Who Was Alive

Were Ivan the Terrible and William Shakespeare alive at the same time?

Yes. Ivan the Terrible and William Shakespeare were alive at the same time for 19 years, from 1564 to 1584.

Ivan the Terrible was 33 when William Shakespeare was born.

William Shakespeare was 19 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

William Shakespeare

English playwright and poet

Born April 1564 · died 23 April 1616 (Julian calendar), aged 51 or 52

  1. Michelangelo
  2. Martin Luther
  3. Ivan the Terrible
  4. Miguel de Cervantes
  5. Francis Bacon
  6. Galileo Galilei
  7. William Shakespeare
  8. René Descartes
  9. Rembrandt
Ivan the Terrible and William Shakespeare 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.