Peter the Great
.jpg?width=160 "Attributed to Jean-Marc Nattier · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons")
1672 – 1725 · 53 years · Saint Petersburg · Eastern Europe & Russia
Reign: 1682 – 1725 (Rus and Russia)
Westernised Russia through sweeping reforms, built a navy, defeated Sweden in the Great Northern War and founded Saint Petersburg.
Wikipedia (Russian) · Wikipedia (English) · 17th century
Portrait: Attributed to Jean-Marc Nattier · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons
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Contemporaries around the world
Europe
- Isaac Newton — English physicist and mathematician, 29 years older
- Louis XIV — King of France, the Sun King, 34 years older
- Johann Sebastian Bach — German composer and organist, 13 years younger
- Voltaire — French Enlightenment writer, 22 years younger
- Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz — German philosopher and mathematician, 26 years older
- Queen Anne — last Stuart monarch, under whom Great Britain was created, 7 years older
Eastern Europe & Russia
- Mikhail Lomonosov — Russian polymath, 39 years younger
- Vitus Bering — Danish explorer in Russian service, 9 years younger
- Catherine I — first Russian empress, widow of Peter the Great, 12 years younger
- Anna — empress who tore up the Conditions; era of Biron's dominance, 21 years younger
- Leonhard Euler — Swiss mathematician, 35 years younger
- Elizabeth — empress who founded Moscow University, 37 years younger
Middle East
- Ahmed III — sultan of the 'Tulip Era', 1 year younger
- Nader Shah — Shah of Iran and conqueror, 16 years younger
- Mustafa II — sultan who signed the Treaty of Karlowitz, 8 years older
- Mahmud I — sultan who regained Belgrade by the 1739 peace, 24 years younger
- Osman III — sultan who spent 50 years in the 'cage', 27 years younger
- Ahmed II — sultan who lost the Battle of Slankamen, 29 years older
Africa
- Moulay Ismail — Sultan of Morocco, 27 years older
- Osei Tutu I — founder of the Ashanti Empire, 12 years older
- Kimpa Vita — Kongolese prophet, 12 years younger
Asia
- Kangxi Emperor — Qing emperor of China, 18 years older
- Tokugawa Yoshimune — reforming shogun who allowed Western books, 12 years younger
- Tokugawa Tsunayoshi — the 'Dog Shogun' who outlawed cruelty to animals, 26 years older
- Aurangzeb — Mughal emperor, 54 years older
- Matsuo Bashō — Japanese poet, 28 years older
- Qianlong Emperor — Qing emperor of China, 39 years younger
Americas
- Benjamin Franklin — American scientist and statesman, 34 years younger
- Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz — Mexican poet and nun, 24 years older
The world in their lifetime
- 1676 Leeuwenhoek sees microbes — aged 4, Europe
- 1682 Accession of Peter the Great — aged 10, Eastern Europe & Russia
- 1683 Battle of Vienna — aged 11, Europe
- 1687 Newton's Principia — aged 15, Europe
- 1688–1689 Glorious Revolution — aged 16, Europe
- 1703 Founding of Saint Petersburg — aged 31, Eastern Europe & Russia
- 1709 Battle of Poltava — aged 37, Eastern Europe & Russia
- 1721 Proclamation of the Russian Empire — aged 49, Eastern Europe & Russia