Who Was the Last to Die? Trivia Quiz

Answer: Michelangelo

The High Renaissance period is generally considered to have lasted between 1475 and 1525 (following the Early Renaissance and preceding Mannerism). The working lives of three of these artists falls well within that period, with just one of them living well beyond. Although he was not the youngest of the four, Michelangelo outlived all of the other three by more than 40 years. He was born Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni near Florence in 1475, and died in 1564 at the age of 88.

The youngest of the four, Raphael, was born in 1483 in Urbino near to Italy's east coast, and died (apparently after a night of excessive sex) on Good Friday in 1520, possibly on his 37th birthday. The other two, both older and born in Florence, lived into their mid 60s: DaVinci was born in 1452 and died aged 67 in 1519, and Sandro Botticelli was born sometime around 1445 and died aged about 64 in 1510.

Answer: Franz Schubert

The 'Classical' period is generally considered to last from 1730 until 1820 (following the Baroque period and before the Romantic). Of these four, two lived entirely within this period, and the other two died less than a decade after its end, so all are generally considered belonging to this wonderful era of music history.

Franz Schubert was born in the Vienna suburb now called Alsergrund in 1797. It is remarkable how prolific he was as a composer, leaving a legacy of seven complete symphonies, a large body of piano works and chamber music, operas, incidental works, and more than 600 secular vocal pieces. And yet he died before his 32nd birthday, probably from mercury poisoning (at the time, mercury was a common treatment for syphilis), in November 1828. He was buried alongside his friend, Beethoven, who had died the previous year. Sixty years later, the two graves were moved to Vienna's 'Zentralfriedhof' ('Central Cemetery') and placed alongside the graves of Strauss and Brahms.

Mozart, another Austrian in the foursome, also died in his 30s: he was born Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart in Salzburg in 1756 and died aged 35 in 1791. Remarkably, he was buried in a common grave and no mourners attended, both of which were in accordance with Viennese custom at the time. Joseph Haydn, the third Austrian, was born in the village of Rohrau near the Hungarian border in 1732 and died aged 68 in 1709. The only German in the list, Beethoven, was born in Bonn in 1770 died aged 56 in 1827.

Answer: William Wordsworth

The Romantic period is generally taken to run from around 1800 until 1850, and the working lives of all four of our English poets falls within that period. Unfortunately, the two youngest of the four were also the shortest-lived, both dying in their 20s. (Indeed, I could have included Lord Byron [1788-1824], for whom the same is true, in this list too.)

William Wordsworth was born in 1770 in the market town of Cockermouth, now is west-central Cumbria. Probably best-known for the semi-autobiographical "The Prelude", which expanded numerous times during his life, he became Britain's Poet Laureate in 1843, a post he retained until his death from pleurisy aged 80 in 1850. Curiously, although he was one of the longest-reigning Poet Laureates, he is also the only one who never wrote an official verse.

Born in 1772 in the town of Ottery St. Mary in southeastern Devon, Samuel Taylor Coleridge (like Wordsworth) was another of the "Lake Poets". Most famous for the classics "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner" and "Kubla Khan", he died aged 61 in 1834. The other two, although born significantly later and thus considered the second generation of the English Romantics, both died young. John Keats was born in London in 1795 and died of tuberculosis aged 25 in 1821, just four years after he first published, whilst Percy Bysshe Shelley (born in Horsham, Sussex in 1792) died aged 29 when the boat he was sailing sank in 1822.

Answer: Catherine the Great of Russia

The French know the 'Age of Enlightenment' as 'le Sičcle des Lumičres' ("The Century of Lights"). The period is generally considered to last from 1715 (the death of King Louis XIV of France) until the beginning of the French Revolution in 1789. Numerous national rulers, often referred to by historians as 'enlightened despots', welcomed the scientists and philosophers of the Enlightenment and used their ideas to strengthen their nation states. Many of the political ideas refined by the Enlightenment were incorporated into the US Constitution when it was first published in 1787.

The second-oldest of the four, Catherine II (the Great) of Russia was born Sophie Friederike Auguste von Anhalt-Zerbst-Dornburg in 1729 in what was then the seaport of Stettin on Prussia's Baltic coast. (It has since be renamed Szczecin and is now the 7th-largest city in Poland.) The best-known and also the longest-reigning of all female Russian rulers, she became Empress following a 1762 coup against her husband, Peter III. She retained the throne for more than 34 years, until her death aged 67 in 1796.

Frederick II (the Great) of Prussia is the oldest of the four: he was born in Berlin in 1712. Reigning as the King of Prussia from 1740 until his death aged 74 in 1786, he is the longest reigning monarch from the House of Hohenzollern, which ruled the Margraviate of Brandenburg and the Duchy of Prussia until the abdication of King William II in 1918.
Archduke of Austria and Grand Duke of Tuscany from 1765, Leopold II was born Peter Leopold Josef Anton Joachim Pius Gotthard in Vienna in 1747. Just two years before his death aged just 44 (it has been claimed he was poisoned or secretly murdered) in 1792, he also became Holy Roman Emperor and King of Hungary and Bohemia.
The older brother of Leopold II, Joseph Benedikt Anton Michael Adam was born into the House of Habsburg-Lorraine in Vienna in 1741. He succeeded his father, Francis I, as King of Germany in 1764 and a year later also became Holy Roman Emperor and Archduke of Austria. In 1780, he added King of Hungary & Croatia and King of Bohemia to his titles. By the time of his death aged just 48 in 1790, he was a broken man, with most of his kingdoms in open revolt. He asked the epitaph on his tomb in the Imperial Crypt in Vienna read: "Here lies Joseph II, who failed in all he undertook."

Answer: Charles Darwin

English scientists made huge advances in the field of chemistry, physics and medicine in the 19th century, and each of our four is still renowned today.

The youngest of the four, Charles Robert Darwin was born in Shrewsbury, Shropshire in 1809. A naturalist and geologist, he is best-remembered today for his 1859 book, "On the Origin of Species" and his development of the theory of evolution. He died aged 73 in 1882 and was buried in Westminster Abbey alongside Sir Isaac Newton, and thousands attended his funeral.

The oldest of the four, Edward Jenner was born in 1749 in the small town of Berkeley in southwestern Gloucestershire. A physician and scientist, Jenner developed the world's first vaccine (for smallpox), and is known as "the father of immunology". He died of a stroke aged 73 in 1823. Sir Humphry Davy was born in 1788 in Penzance, Cornwall. A chemist and inventor, Davy was the first to isolate potassium, sodium, calcium, strontium, barium, magnesium and boron and developed the new field of electrochemistry. He died aged just 40 in 1829 in Geneva, where he is buried, although there is also a tablet to his memory in Westminster Abbey. Michael Faraday was born in 1791 in a small hamlet that is now part of the London Borough of Southwark. One of history's most influential scientists, he studied in the fields of magnetism and electromagnetism and discovered the principles of electrolysis. He died aged 75 in 1867.

Answer: Lewis Carroll

The Victorian era was such a productive one insofar as British literature was concerned, that I had to choose from amongst more than a dozen novelists, all of whom could be considered 'great'. Apologies if your favourite is not amongst the four selected -- Oscar Wilde, the Bronte sisters and W.M Thackeray were all legitimate contenders.

Born Charles Lutwidge Dodgson in 1832 in the north Cheshire village of Daresbury, Lewis Carroll is best-remembered for novels and poems in the 'literary nonsense' genre, notably "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" and its sequel. He died of pneumonia following influenza aged 65 in 1898. With Queen Victoria dying three years later, Carroll was one of the last pure Victorian era writers.

The oldest of the four, Charles John Huffam Dickens was born in 1812 in Portsmouth on England's south coast. Immensely popular during his own lifetime, he is widely regarded as the greatest of all Victorian novelists, with classics such as "Great Expectations", "Tale of Two Cities" and "Oliver Twist" to his name. He died aged 58 in 1870. Born in London in 1815, Anthony Trollope is best-known for the "Chronicles of Barsetshire", a series of novels set in the eponymous fictional English county. The longest-lived of the four, Trollope died aged 67 in 1882. George Eliot was the male pseudonym used by Mary Ann Evans (born in 1819 in Nuneaton, Warwickshire). Remembered for classic novels such as "The Mill on the Floss", "Silas Marner", and "Middlemarch", Eliot died aged 61 in 1880.

Answer: Claude Monet

Once again, there were plenty of choices when compiling my foursome of great Impressionist artists: Vicent van Gogh, Paul Cezanne, Edouard Manet, Camille Pissarro, Mary Cassat, Georges Seuratt and Berthe Morisot might equally have made the list.

Oscar-Claude Monet was born in Paris in 1840, and is perhaps the most famous of all the Impressionist artists. He bought the house in Giverny in northern France in 1883, and it was here that he spent the rest of his life and produced most of his amazing masterpieces. Best-known of all, are of course his numerous paintings of water lilies, which he began in 1899. The longest-lived of the four, Monet died aged 85 in 1926.

The oldest of the foursome, Edgar Degas was born born Hilaire-Germain-Edgar de Gas in Paris in 1834. More than half of his completed works depict the ballet and dancers, although he is also noted for his horse racing scenes, female nudes and portraits. He died aged 83 in 1917. Pierre-Auguste Renoir was born in 1841 in the city of Limoges in central France. Noted for his nudes and his self-portraits, he also produced on of the best-known of all Impressionist paintings, "Dance at Le Moulin de la Galette" (now part of the collection at the Musée d'Orsay in Paris). The father and grandfather of a family of noted filmmakers, Renoir died aged 78 in 1919. Eugčne Henri Paul Gauguin is the third Parisian in the foursome and the youngest, born in 1848. Although the shortest-lived and the first of the four to die, he is often classified as Post-Impressionist rather than one of the pioneers of the movement. He died in Polynesia aged just 54 in 1903.

Answer: Edvard Grieg

There were plenty of eligible masters to choose from in this period at the end of the 19th and early 20th century: Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov (who died in 1908), and from the latter part of the period, Béla Bartok (1945), Sergei Rachmaninoff (1943), Sergei Prokofiev (1953), Jean Sibelius (1957), Igor Stravinsky (1971) and many others.

The youngest of the foursome, Edvard Hagerup Grieg was born in 1843 in city of Bergen on Norway's southwestern coast. Considered one of the most important Romantic composers, he died aged 64 in 1907.

The oldest of the four, Franz Joseph Liszt was born in 1811 in the village of Doborján, then part of the Kingdom of Hungary but now in eastern Austria. Considered one of the greatest virtuoso pianists of all time, he is best-remembered today as a prolific composer. He died aged 74 as a result of pneumonia in 1886. Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky was born in 1840 in the small industrial town of Votkinsk in southwestern Russia. Perhaps the greatest of all the Russian composers, his works include "The 1812 Overture", the ballets "The Nutcracker", "Swan Lake" and "The Sleeping Beauty", six complete symphonies and the operas "The Queen of Spades" and "Eugene Onegin". His death aged just 53 in 1893 has been attributed to cholera and to suicide. Antonín Leopold Dvořák was born in 1841 in the village of Nelahozeves, Czech Republic, some 20 miles north of Prague. A recognized violinist at a very young age, Dvorák wrote nine complete symphonies including my personal favourite of all classical works, "New World Symphony" (you may remember it from the 'Hovis' bread commercial). He died aged 62 in 1904.

Answer: David Livingstone

The likes of Columbus, Dias, Magellan, Cook, Tasman, Bering, Hudson and Drake had reached far and wide by sea over a period of some three centuries from the 1490s until well into latter 1700s. The 19th century became a time of explorations into undiscovered areas of North America, Australia and Africa.

David Livingstone was born in 1813 in the parish of Blantyre, in the southeastern Scottish county of Lanarkshire. He set out on his first exploratory journey through southern and central Africa in 1845. His second trip, to explore the Zambezi region, lasted from 1858 until 1864. His final mission, beginning in Zanzibar in 1866 on which he planned to discover the source of the River Nile, culminated with the famous meeting with Henry Stanley in 1871. Many places in Africa still carry his name, and he remains one of the most famous explorers of all time. He died aged 60 in 1873.

The other three all lived and undertook their explorations long before Livingstone. Meriwether Lewis (born in the Colony of Virginia in 1774) led the Corps of discovery (widely remembered as the Lewis and Clark Expedition) at the behest of President Thomas Jefferson. Its mission to explore the territory recently gained by the USA under the Louisiana Purchase, they set out from Camp Dubois, Illinois (just across the Mississippi from St. Louis) in May 1804. They reached the Pacific Ocean at the mouth of the Columbia River in November 1805 and returned to St. Louis in September 1806. Lewis died aged just 35 in 1809: it it most likely that he committed suicide, although some reports suggest he was murdered during a robbery. Matthew Flinders (born in 1774 in Lincolnshire, England) is the lone sailor amongst the four. He made three voyages to Australia and was the first to circumnavigate the continent, mapping it as it went. He died aged 40 in 1814, just a day after the publication of the book and atlas arising from his life's work. David "Davy" Crockett was born in 1786 in the community of Limestone, then in North Carolina but now in northeastern Tennessee. A folk hero, frontiersman, soldier and politician, Crockett has been dubbed "King of the Wild Frontier". He famously died fighting in the Battle of the Alamo on March 6, 1836: he was 49.

Answer: Henry David Thoreau

America has produced as many (if not more) great modern authors as any other country, but this was not the case in the early days of the USA as a nation. Great writers first began to emerge early in the 19th century, and there is little doubt that all four of our choices are worthy of that adjective.

The youngest of the four, transcendentalist Henry David Thoreau was born in Concord, Massachusetts in 1817. He is best remembered today for his novel "Walden", an autobiographical voyage of spiritual discovery relating his experience during a period of two years, two months, and two days spent in a cabin he built near Walden Pond. He died after a long battle with tuberculosis aged 44 in 1862.

The oldest of the foursome, Washington Irving was born in New York City in 1783. He is best-known today for his short stories "Rip Van Winkle" (published in 1819) and "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" (1820). He died aged 76 in 1859. James Fenimore Cooper was born in Burlington, New Jersey in 1789. A former US Navy midshipman, he wrote extensively about life at sea, but he is nest remembered for the Romantic novel "The Last of the Mohicans: A Narrative of 1757", published in 1826. He died aged 62 in 1851. Born in Boston, Massachusetts in 1809, Edgar Allan Poe is perhaps the most famous of all the early American writers. Generally considered the first author to write detective fiction, he died in mysterious circumstances (but probably related to his well-documented alcoholism) aged just 40 in 1849.