1797

Events in 1797 9

• 1797 – 1877 Adolphe Thiers (1797-1877) Died 3 September 1877, aged 80 Adolphe Thiers served as the first President of the French Third Republic from 1871 to 1873, overseeing the suppression of the Paris Commune and the recovery from the Franco-Prussian War. He was also a prolific historian and had earlier served as a minister and briefly as prime minister under the July Monarchy. He remained an influential political figure until his death.
• 1797 – 1863 Alfred de Vigny (1797-1863) Died 17 September 1863, aged 66 Vigny was a French Romantic poet, playwright, and novelist known for works such as Chatterton and Servitude et grandeur militaires. He was elected to the Académie française in 1845.
• 1797 – 1848 Annette von Droste-Hülshoff (1797-1848) Died 24 May 1848, aged 51 German poet and novelist, among the most important German women writers of the 19th century. Her novella Die Judenbuche is a classic of German literature. She died at Meersburg on Lake Constance.
• 1797 – 1875 Charles Lyell (1797-1875) Died 22 February 1875, aged 77 Lyell was a Scottish geologist whose Principles of Geology established uniformitarianism as the foundation of modern geology. His work profoundly influenced Charles Darwin's development of the theory of evolution.
• 1797 – 1856 Heinrich Heine (1797-1856) Died 17 February 1856, aged 58 Heine, one of the most influential German poets of the 19th century, died in Paris after years of illness that had confined him to bed. His works, including Buch der Lieder, were set to music by composers such as Schubert and Schumann. He spent his final decades in exile in France due to censorship of his politically radical writing.
• 1797 – 1888 Wilhelm I, German Emperor (1797-1888) Died 9 March 1888, aged 90 Wilhelm I was King of Prussia and the first German Emperor, reigning from the unification of Germany in 1871 until his death. He died in Berlin on 9 March 1888 at age 90, having overseen Germany's rise as a European power under Chancellor Otto von Bismarck. His death began a year in which Germany had three different emperors.
• 1797 – 1828 Franz Schubert Romantic Lieder master Austrian composer who died at 31 yet left an extraordinary legacy: over 600 Lieder, 8 symphonies including the Unfinished, and sublime chamber music.
• 1797 – 1851 Mary Shelley English novelist Mary Shelley wrote Frankenstein, a foundational science fiction and Gothic novel exploring creation and responsibility.
• 1797 – 1848 Gaetano Donizetti Italian bel canto opera composer Italian composer of over 70 operas including Lucia di Lammermoor and L'elisir d'amore, a pillar of the bel canto tradition.