Deaths in History on December 6

Person of interestSaint Nicholas

343 Saint Nicholas [Nikolaos of Myra], Greek Bishop who became the model for Santa Claus, dies at 73

Christian Saint and Greek Bishop of Myra Saint Nicholas
Christian Saint and Greek Bishop of Myra
Saint Nicholas
  • 1185 Afonso I the Conqueror, King of Portugal (1143-85), dies at 76
  • 1352 Clement VI, [Pierre Roger], Pope (1342-52), dies
  • 1531 John Volkertsz Trimaker, Dutch anabaptist leader, beheaded
  • 1550 Pieter Coecke van Aelst, Flemish painter, dies at 48
  • 1562 Jan van Scorel, Dutch painter and architect, dies at 67
  • 1598 Elbertus Leoninus, Dutch lawyer/politician, dies at about 78
  • 1618 Jacques-Davy Duperron, French cardinal (b. 1556)
  • 1640 Matthijs Elsevier, Flemish/Dutch book publisher/merchant, dies at 75
  • 1651 Anna Roemers Visscher, Dutch poetess, dies at 68
  • 1658 Baltasar Gracian, Spanish writer, dies at 57
  • 1718 Nicholas Rowe, English poet and dramatist (Tamerlane) Poet Laureate (1715-18), dies at 45
  • 1771 Giovanni Battista Morgagni, Italian anatomist (b. 1682)
  • 1779 Jean-Baptiste-Siméon Chardin, French painter, dies at 80
  • 1788 Jonathan Shipley, British bishop and politician (b. 1714)
  • 1793 Marie Jeanne Becu comtesse du Barry, mistress of Louis XV, beheaded

  • 1799 Joseph Black, Scottish chemist and physicist known for his discoveries of magnesium, latent heat and carbon dioxide, dies at 71
  • 1834 Jonas Daniel Meyer, Dutch lawyer, dies at 54
  • 1855 William John Swainson, English naturalist and artist, dies at 66
  • 1867 Jean Pierre Flourens, French physiologist, dies at 73
  • 1868 August Schleicher, German linguist (b. 1821)
  • 1869 Jan de Liefde II, Dutch vicar/author (People's Welfare), dies at 54
  • 1873 Manuel Acuña, Mexican poet (Ante un Cadaver), dies at 24
  • 1879 Erastus Brigham Bigelow, American inventor of weaving machine, dies at 65
  • 1882 Alfred Escher, Swiss politician and railroad entrepreneur (b. 1819)
  • 1882 Anthony Trollope, English novelist and poet (Barchester Towers), dies at 67

Person of interestJefferson Davis

1889 Jefferson Davis, President of Confederate States of America (1861-65), dies at 81

President of the Confederate States of America Jefferson Davis
President of the Confederate States of America
Jefferson Davis
  • 1889 Jozef Neuhuys [Joseph Hendrikus Neuhuys], Dutch painter, dies at 48
  • 1891 Émile Bayard, French artist and illustrator, dies at 54

Person of interestWerner von Siemens

1892 [Ernst] Werner von Siemens, German inventor and industrialist (siemens electrical conductance unit and Siemens corporation), dies at 75

Industrialist and Inventor Werner von Siemens
Industrialist and Inventor
Werner von Siemens
  • 1914 Eduard Jacobs, Dutch cabaret artist, dies at 47
  • 1925 Dat So la Lee "Dabuda" or Louise Keyser, Native American (Washoe) basket weaver dies aged about 96
  • 1934 Duke Charles Michael of Mecklenburg, head of the House of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, dies at 71
  • 1941 Oskar Ernst Bernhardt, German author (In the Light of Truth: The Grail Message), dies at 66
  • 1943 Firmin Baes, Flemish painter, dies at 69
  • 1951 Harold Ross, American magazine editor and co-founded The New Yorker, dies at 59
  • 1953 Konstanty I Galczynski, Polish poet (Zielona Ges), dies at 48

Person of interestB.R. Ambedkar

1956 B.R. Ambedkar [Baba Saheb], Indian politician, jurist (architect of the Constitution of India) and social reformer who inspired the Dalit Buddhist Movement, dies after suffering from diabetes at 65

Jurist and Social Reformer B.R. Ambedkar
Jurist and Social Reformer
B.R. Ambedkar
  • 1957 Robert Esnault-Pelterie, French Engineer and aviation pioneer, dies at 76
  • 1961 Frantz Fanon, West Indian psychiatrist and philosopher (The Wretched of the Earth), dies of leukemia at 36
  • 1963 Jozef Goossenaerts, Flem philologist (Language Boundary), dies at 81

  • 1964 Consuelo Vanderbilt (b. 1877)
  • 1965 Alberto Vaccari, Italian jesuit/old testament scholar, dies at 90
  • 1970 Thomas S Power, American USAF-gen (Raid on Tokyo-March 1945), dies at 65
  • 1971 Jan Altink, Dutch painter/co-founder (Plough), dies at 86
  • 1974 Nikolay Kuznetsov, Russian naval commander (Admiral of the Fleet during World War II), dies at 70
  • 1976 João Goulart, President of Brazil (b. 1918)
  • 1985 Burr Tillstrom, American puppeteer (Kukla Fran & Ollie), dies at 68
  • 1986 Malik Oussekine, Algerian/French student, killed by police at 22

Person of interestTunku Abdul Rahman

1990 Tunku Abdul Rahman, Malaysia's founding father, 1st Prime Minister of Malaya (1957-63) and Malaysia (1963-70), dies at 87

Malaysia's Founding Father Tunku Abdul Rahman
Malaysia's Founding Father
Tunku Abdul Rahman
  • 1993 Prof Wolfgang Paul, German physicist (Nobel 1989), dies at 80
  • 1993 Rouaz Lakhdar, Algerian supreme court justice, murdered
  • 1993 Desmond Barel Hirshfield, Lord Hirshfield, British chartered accountant, dies at 80
  • 1994 AJ Bronkhorst, vicar/theologist (Reform The Netherlands), dies at 80
  • 1995 Dmitri Volkogonov, Russian soldier and historian, dies at 67
  • 1995 James "Scotty" Reston, American journalist (New York Times), dies at 86
  • 1995 John Trevor Key, British photographer, dies of brain tumour at 48
  • 1995 Leslie Wilkinson, journalist, dies at 97
  • 1996 Bryan Clieve Roberts, lawyer/civil servant, dies at 83
  • 1997 Eddie Myers, British WWII soldier and engineer, dies at 91
  • 2002 Philip Berrigan, American peace activist and Roman Catholic priest, dies at 79
  • 2003 Carlos Manuel Arana Osorio, President of Guatemala (b. 1918)
  • 2004 Raymond Goethals, Belgian football coach (b. 1921)
  • 2005 Devan Nair, 3rd President of Singapore (b. 1923)
  • 2006 John Feeney, Documentary film-director (b. 1922)
  • 2010 Mark Dailey, Canadian television journalist and announcer (b. 1953)
  • 2017 William H. Gass, American novelist and philosopher (Omensetter's Luck), dies at 93

December in History