List of geniuses who died poor.

[NelmarksGhost]

I want to compile a list of geniuses who died broke. It doesn't matter if they were always poor, or only ended up that way in the end. The main candidates will be inventors, prominent scientists, mathematicians, writers, philosophers, and visual artists. Actors and sports celebrities are not eligible. Musicians should be limited to those who have been dead for awhile, so that there is evidence their music has survived the test of time. I will edit this post as new entries are available. If you want to add someone to the list please provide a wiki link, or another fairly credible source that explains who they were, and their destitution.

Nikola Tesla
Vincent Van Gogh
Oscar Wilde
Herman Melville
HP Lovecraft
Edgar Allen Poe
Socrates
Johannes Gutenberg
William Blake
Franz Schubert
Rembrandt Van Rijn
Paul Gaugin
Erik Satie
Napoleon Bonaparte
Henry Joseph Darger
Alan Turing, castration, prison, or death.

 

[Exi]

This list still wont justify you being poor.

Spoiler

 

[DaleBoca]

Well, half of sherdog will die poor.

 

[LC Shepard]

Well, half of sherdog will die poor.

The key component is missing though, being Geniuses...

 

[phunky]

You are 50% correct, TS. I am not genius but i will definitely die poor

 

[DaleBoca]

The key component is missing though, being Geniuses...

Exactly. They'll just die poor, without all of that book learnin..

 

[Exi]

William Blake
William Blake was another artistic luminary working in obscurity in his day. Though he died poor and unknown, he did not have any debts. Blake was one of the first artists of the 18th century to rebel against Rationalism and move forward into the Romantic Age, and was unsurprisingly considered "mad" because of it. At the time of his death Wordsworth wrote of him, "There was no doubt that this poor man was mad, but there is something in the madness of this man which interests me more than the sanity of Lord Byron and Walter Scott."

Blake was known not only for his paintings but also for his fantastic engravings that illustrated his poetry. Despite attempts at exhibitions of his works, no interest was attracted at the time, which did not deter (thankfully) Blake from continuing to produce. He was buried in an unmarked grave at Bunhill Fields in 1827.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Blake

 

[BisexualMMA]

Gregor Mendel
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gregor_Mendel

Galileo Galilei
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galileo_Galilei

Leo Tolstoy, depending on how successfully one thinks he disavowed himself of his property
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leo_Tolstoy

 

[FreddyFingers]

The guy who invented cave paintings.

I don't think he got jack.

 

[mushishi]

Charlie Parker

 

[BisexualMMA]

William Blake
William Blake was another artistic luminary working in obscurity in his day. Though he died poor and unknown, he did not have any debts. Blake was one of the first artists of the 18th century to rebel against Rationalism and move forward into the Romantic Age, and was unsurprisingly considered "mad" because of it. At the time of his death Wordsworth wrote of him, "There was no doubt that this poor man was mad, but there is something in the madness of this man which interests me more than the sanity of Lord Byron and Walter Scott."

Blake was known not only for his paintings but also for his fantastic engravings that illustrated his poetry. Despite attempts at exhibitions of his works, no interest was attracted at the time, which did not deter (thankfully) Blake from continuing to produce. He was buried in an unmarked grave at Bunhill Fields in 1827.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Blake

You are ants in the afterbirth.

Before me you rightly tremble...

 

[Exi]

Napoléon Bonaparte

Military and political Genius who died exiled, imprisoned with no assets, money, or material wealth aside from those provided by his captors.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Napoleon

 

[NelmarksGhost]

Charlie Parker

I was under this same impression, but it doesn't seem so clear as I remember. I had to take him off the list because I couldn't find a good source. Can you find something definitive? I thought I remember him getting evicted from some shitty apartment, but couldn't find that info again.

 

[Exi]

You are ants in the afterbirth.

Before me you rightly tremble...

 

[NelmarksGhost]

The best part is when he eats the painting. One of the best scenes of all time.

 

[thetruth2709]

and what would be the purpose of said list TS... by the way the state of being poor or rich depends 100% on the observer, not on the actual person being observed

 

[odog]

If you did great things with your life, are you really poor? Why does money really matter in the equation?

 

[NelmarksGhost]

If you did great things with your life, are you really poor? Why does money really matter in the equation?

I wasn't trying to make any statements about stuff like that. However, most of the people on the list were fucking miserable, and the greatness of their work wasn't realized until after they were dead, and didn't get to reap any benefits.

 

[phightens19]

Napoléon Bonaparte

Military and political Genius who died exiled, imprisoned with no assets, money, or material wealth aside from those provided by his captors.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Napoleon

He's got a FUPA

 

[NelmarksGhost]

He's got a FUPA

I saw that one this August. Thought about eating it. Not the fupa part though.