Who Was Alive

Were Wangari Muta Maathai and Barack Obama alive at the same time?

Yes. Wangari Muta Maathai and Barack Obama were alive at the same time for 50 years, from 1961 to 2011.

Wangari Muta Maathai was 21 when Barack Obama was born.

Barack Obama was 50 when Wangari Muta Maathai died, aged 71.

Wangari Muta Maathai

Kenyan environmentalist and politician who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2004

Born 1 April 1940 · died 25 September 2011, aged 71

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. Wangari Muta Maathai
  6. Donald Trump
  7. Vladimir Putin
  8. Michael Jackson
  9. Barack Obama
Wangari Muta Maathai 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.