John Locke
1632 – 1704 · 72 years · Oxford · Europe
Held that the mind starts as a "blank slate" and all knowledge comes from experience, and that government is legitimate only with the consent of the governed, who keep rights to life, liberty and property. Shaped the US Declaration of Independence.
Wikipedia (Russian) · Wikipedia (English) · 17th century
Portrait: Godfrey Kneller · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons
Contemporaries around the world
Europe
- Louis XIV — King of France, the Sun King, 6 years younger
- Isaac Newton — English physicist and mathematician, 11 years younger
- Rembrandt — Dutch painter, 26 years older
- Johann Sebastian Bach — German composer and organist, 53 years younger
- René Descartes — French philosopher and mathematician, 36 years older
- Galileo Galilei — Italian physicist and astronomer, 68 years older
Eastern Europe & Russia
- Peter the Great — first Emperor of Russia, 40 years younger
- Alexis the Most Quiet — tsar of the 1649 Law Code and the church schism, 3 years older
- Vitus Bering — Danish explorer in Russian service, 49 years younger
- Catherine I — first Russian empress, widow of Peter the Great, 52 years younger
- Michael I — first tsar of the Romanov dynasty, 36 years older
- Anna — empress who tore up the Conditions; era of Biron's dominance, 61 years younger
Middle East
- Ahmed III — sultan of the 'Tulip Era', 41 years younger
- Nader Shah — Shah of Iran and conqueror, 56 years younger
- Ahmed II — sultan who lost the Battle of Slankamen, 11 years younger
- Mehmed IV the Hunter — sultan of the Köprülü era and the siege of Vienna, 10 years younger
- Evliya Çelebi — Ottoman traveller, 21 years older
- Suleiman II — sultan who retook Belgrade after 39 years in the 'cage', 10 years younger
Africa
- Njinga of Ndongo and Matamba — Queen of Ndongo and Matamba, 49 years older
- Zera Yacob — Ethiopian philosopher, 33 years older
- Moulay Ismail — Sultan of Morocco, 13 years younger
- Osei Tutu I — founder of the Ashanti Empire, 28 years younger
- Fasilides — Emperor of Ethiopia, 29 years older
- Kimpa Vita — Kongolese prophet, 52 years younger
Asia
- Kangxi Emperor — Qing emperor of China, 22 years younger
- Aurangzeb — Mughal emperor, 14 years older
- Tokugawa Tsunayoshi — the 'Dog Shogun' who outlawed cruelty to animals, 14 years younger
- Matsuo Bashō — Japanese poet, 12 years younger
- Shivaji — founder of the Maratha state, 2 years older
- Shah Jahan — Mughal emperor, 40 years older
Americas
- Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz — Mexican poet and nun, 16 years younger
Oceania
- Abel Tasman — Dutch navigator, 29 years older
The world in their lifetime
- 1632–1653 Building of the Taj Mahal — aged 0, Asia
- 1644 Fall of the Ming, rise of the Qing — aged 12, Asia
- 1648 Peace of Westphalia — aged 16, Europe
- 1649 Execution of Charles I of England — aged 17, Europe
- 1654 Pereiaslav Agreement — aged 22, Eastern Europe & Russia
- 1662 Last sighting of the dodo — aged 30, Africa
- 1676 Leeuwenhoek sees microbes — aged 44, Europe
- 1682 Accession of Peter the Great — aged 50, Eastern Europe & Russia
- 1683 Battle of Vienna — aged 51, Europe
- 1687 Newton's Principia — aged 55, Europe
- 1688–1689 Glorious Revolution — aged 56, Europe
- 1703 Founding of Saint Petersburg — aged 71, Eastern Europe & Russia