Who Was Alive

Were Kenzaburō Ōe and Barack Obama alive at the same time?

Yes. Kenzaburō Ōe and Barack Obama were alive at the same time for 61 years, from 1961 to 2023.

Kenzaburō Ōe was 26 when Barack Obama was born.

Barack Obama was 61 when Kenzaburō Ōe died, aged 88.

Kenzaburō Ōe

Japanese writer and Nobel Laureate

Born 31 January 1935 · died 3 March 2023, aged 88

Barack Obama

44th President of the United States

Born 4 August 1961 · living, 65 as of September 2026

  1. Albert Einstein
  2. Adolf Hitler
  3. Ronald Reagan
  4. Nelson Mandela
  5. Kenzaburō Ōe
  6. Donald Trump
  7. Vladimir Putin
  8. Michael Jackson
  9. Barack Obama
Kenzaburō Ōe and Barack Obama 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.