Who Was Alive

Were Ivan the Terrible and Galileo Galilei alive at the same time?

Yes. Ivan the Terrible and Galileo Galilei were alive at the same time for 20 years, from 1564 to 1584.

Ivan the Terrible was 33 when Galileo Galilei was born.

Galileo Galilei was 20 when Ivan the Terrible died, aged 53.

Ivan the Terrible

Tsar of all Russia from 1547 to 1584

Born 25 August 1530 · died 18 March 1584 (Julian calendar), aged 53

Galileo Galilei

Italian polymath

Born 15 February 1564 · died 8 January 1642, aged 77

  1. Michelangelo
  2. Martin Luther
  3. Ivan the Terrible
  4. Miguel de Cervantes
  5. Galileo Galilei
  6. William Shakespeare
  7. René Descartes
  8. Molière
Ivan the Terrible and Galileo Galilei in bold, with some of their best-known contemporaries. Drag across to see the age each reached in any year. Faded ends mark uncertain dates.