Historical figures in Rome
The atlas holds 173 people and 384 moments here, from 211 BC to 2025. The most recorded lives are Augustus, Galileo Galilei and Michelangelo. Among them Writers, Political Leaders and Philosophers, across the Space Age and the Cold War.
Notable people
Francis of Assisi
from 1209 to 1215
2 moments here
Italian Catholic friar, deacon, preacher, and founder of the Order of Friars Minor. Born Giovanni di Pietro di Bernardone at Assisi, he renounced his…
François Rabelais
from 1534 to 1535
2 moments here
French Renaissance writer, physician, humanist, and Catholic priest. His birth date is disputed, with scholarship placing it between 1483 and 1494;…
Friedrich Nietzsche
in 1882
1 moment here
German philosopher, classical philologist, cultural critic, poet, and author. Born in Röcken, Nietzsche was educated at Schulpforta and Leipzig,…
Fyodor Dostoyevsky
in 1863
1 moment here
Russian novelist, journalist, essayist, and former military engineer whose life moved between Moscow, Saint Petersburg, Siberian imprisonment and…
Gabriela Mistral
from 1924 to 1928
2 moments here
Chilean poet, educator, journalist, and diplomat born Lucila Godoy Alcayaga. Mistral taught across Chile, worked on Mexican educational reform,…
Gabriel García Márquez
in 1955
1 moment here
Colombian novelist, journalist, screenwriter, and Nobel laureate whose life moved between Colombia, Europe, Cuba, the United States, Mexico, and…
Galen
from 162 to 169
2 moments here
Galen of Pergamon was a Greek physician, surgeon, medical author, and philosopher active in the Roman Empire.…
Galileo Galilei
from 1611 to 1633
11 moments here
Italian astronomer, physicist, engineer, mathematician, and natural philosopher. Born in Pisa, Galileo was educated in Tuscany, taught mathematics at…
Gallienus
from 253 to 260
2 moments here
Publius Licinius Egnatius Gallienus (c. 218–September 268) was Roman emperor, co-ruling with his father Valerian from 253 and ruling alone from 260.…
George Eliot
in 1869
1 moment here
Mary Ann Evans, known by the pen name George Eliot, was an English novelist, translator, journalist, and poet.…
George Frideric Handel
in 1707
1 moment here
German-British Baroque composer. Born in Halle, he worked in Hamburg, travelled in Italy, served as Kapellmeister at Hanover, and settled in England.…
Gerald Ford
in 1975
1 moment here
Gerald Rudolph Ford Jr. (born Leslie Lynch King Jr.) was the 38th president of the United States, serving from 1974 to 1977 after having served as…
Giordano Bruno
from 1576 to 1600
3 moments here
Italian Renaissance philosopher, Dominican friar, writer, and cosmological theorist. Born at Nola, Bruno studied and lived in Italy, Switzerland,…
Giovanni Boccaccio
in 1367
1 moment here
Italian writer, poet, and humanist, best known for the Decameron. His documented life moved between Florence, Naples, Romagna, papal Avignon and…
Giuseppe Verdi
from 1848 to 1893
3 moments here
Italian composer whose career transformed nineteenth-century opera. Born near Busseto, Verdi studied and worked in Busseto and Milan, then traveled…
Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz
in 1689
2 moments here
German polymath, philosopher, mathematician, jurist, diplomat, court councillor, historian, and librarian.…
Hadrian
in 118
1 moment here
Roman emperor from 117 to 138. Hadrian traveled extensively through the Roman Empire, inspecting frontiers and armies, intervening in provincial…
Haile Selassie
in 1970
1 moment here
Haile Selassie I (born Tafari Makonnen) was Emperor of Ethiopia from 1930 until his deposition in 1974.…
Hannibal
in 211 BC
1 moment here
Hannibal Barca was a Carthaginian general and statesman best known for leading an army from Iberia across the Alps into Italy during the Second Punic…
Hannibal
in 211 BC
1 moment here
Hannibal (Hannibal Barca) was a Carthaginian general and statesman, born at Carthage in 247 BC.…
Hans Christian Andersen
from 1833 to 1840
3 moments here
Danish writer renowned for literary fairy tales including “The Little Mermaid,” “The Emperor’s New Clothes,” “The Snow Queen,” and “The Ugly…
Helena, mother of Constantine I
from 317 to 330
2 moments here
Flavia Julia Helena, later Augusta, was the mother of Constantine I. The surviving evidence supports only a sparse itinerary: a traditional Bithynian…
Helen Keller
in 1946
1 moment here
Helen Adams Keller was an American deafblind author, lecturer, disability-rights advocate, and political activist.…
Henrik Ibsen
from 1864 to 1884
3 moments here
Norwegian playwright and poet whose career took him from Telemark and coastal Norway to theatre work in Bergen and Christiania, then to long…
Moments
- 996 Coronation of Otto III Pope Gregory V
- 996 Election and consecration as pope Pope Gregory V
- 998 Restoration in Rome Pope Gregory V
- 998 Synod deposing John XVI Pope Gregory V
- 999 General synod at St. Peter's Pope Gregory V
- 999 Death in Rome Pope Gregory V
- 1209 Journey to Rome for approval of the Rule Francis of Assisi
- 1215 Attendance at the Fourth Lateran Council Francis of Assisi
- 1244 Meeting the Dominican master general in Rome Thomas Aquinas
- 1265 Papal theologian and teacher at Santa Sabina Thomas Aquinas
- 1300 Observed Jubilee crowds in Rome Dante Alighieri
- 1301 Joined the embassy to Pope Boniface VIII Dante Alighieri
- 1337 First Roman visit Petrarch
- 1341 Poet laureate at Rome Petrarch
- 1350 Jubilee visit to Rome Petrarch
- 1367 Embassy to the papal court in Rome Giovanni Boccaccio
- 1486 Imprisonment at Castel Sant'Angelo Pope Paul III
- 1491 Service in the Roman Curia Pope Paul III
- 1496 Arrives in Rome Michelangelo
- 1500 Jubilee-year stay in Rome Nicolaus Copernicus
- 1503 Papal-conclave mission Niccolò Machiavelli
- 1505 Summoned to Rome by Julius II Michelangelo
- 1506 Trip to Rome Raphael
- 1506 Leaves Rome after papal dispute Michelangelo
- 1508 Returns to Rome from Bologna Michelangelo
- 1508 Commission at the Vatican Palace Raphael
- 1508 Permanent move to Rome Raphael
- 1509 Visits to Rome Desiderius Erasmus
- 1510 Undertakes mission to Rome Martin Luther
- 1512 Triumph of Galatea at Villa Farnesina Raphael
- 1513 Moves to Rome Leonardo da Vinci
- 1517 Cupid and Psyche Loggia at Villa Farnesina Raphael
- 1517 Residence at Palazzo Caprini Raphael
- 1520 Burial at the Pantheon Raphael
- 1520 Death in Rome Raphael
- 1523 Pilgrim in Rome Ignatius of Loyola
- 1525 Presentation of Florentine Histories Niccolò Machiavelli
- 1527 Shelter during the Sack of Rome Pope Paul III
- 1534 First documented Roman mission with Jean du Bellay François Rabelais
- 1534 Settles permanently in Rome Michelangelo
- 1534 Election as Pope Paul III Pope Paul III
- 1535 Second Roman diplomatic journey François Rabelais
- 1536 Paints The Last Judgment Michelangelo
- 1537 Entry into Rome Ignatius of Loyola
- 1538 First Mass at Santa Maria Maggiore Ignatius of Loyola
- 1538 Departure from Rome for the Nice peace mission Pope Paul III
- 1541 Profession at St Paul Outside the Walls Ignatius of Loyola
- 1542 Works in the Pauline Chapel Michelangelo
- 1547 Takes charge at St. Peter’s Michelangelo
- 1549 Death in Rome Pope Paul III