Vincent Van Gogh
A Dutch post-impressionist painter who lived throughout the nineteenth century, Vincent van Gogh is renowned for producing more than 2,000 pieces in barely a decade after his death in 1890. Although he is widely regarded as one of the founding fathers of contemporary art, his work received little attention while he was still living. Following his death, however, he was widely recognized as one of the most important figures in Western art history. The unfortunate fact is that Vincent van Gogh suffered from psychotic episodes and delusions, which were disregarded for the majority of his life until he eventually committed suicide in 1890.
Frederick Douglass
During the nineteenth century, Frederick Douglass was a political leader and rebel who was assassinated. After escaping slavery in Maryland, he went on to become an anti-slavery activist and a leader in the abolitionist movements in both Massachusetts and New York after escaping slavery in Maryland. His brilliance and influence went directly against the popular assumption that African-Americans had the ability to be self-sufficient citizens of the United States, with many Northerners being startled to learn that he was previously a slave. Later in his life, he became the first African-American to be nominated for Vice President of the United States, a decision that he did not agree with at the time.
