Nikita Demidov
1656 – 1725 · 69 years · Tula · Eastern Europe & Russia
A Tula gunsmith whose muskets were cheaper than imported ones and just as good. In 1702 Peter the Great gave him a state ironworks on the Neyva, the start of the Demidovs' Ural industry; by 1718 their works made all the navy's cannon, anchors and iron.
Wikipedia (Russian) · Wikipedia (English) · 17th century
Portrait: Wikimedia Commons
Contemporaries around the world
Europe
- Isaac Newton — English physicist and mathematician, 13 years older
- Louis XIV — King of France, the Sun King, 18 years older
- Johann Sebastian Bach — German composer and organist, 29 years younger
- Voltaire — French Enlightenment writer, 38 years younger
- Rembrandt — Dutch painter, 50 years older
- Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz — German philosopher and mathematician, 10 years older
Eastern Europe & Russia
- Peter the Great — first Emperor of Russia, 16 years younger
- Mikhail Lomonosov — Russian polymath, 55 years younger
- Alexander Menshikov — associate of Peter the Great, generalissimo, 17 years younger
- Vitus Bering — Danish explorer in Russian service, 25 years younger
- Catherine I — first Russian empress, widow of Peter the Great, 28 years younger
- Anna — empress who tore up the Conditions; era of Biron's dominance, 37 years younger
Middle East
- Ahmed III — sultan of the 'Tulip Era', 17 years younger
- Nader Shah — Shah of Iran and conqueror, 32 years younger
- Ahmed II — sultan who lost the Battle of Slankamen, 13 years older
- Mustafa II — sultan who signed the Treaty of Karlowitz, 8 years younger
- Mehmed IV the Hunter — sultan of the Köprülü era and the siege of Vienna, 14 years older
- Suleiman II — sultan who retook Belgrade after 39 years in the 'cage', 14 years older
Africa
- Moulay Ismail — Sultan of Morocco, 11 years older
- Osei Tutu I — founder of the Ashanti Empire, 4 years younger
- Zera Yacob — Ethiopian philosopher, 57 years older
- Kimpa Vita — Kongolese prophet, 28 years younger
- Fasilides — Emperor of Ethiopia, 53 years older
Asia
- Kangxi Emperor — Qing emperor of China, 2 years older
- Tokugawa Tsunayoshi — the 'Dog Shogun' who outlawed cruelty to animals, 10 years older
- Aurangzeb — Mughal emperor, 38 years older
- Tokugawa Yoshimune — reforming shogun who allowed Western books, 28 years younger
- Matsuo Bashō — Japanese poet, 12 years older
- Shivaji — founder of the Maratha state, 26 years older
Americas
- Benjamin Franklin — American scientist and statesman, 50 years younger
- Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz — Mexican poet and nun, 8 years older
The world in their lifetime
- 1662 Last sighting of the dodo — aged 6, Africa
- 1667 Truce of Andrusovo — aged 11, Eastern Europe & Russia
- 1673–1681 Revolt of the Three Feudatories — aged 17, Asia
- 1676 Leeuwenhoek sees microbes — aged 20, Europe
- 1682 Accession of Peter the Great — aged 26, Eastern Europe & Russia
- 1683 Battle of Vienna — aged 27, Europe
- 1687 Newton's Principia — aged 31, Europe
- 1688–1689 Glorious Revolution — aged 32, Europe
- 1696 Capture of Azov — aged 40, Eastern Europe & Russia
- 1699 Treaty of Karlowitz — aged 43, Europe
- 1700–1721 Great Northern War — aged 44, Eastern Europe & Russia
- 1701–1714 War of the Spanish Succession — aged 45, Europe
- 1703 Founding of Saint Petersburg — aged 47, Eastern Europe & Russia
- 1707 England and Scotland unite — aged 51, Europe
- 1707 Death of Aurangzeb — aged 51, Asia
- 1709 Battle of Poltava — aged 53, Eastern Europe & Russia
- 1721 Peter the Great takes the title of Emperor — aged 65, Eastern Europe & Russia
- 1722 Fall of Isfahan — aged 66, Middle East