Public Figures & Cultural Luminaries

Religious Figures & Theologians

38

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Ahmad al-Faruqi al-Sirhindi

أحمد السرهندي

India

1564 – 1624 (60 years old)

Indian Islamic scholar and Naqshbandi master acclaimed as the 'Renewer of the Second Millennium' who resisted Mughal Emperor Akbar's syncretic Din-i Ilahi and formulated 'Wahdat al-Shuhud'.

Sirhind, India

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Religious Figures & Theologians

47

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Goswami Tulsidas

तुलसीदास

India

c. 1511 – 1623 (112 years old)

Revered Sanskrit scholar and Awadhi poet who composed the epic 'Ramcharitmanas'—bringing the Ramayana to the common people—and authored the immortal 'Hanuman Chalisa'.

Varanasi, India

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Arts & Music

38

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William Byrd

William Byrd

Great Britain

c. 1540 – 1623 (83 years old)

English Renaissance composer celebrated as the greatest polyphonist of the Elizabethan Golden Age, master of sacred Latin masses, Anglican services, and keyboard music.

Stondon Massey, Great Britain

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Religious Figures & Theologians

36

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Francis de Sales

François de Sales

France

1567 – 1622 (55 years old)

Prince-Bishop of Geneva, Doctor of the Church, and author of 'Introduction to the Devout Life' who proved that holiness is achievable for laypeople in everyday vocations.

Annecy, France

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Religious Figures & Theologians

41

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Roberto Francesco Romolo Bellarmino

Roberto Bellarmino

Republic of Siena

1542 – 1621 (78 years old)

Italian Jesuit cardinal, Doctor of the Church, and master apologist whose 'Disputationes' systematic defense of the Catholic faith against Protestant theology defined Counter-Reformation dogma.

Rome, Italy

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Science

3

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Sheikh Bahai

شیخ بهایی / بهاء الدين العاملي

Lebanon

18 February 1547 – 1 September 1621 (74 years old)

Extraordinary Lebanese-Iranian polymath who designed the architectural marvels of Safavid Isfahan, including Naqsh-e Jahan Square and the Shah Mosque.

Mashhad, Iran

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Humanities

3

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Abd al-Aziz ibn Umar al-Fishtali

عبد العزيز بن عمر الفشتالي

Morocco

1549 – 1621 (72 years old)

Prime Minister and poet laureate of Sultan Ahmad al-Mansur, author of Manahil al-Safa, whose poetic panegyrics and state letters defined the golden aesthetic of the Saadian court.

Marrakech, Morocco

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Literature & Poetry

19

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Al-Qadi al-Fishtali

عبد العزيز الفشتالي

Morocco

1549 – 1621 (72 years old)

Poet laureate and Grand Vizier of Sultan Ahmad al-Mansur, renowned for his dazzling rhymed prose and his official monumental chronicle Manahil al-Safa.

Fez, Morocco

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Religious Figures & Theologians

42

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Chaim ben Joseph Vital

חיים ויטאל

Turkey

1542 – 1620 (77 years old)

Primary disciple and scribe of the Ari whose monumental eight-gate work 'Etz Chaim' (Tree of Life) preserved and transmitted Lurianic Kabbalah to the world.

Damascus, Syria

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Science

2

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Simon Stevin

Simon Stevin

Belgium

c. 1548 – 1620 (72 years old)

Brilliant Bruges mathematician, physicist, and military engineer whose pamphlet De Thiende introduced decimal fractions to Europe and who formulated the laws of statics and hydrostatics.

Bruges, Belgium

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Politics

2

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Mathieu da Costa

Mathieu da Costa

Nigeria

c. 1589 – c. 1619 (30 years old)

Trailblazing free Black linguist and explorer who served as official interpreter between French explorer Samuel de Champlain and the Mi'kmaq people at Port Royal.

Port Royal, Canada

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Sciences & Discovery

34

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John Napier of Merchiston

John Napier

Great Britain

1 February 1550 – 4 April 1617 (67 years old)

Scottish mathematician who invented logarithms, popularized the decimal point, and created 'Napier's Bones' calculating rods, liberating astronomers from tedious manual calculations.

Edinburgh (Scotland), United Kingdom

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Monarchs, Kings & Royalty

33

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Tokugawa Ieyasu (First Tokugawa Shogun)

徳川 家康 (Tokugawa Ieyasu)

Japan

31 January 1543 – 1 June 1616 (73 years old)

Third and final "Great Unifier" of Japan who triumphed at the Battle of Sekigahara (1600). Established the Tokugawa Shogunate and made Edo (Tokyo) the seat of government, inaugurating two and a half centuries of peace, stability, and cultural flourishing.

Sunpu Castle (Shizuoka), Japan

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Literature & Poetry

38

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William Shakespeare

William Shakespeare

Great Britain

26 April 1564 (Baptism) – 23 April 1616 (~52 years old)

Universally regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the preeminent dramatist in world history, whose 39 plays, 154 sonnets, and cosmic insight in Hamlet, King Lear, and Macbeth defined the human condition.

Stratford-upon-Avon, Great Britain

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Literature & Poetry

47

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Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra

Miguel de Cervantes

Spain

29 September 1547 (Baptism) – 22 April 1616 (~69 years old)

Titan of the Spanish Golden Age and creator of Don Quixote de la Mancha (1605/1615), universally revered as the first modern European novel and the eternal archetype of the noble dreamer tilting at windmills.

Madrid, Spain

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Humanities

3

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Abu al-Abbas Ahmad ibn Muhammad Ibn al-Qadi

أحمد بن محمد بن أبي العافية بن القاضي

Morocco

1552 – 1616 (63 years old)

Celebrated Moroccan historian, judge, and biographer whose works Jadhwat al-Iqtibas and Durrat al-Hijal provide the definitive biographical records of scholars and nobles in early modern Fez and Morocco.

Fez, Morocco

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Military Leaders & Strategists

39

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Sanada Yukimura (Sanada Nobushige)

真田幸村 / 真田信繁

Japan

1 – 1615 (48 years old)

Legendary Sengoku period samurai general hailed as 'The Number One Warrior in Japan' and 'The Crimson Demon of War' for his heroic defense of Osaka Castle.

Osaka, Japan

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Literature & Poetry

4

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Pierre de Bourdeille (Brantôme)

Pierre de Bourdeille, seigneur et abbé de Brantôme

France

c. 1540 – 1614 (74 years old)

French soldier, courtier, and unabashed memoirist whose scandalous, vivid chronicles Vies des dames galantes and Vies des grands capitaines captured the intrigues, duels, and amorous escapades of the Valois Renaissance court.

Brantôme en Périgord (Dordogne), France

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