Geniuses Who Died Young

Brilliant minds lost before their 40th birthday

43 Geniuses

Geniuses Who Died Young

Explore 43 geniuses who died before the age of 40, from prodigies struck down in their prime to revolutionary thinkers whose brief lives changed the world forever.

Edmund Thomas Clint
1976–1983 · India · Died at 7
Having drawn over 25,000 paintings
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Carl Filtsch
1830–1845 · Romania · Died at 15
Composed concerto at thirteen; died at age fourteen
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Arfa Karim
1995–2012 · Pakistan · Died at 17
World's youngest Microsoft Certified Professional, 2004–2006
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Thomas Chatterton
1752–1770 · United Kingdom · Died at 18
Committed suicide age 17
IQ 170
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Juan Crisóstomo Arriaga
1806–1826 · Spain · Died at 20
Composed a two-act opera at age thirteen
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Évariste Galois
1811–1832 · France · Died at 21
Work on the theory of equations and Abelian integrals
IQ 165
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Otto Weininger
1880–1903 · Germany · Died at 23
Sex and Character
IQ 155
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Lili Boulanger
1893–1918 · France · Died at 25
Attended Louis Vierne's organ classes at the Paris Conservatoire at age six
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Niels Henrik Abel
1802–1829 · Norway · Died at 27
Abel's binomial theorem • Abel equation • Abel equation of the first kindAbelian extension • A
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Henry Moseley
1887–1915 · United Kingdom · Died at 28
Atomic number, Moseley's law
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Novalis
1772–1801 · Germany · Died at 29
Hymns to the Night and The Novices at Sais
IQ 170
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Anne Brontë
1820–1849 · United Kingdom · Died at 29
The Tenant of Wildfell Hall
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Percy Bysshe Shelley
1792–1822 · England · Died at 30
"Ozymandias" (1818), "Ode to the West Wind" (1819), "To a Skylark" (1820), and “The Mask of Anarchy”
IQ 185
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Franz Schubert
1797–1828 · Austria · Died at 31
"Erlkönig" (D. 328), the Piano Quintet in A major, D. 667 (Trout Quintet), the Symphony No. 8 in B m
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Xavier Bichat
1771–1802 · France · Died at 31
The concept of tissue
IQ 175
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Sylvia Plath
1932–1963 · United States · Died at 31
The Bell Jar and Ariel
IQ 140
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Ettore Majorana
1906–1938 · Italy · Died at 32
The Italian theoretical physicist was an expert in electrically neutral subatomic particles created
IQ 183
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Srinivasa Ramanujan
1887–1920 · India · Died at 33
Landau–Ramanujan constant, Mock theta functions, Ramanujan conjecture, Ramanujan prime, Ramanujan–So
IQ 175
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Lucilio Vanini
1585–1619 · Italy · Died at 34
Nomological determinism,
IQ 175
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William Kingdon Clifford
1845–1879 · United Kingdom · Died at 34
Clifford algebra
IQ 175
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Vincenzo Bellini
1801–1835 · Italy · Died at 34
Norma • La Sonnambula • I Puritani
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Georges Danton
1759–1794 · France · Died at 35
Being a leading figure in the early stages of the French Revolution
IQ 155
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Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
1756–1791 · Austria · Died at 35
Serenade No. 13 “Eine kleine Nachtmusik”, Requiem, The Magic Flute, Clarinet Concerto and Symphony N
IQ 170
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Zerah Colburn
1804–1839 · United States · Died at 35
Mental calculator; child prodigy
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Georges Bizet
1838–1874 · France · Died at 36
Carmen
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Lord Byron
1788–1824 · England · Died at 36
Don Juan and Childe Harold's Pilgrimage
IQ 180
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Maximilien Robespierre
1758–1794 · France · Died at 36
Playing an important part in the agitation which brought about the fall of the French monarchy on 10
IQ 170
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Nicolas Léonard Sadi Carnot
1796–1832 · France · Died at 36
Carnot cycle • Carnot efficiency • Carnot theorem • Carnot heat engine
IQ 190
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Ada Lovelace
1815–1852 · United Kingdom · Died at 37
The mother of computing science; contributed to the first published computer program; was the first
IQ 160
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Heinrich Hertz
1857–1894 · Germany · Died at 37
Proving the existence of the electromagnetic waves
IQ 180
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Raphael
1483–1520 · Italy · Died at 37
PaintingArchitecture
IQ 170
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Robert Burns
1759–1796 · Scotland · Died at 37
"Auld Lang Syne" "To a Mouse" "A Man's a Man for A' That" "Ae Fond Kiss" "Scots Wha Hae" "Tam O'Sha
IQ 150
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Vincent van Gogh
1853–1890 · Netherlands · Died at 37
The Potato Eaters (1885) Sunflowers (1887) Bedroom in Arles (1888) The Starry Night (1889) Portr
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Alexander Pushkin
1799–1837 · Russia · Died at 38
Eugene Onegin, The Captain's Daughter, Boris Godunov, Ruslan and Ludmila.
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Felix Mendelssohn
1809–1847 · Germany · Died at 38
grandson of Moses Mendelssohn; student of Carl Zelter; Mendelssohn first appeared in concert at the
IQ 165
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Mary Wollstonecraft
1759–1797 · Died at 38
IQ 160
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Rosalind Franklin
1920–1958 · United Kingdom · Died at 38
Structure of DNA • Fine structure of coal and graphite • Virus structures
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Augustin-Jean Fresnel
1788–1827 · France · Died at 39
His research in optics led to the almost unanimous acceptance of the wave theory of light.
IQ 180
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Blaise Pascal
1623–1662 · France · Died at 39
Pascal's law
IQ 185
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Charlotte Brontë
1816–1855 · England · Died at 39
Jane Eyre • Villette
IQ 165
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Frédéric Chopin
1810–1849 · Poland · Died at 39
Publishing two polonaises by the age of seven
IQ 165
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Giacomo Leopardi
1798–1837 · Italy · Died at 39
The Idilli
IQ 180
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Martin Luther King Jr.
1929–1968 · United States · Died at 39
Civil rights movement, Peace movement
IQ 140
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Frequently Asked Questions

Which genius died the youngest?

Edmund Thomas Clint died at just 7 years old.

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How many geniuses died before 40?

There are 43 geniuses in the Geniuses.Club database who died before reaching 40 years of age.

Why do so many geniuses die young?

Throughout history, many brilliant minds were lost to war, disease, persecution, and the physical toll of intense dedication to their work. Some, like mathematicians and poets, showed peak creativity in youth.

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