Who Was Alive

Were Galileo Galilei and Christiaan Huygens alive at the same time?

Yes. Galileo Galilei and Christiaan Huygens were alive at the same time for 12 years, from 1629 to 1642.

Galileo Galilei was 65 when Christiaan Huygens was born.

Christiaan Huygens was 12 when Galileo Galilei died, aged 77.

Galileo Galilei

Italian polymath

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

Christiaan Huygens

Dutch mathematician, physicist and astronomer

Born 14 April 1629 · died 8 July 1695, aged 66

  1. Michelangelo
  2. Miguel de Cervantes
  3. Galileo Galilei
  4. William Shakespeare
  5. René Descartes
  6. Molière
  7. Christiaan Huygens
  8. Isaac Newton
  9. Johann Sebastian Bach
  10. Voltaire
Galileo Galilei and Christiaan Huygens 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.