Better Late Than Never

Chances are you're familiar with all the names on this list, but sadly, their contemporaries probably weren't. Whether because they were ahead of their time, ostracised for their personal choices, or preferred to live under the radar, they never knew the fame and recognition that is now associated with their names. Here are 20 famous people from history who lived in relative obscurity. 

Unknown author on Wikimedia

1. Vincent van Gogh

Perhaps the best-known example of a person who lived his life in obscurity but is now a household name is Vincent van Gogh. His art was largely ridiculed and misunderstood, and he only sold one painting when he was alive. Today, one of his paintings would be sold for millions, if not hundreds of millions.

Alina Grubnyak on Unsplash

2. Edgar Allen Poe

Although Edgar Allen Poe achieved some recognition for his poem "The Raven" during his lifetime, that never translated to financial success, and he died in poverty. It was only after his death that he was praised as a literary and poetic genius. 

W.S. Hartshorn on Wikimedia

3. Anne Frank

Anne Frank was only 15 years old when she died in a concentration camp. However, her diary, documenting her and her family's journey hiding from the Nazis, became one of the most read and influential books of all time.

Unknown photographer on Wikimedia

4. Emily Dickinson

Emily Dickinson is now one of the most renowned English poets of all time, but in her life, she was a recluse. Although she published a handful of poems, the bulk of her collection (more than 1,800 poems) was only discovered after her death. 

Unknown author on Wikimedia

5. Galileo Galilei

While Galileo Galilei wasn't exactly a nobody in his lifetime, many of his ideas were seen as eccentric or controversial. It was only after his death that his revolutionary ideas, particularly that the sun and not the earth was the center of the solar system, were widely accepted.

Justus Sustermans on Wikimedia

6. H.P. Lovecraft

H.P. Lovecraft is one of the most renowned horror and weird fiction authors of all time. However, during his life, he was unknown, primarily working as a ghostwriter and publishing in pulp magazines.

Lucius B. Truesdell on Wikimedia

7. Gregor Mendel

Gregor Mendel is now widely recognized as the "father of modern genetics," but his work was largely misunderstood and underappreciated while he was alive. It was only in the early 1900s that his findings were rediscovered by scientists who based the field of genetics on them. 

Not Mentioned on Wikimedia

8. Herman Melville

Herman Melville enjoyed some minor fame with the success of his early novels, but his later works, including Moby-Dick, were a total commercial failure. He died in relative obscurity, and it wasn't until the 20th century that his works were rediscovered and he became hailed as a literary genius.

Unknown author on Wikimedia

9. Franz Kafka

While Franz Kafka published a handful of short stories in his lifetime, he wasn't widely known as a writer. Most of his writings were published posthumously by his friend, defying Kafka's dying wish that they be destroyed. Some of his writings went on to become among the most influential works of literature of the 20th century. 

Sigismund Jacobi on Wikimedia

10. Henry Darger

Henry Darger was a janitor who did art as a hobby during his lifetime. His artwork was discovered by his landlord only after he died in the 1970s. It gained international recognition and is now displayed in major art museums.

Nick Number on Wikimedia

11. Sylvia Plath

While Sylvia Plath was known within specific literary circles during her lifetime, it wasn't until after her death that she gained widespread fame. She's now considered a feminist icon for her book The Bell Jar and one of history's most influential contemporary poets.

Giovanni Giovannetti on Wikimedia

12. Alan Turing

Alan Turing was a brilliant mathematician and computer scientist whose contributions to codebreaking during WWII helped end the war. His groundbreaking work was classified as top secret and remained so for many years, even after the war ended. It was only after his death that his work was declassified and widely appreciated. 

Arthur Reginald Chaffin on Wikimedia

13. Alfred Wegener

Alfred Wegener penned the continental drift theory, which posited that the Earth's continents were once joined together in one supercontinent and have since spread apart. His theory was met with skepticism when it was first presented in 1912, and it wasn't until the 1950s that it became widely accepted, forming the foundation of plate tectonics. 

Unknown author on Wikimedia

14. Harriet Jacobs

Harriet Jacobs's account of slavery, which she published under a pseudonym, is considered the most comprehensive account of slavery written by a woman. It wasn't until after her death that her true identity as the book's author was revealed. 

Adam Cuerden on Wikimedia

15. John Keats

John Keats is now recognized as one of the greatest English Romantic poets, but in his lifetime, he was largely ignored as a writer. He died at the age of 25 from tuberculosis, believing his poetry would be forgotten. 

William Hilton on Wikimedia

16. Emily Brontë

Emily Brontë is one of the most renowned English writers of all time, but because she wrote under a male pseudonym, she went largely unrecognized in her lifetime. Her name was only well-known after she passed at the age of 30, her private nature and the circumstances surrounding her early death only adding to her fame.

Branwell Brontë on Wikimedia

17. King Tutankhamun

King Tut, although a pharaoh, was a relatively minor one who died young and was quickly forgotten. It wasn't until his tomb was discovered in 1922, 3,000 years after his death, that he became famous.

Mark Fischer on Wikimedia

18. Nikola Tesla

While Nikola Tesla enjoyed some level of notoriety for his inventions during his life, it was nothing compared to his posthumous reputation. His work on wireless energy transfer set the foundations for the development of wireless power.

Napoleon Sarony on Wikimedia

19. Ignaz Semmelweis

Ignaz Semmelweis was a physician who championed the bizarre idea that handwashing is actually important for preventing disease. He was ridiculed in his time, but his work was later validated and formed the basis for. Modern hygiene practices. 

Auguste Alexis Canzi on Wikimedia

20. Oscar Wilde

While Oscar Wilde enjoyed success as a playwright and novelist, he was an outcast due to his homosexuality and fell into disgrace. It was only after his death that his genius was truly celebrated. 

Napoleon Sarony on Wikimedia