Alexander Menshikov
1673 – 1729 · 56 years · Moscow · Eastern Europe & Russia
A man of humble birth — legend says he sold pies in Moscow — who became Peter the Great's closest associate and the first governor-general of St Petersburg. After Peter's death he ruled Russia in all but name until his fall in 1727 and exile to Beryozov.
Wikipedia (Russian) · Wikipedia (English) · 17th century
Portrait: Wikimedia Commons
Contemporaries around the world
Europe
- Isaac Newton — English physicist and mathematician, 30 years older
- Johann Sebastian Bach — German composer and organist, 12 years younger
- Louis XIV — King of France, the Sun King, 35 years older
- Voltaire — French Enlightenment writer, 21 years younger
- Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz — German philosopher and mathematician, 27 years older
- Queen Anne — last Stuart monarch, under whom Great Britain was created, 8 years older
Eastern Europe & Russia
- Peter the Great — first Emperor of Russia, 1 year older
- Mikhail Lomonosov — Russian polymath, 38 years younger
- Vitus Bering — Danish explorer in Russian service, 8 years younger
- Catherine I — first Russian empress, widow of Peter the Great, 11 years younger
- Anna — empress who tore up the Conditions; era of Biron's dominance, 20 years younger
- Leonhard Euler — Swiss mathematician, 34 years younger
Middle East
- Ahmed III — sultan of the 'Tulip Era', born the same year
- Nader Shah — Shah of Iran and conqueror, 15 years younger
- Mahmud I — sultan who regained Belgrade by the 1739 peace, 23 years younger
- Mustafa II — sultan who signed the Treaty of Karlowitz, 9 years older
- Osman III — sultan who spent 50 years in the 'cage', 26 years younger
- Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab — Islamic religious reformer, 30 years younger
Africa
- Moulay Ismail — Sultan of Morocco, 28 years older
- Osei Tutu I — founder of the Ashanti Empire, 13 years older
- Kimpa Vita — Kongolese prophet, 11 years younger
- Zera Yacob — Ethiopian philosopher, 74 years older
Asia
- Kangxi Emperor — Qing emperor of China, 19 years older
- Tokugawa Yoshimune — reforming shogun who allowed Western books, 11 years younger
- Tokugawa Tsunayoshi — the 'Dog Shogun' who outlawed cruelty to animals, 27 years older
- Aurangzeb — Mughal emperor, 55 years older
- Matsuo Bashō — Japanese poet, 29 years older
- Qianlong Emperor — Qing emperor of China, 38 years younger
Americas
- Benjamin Franklin — American scientist and statesman, 33 years younger
- Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz — Mexican poet and nun, 25 years older
The world in their lifetime
- 1673–1681 Revolt of the Three Feudatories — aged 0, Asia
- 1676 Leeuwenhoek sees microbes — aged 3, Europe
- 1682 Accession of Peter the Great — aged 9, Eastern Europe & Russia
- 1683 Battle of Vienna — aged 10, Europe
- 1687 Newton's Principia — aged 14, Europe
- 1688–1689 Glorious Revolution — aged 15, Europe
- 1696 Capture of Azov — aged 23, Eastern Europe & Russia
- 1699 Treaty of Karlowitz — aged 26, Europe
- 1700–1721 Great Northern War — aged 27, Eastern Europe & Russia
- 1701–1714 War of the Spanish Succession — aged 28, Europe
- 1703 Founding of Saint Petersburg — aged 30, Eastern Europe & Russia
- 1707 England and Scotland unite — aged 34, Europe
- 1707 Death of Aurangzeb — aged 34, Asia
- 1709 Battle of Poltava — aged 36, Eastern Europe & Russia
- 1721 Peter the Great takes the title of Emperor — aged 48, Eastern Europe & Russia
- 1722 Fall of Isfahan — aged 49, Middle East