Olga of Kiev
c. 920 – 969 · 49 years · Kyiv · Eastern Europe & Russia
Reign: 945 – 960 (Rus and Russia)
Ruled Rus' after her husband Igor's death, taking brutal revenge on the Drevlians; the first Rus' ruler to accept Christianity.
Wikipedia (Russian) · Wikipedia (English) · 10th century
Portrait: Mikhail Nesterov · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons
Contemporaries around the world
Europe
- Otto the Great — founder of the Holy Roman Empire who crushed the Magyars at the Lech, 8 years older
- Hugh Capet — founder of the Capetian dynasty, 20 years younger
- Æthelstan — first king of all England, victor at Brunanburh, 26 years older
- Edgar the Peaceful — king of a peaceful united England and patron of monastic reform, 23 years younger
- Otto II — emperor wed to the Byzantine Theophanu, defeated by the Arabs in Calabria, 35 years younger
Eastern Europe & Russia
- Igor of Kiev — prince of Kiev killed by the Drevlians over a second tribute, 42 years older
- Sviatoslav I — Grand Prince of Kiev, warrior, 22 years younger
- Yaropolk I — prince of Kiev who fell in a civil war with his brother Vladimir, 35 years younger
Middle East
- Ferdowsi — Persian poet, 20 years younger
The world in their lifetime
- c. 939 Eldgjá eruption — aged 19, Europe
- 946 Millennium Eruption of Mount Paektu — aged 26, Asia
- c. 950–1250 Medieval Warm Period — aged 30, Americas
- 960 Founding of the Song dynasty — aged 40, Asia
- 962 Coronation of Otto I — aged 42, Europe
- 966 Baptism of Poland — aged 46, Eastern Europe & Russia
- 969 Founding of Cairo — aged 49, Africa