Who Was Alive

Were Seamus Heaney and Barack Obama alive at the same time?

Yes. Seamus Heaney and Barack Obama were alive at the same time for 52 years, from 1961 to 2013.

Seamus Heaney was 22 when Barack Obama was born.

Barack Obama was 52 when Seamus Heaney died, aged 74.

Seamus Heaney

Irish poet, playwright, translator, lecturer

Born 13 April 1939 · died 30 August 2013, aged 74

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. Seamus Heaney
  6. Donald Trump
  7. Vladimir Putin
  8. Michael Jackson
  9. Barack Obama
Seamus Heaney 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.