist (The Nemesis of Faith), dies at 76
- Oct 30 Honoré Mercier, Canadian politician and 9th Premier of Quebec (1887-91), dies at 54
- Nov 1 Tsar Alexander III of Russia (b. 1845) Reigned from 1881
- Nov 25 Solomon Caesar Malan, British orientalist, dies at 82
- Nov 27 Johanna von Puttkamer, Prussian noblewoman, wife of Otto von Bismarck (b. 1824)
- Nov 30 Joseph E. Brown, American attorney and politician (42nd Governor of Georgia), dies at 73
- Dec 3 Joseph Schadde, Flemish architect (Antwerp Stock exchange), dies at 76
Robert Louis Stevenson
Dec 3 Robert Louis Stevenson, Scottish novelist (Treasure Island), dies at 45
Robert Louis Stevenson
John Thompson
Dec 12 Sir John Thompson, fourth Prime Minister of Canada, dies of a sudden heart attack at 49
John Thompson
- Dec 13 Sarah Parker Remond, African-American abolitionist, dies at 68
- Dec 18 Erastus Flaval Beadle, American publisher (Beadle's Dime Novels), dies at 73
- Dec 29 Christina Rossetti, English poet (Winter Rain, Passing Away) dies at 64
- Dec 30 Amelia Jenks Bloomer, American reformer who campaigned for temperance and women’s rights, dies at 76
- Dec 31 Thomas J Stieltjes, mathematician (Stieltjes-integral), dies at 38