A posthumous birth is the birth of a child after the death of a parent.[1] A person born in these circumstances is called a posthumous child or a posthumously born person. Most instances of posthumous birth involve the birth of a child after the death of its father, but the term is also applied to infants delivered shortly after the death of the mother, usually by caesarean section.[2]

Posthumous birth has special implications in law, potentially affecting the child's citizenship and legal rights, inheritance, and order of succession. Legal systems generally include special provisions regarding inheritance by posthumous children and the legal status of such children. For example, Massachusetts law states that a posthumous child is treated as having been living at the death of the parent,[3] meaning that the child receives the same share of the parent's estate as if the child had been born before the parent's death.

Another emerging legal issue in the United States is the control of genetic material after the death of the donor.[4] United States law holds that posthumous children of U.S. citizens who are born outside the United States have the same rights to citizenship that they would have had if the deceased U.S. citizen parent had been alive at the time of their birth.[5] In the field of assisted reproduction, snowflake children, i.e. those "adopted" as frozen embryos by people unrelated to them, can result in the birth of a child after the death of one or both of their genetic parents.

In monarchies and nobilities

A posthumous birth has special significance in the case of hereditary monarchies and hereditary noble titles following primogeniture. In this system, a monarch's or peer's own child precedes that monarch's or peer's sibling in the order of succession. In cases where the widow of a childless king or nobleman is pregnant at the time of his death, the next-in-line is not permitted to assume the throne or title, but must yield place to the unborn child, or ascends and reigns (in the case of a monarch) or succeeds (in the case of a peer) until the child is born (see Alfonso XIII or Charles Edward, Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha).

In monarchies and noble titles that follow male-preference cognatic primogeniture, the situation is similar where the dead monarch or peer was not childless but left a daughter as the next-in-line, as well as a pregnant widow. A posthumous brother would supplant that daughter in the succession, whereas a posthumous sister, being younger, would not. Similarly, in monarchies and noble titles that follow agnatic primogeniture, the sex of the unborn child determines the succession; a posthumous male child would himself succeed, whereas the next-in-line would succeed upon the birth of a posthumous female child.

Modern complications

Posthumous conception by artificial insemination or in vitro fertilization, whether done using sperm or ova stored before a parent's death or sperm retrieved from a man's corpse, has created new legal issues.[3] When a woman is inseminated with her deceased husband's sperm, laws that establish that a sperm donor is not the legal father of the child born as a result of artificial insemination have had the effect of excluding the deceased husband from fatherhood and making the child legally fatherless.[6]

In the United Kingdom before 2000, birth records of children conceived using a dead man's sperm had to identify the infants as fatherless, but in 2000 the government announced that the law would be changed to allow the deceased father's name to be listed on the birth certificate.[7] In 1986, a New South Wales legal reform commission recommended that the law should recognize the deceased husband as the father of a child born from post-mortem artificial insemination, provided that the woman is his widow and unmarried at the time of birth, but the child should have inheritance rights to the father's estate only if the father left a will that included specific provisions for the child.[7]

In 2001, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court was asked to consider whether the father's name should appear on the birth record for a child conceived through artificial insemination after her father's death, as well as whether that child was eligible for U.S. Social Security benefits. The court ruled in January 2002 that a child could be the legal heir of a dead parent if there was a genetic relationship and the deceased parent had both agreed to the posthumous conception and committed to support the child.[3] Different U.S. state courts and federal appellate courts have ruled differently in similar cases. In 2012, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Astrue v. Capato that twins born 18 months after their father's death using the father's frozen sperm were not eligible for Social Security benefits, which set a new precedent.

Naming

In the Middle Ages, it was traditional for posthumous children born in England to be given a matronymic surname instead of a patronymic one. This may in part explain why matronyms are more common in England than in other parts of Europe.[8]

In Ancient Rome, posthumous children of noble birth were often given the cognomen (or third name) 'Postumus.' One example is Agrippa Postumus.

In Yoruba culture, posthumous children are given names that referred to the circumstances concerning the birth. Examples of this include Bàbárímisá, meaning that the Father saw (the child) and ran, Yeyérínsá, meaning that the Mother saw (the child) and ran, Ikúdáyísí (or any name with the root dáyísí, which means that death spared the child), and Ẹnúyàmí, meaning that "I was surprised," referring to the fact that the tragic death of the father, mother, or both was sudden and surprising for the family.

Notable people born posthumously

Antiquity

Name Born Late parent Parent died Gap Cause of parent's death
Bindusara
Mauryan Emperor
320 BCEDurdhara
Mauryan Empress
320 BCESame DayPoisoning. He was delivered through caesarean section.[9]
Alexander IV
King of Macedon
August 323 BCEAlexander the Great
King of Macedon
11 June 323 BCE2 monthsDisease.
Cornelia Postuma77 BCELucius Cornelius Sulla Felix
Roman dictator
78 BCEDisease, possibly related to chronic alcoholic abuse.
Agrippa Postumus
Grandson of Augustus Caesar
12 BCEMarcus Vipsanius Agrippa
Roman general and statesman
12 BCEA few weeksDisease.
Shapur II
Sasanian Emperor
309 ADHormizd II
Sasanian Emperor
309 ADForty daysAssassination. Shapur is said to be the only monarch in history who was crowned in utero.
Flavia Maxima Constantia
Roman Empress
1 January 362Constantius II
Roman Emperor
3 November 3611 month, 29 daysFever.

Middle Ages

Name Born Late parent Parent died Gap Cause of parent's death
Muhammad
Prophet of Islam
570Abdullah ibn Abdul-Muttalib
Arab trader
569<6 monthsDisease while returning from a trade mission in Medina.
Umm Kulthum bint Abi Bakr
Early Muslim scholar
634Abu Bakr al-Siddiq
Caliph
23 August 634<3 monthsOn 23 August 634, Abu Bakr fell sick and did not recover. He developed a high fever and was confined to bed. His illness was prolonged, and when his condition worsened, he died in Medina
Constantine
Byzantine prince
1 January 798Constantine VI
Byzantine Emperor
19 April 7978 months, 13 daysDied of wounds after being blinded by his mother, Irene, who proclaimed herself Empress.
Robert I
King of France
15 August 866Robert the Strong
Count of Anjou
2 July 8661 month, 13 daysKilled at the Battle of Brissarthe.
Charles the Simple
King of France
17 September 879Louis the Stammerer
King of France
10 April 8795 months, 7 daysDisease contracted during a campaign against the Vikings.
Al-Mustakfi
Abbasid caliph[10][11]
11 November 908al-Muktafi
Abbasid caliph
13 August 9083 months, 2 daysHis father fell gravely ill for about three months. It soon became clear, that he would not survive his illness.
Lothair III
Holy Roman Emperor
1075Gebhard of Supplinburg
Saxon count
9 June 1075Killed at the Battle of Langensalza.
Valdemar I
King of Denmark
14 January 1131Canute Lavard
Duke of Schleswig
7 January 11317 daysMurdered by Magnus the Strong.
Raymond II of Turenne
Viscount of Turenne
1143Boson II of Turenne
Viscount of Turenne
11434 months
Constance I
Queen of Sicily
2 November 1154Roger II
King of Sicily and Africa
26 February 11548 months, 5 days
Baldwin V
King of Jerusalem
August 1177William of Montferrat
Count of Jaffa and Ascalon
June 11772 monthsPossibly malaria.
Arthur I
Duke of Brittany
29 March 1187Geoffrey II
Duke of Brittany
19 August 11867 months, 10 daysDisputed. One source claims he was trampled to death in a joust, other that he died of a sudden chest affliction.
Maria of Montferrat
Queen of Jerusalem
Summer 1192Conrad of Montferrat
King of Jerusalem
28 April 1192A few monthsAssassination.
Theobald I
King of Navarre
30 May 1201Theobald III
Count of Champagne
24 May 12016 days
Raymond Nonnatus
Catholic Saint
1204His mother1204 Same DayChildbirth. He was retrieved through caesarean section afterward.[2]
Walter IV
Count of Brienne
1205Walter III
Count of Brienne
14 June 1205Killed in battle.
Charles I
King of Sicily
early 1227Louis VIII
King of France
8 November 1226 ??Dysentery.
Stephen the Posthumous
Hungarian prince
1236Andrew II
King of Hungary and Croatia
21 September 1235at least 2 months
Przemysł II
King of Poland
14 October 1257Przemysł I
Duke of Greater Poland
4 June 12574 months, 10 days
Władysław of Legnica
Duke of Legnica
6 June 1296Henry V, Duke of Legnica
Duke of Legnica
22 February 12964 monthsIllness following imprisonment.
John I
King of France and Navarre
15 November 1316Louis X
King of France and Navarre
5 June 13165 months, 10 daysPneumonia or pleurisy from drinking excess cooled wine after a real tennis match.
Isabel de Verdun
Baroness Ferrers de Groby
21 March 1317Theobald de Verdun
Justiciar of Ireland
27 July 13167 months, 22 daysTyphoid.
Maria of Calabria
Latin Empress consort of Constantinople
6 May 1329Charles
Duke of Calabria
9 November 13285 months, 27 days
John, 3rd Earl of Kent7 April 1330Edmund of Woodstock
English prince
19 March 133019 daysExecuted for treason against his nephew, Edward III of England.
Joan of FranceMay 1351Philip VI
King of France and Navarre
22 August 13509 months
William of Bavaria-Munich1435William III
Duke of Bavaria
12 September 1435up to 3 months
Joan of Portugal
Consort queen of Castile
31 March 1439Edward, King of Portugal9 September 14386 months, 22 daysPlague.
Ladislaus VI
King of Hungary, Bohemia and Archduke of Austria
22 February 1440Albert II
King of Germany, Bohemia and Hungary
27 October 14393 months, 23 days
Henry VII
King of England
28 January 1457Edmund Tudor
Earl of Richmond
1 or 3 November 14562 months, 25 daysBubonic plague.
John Louis
Count of Nassau-Saarbrücken
19 October 1472John II
Duke of Nassau-Saarbrücken
15 July 14723 months, 4 days
Mencía Pacheco[12]
Castilian noblewoman
1474–1475Juan Pacheco
Marquis of Villena
1 October 1474Throat ailment.
Clement VII
Pope of the Catholic Church
26 May 1478Giuliano de' Medici
Ruler of the Florentine Republic
26 April 14781 monthAssassination in the Pazzi Conspiracy.

16th–18th centuries

Name Born Late parent Parent died Gap Cause of parent's death
Catherine of Austria
Consort queen of Portugal
14 January 1507Philip I
King of Castile and Duke of Burgundy
25 September 15063 months, 18 daysTyphoid or poison.
Alexander Stewart
Duke of Ross
30 April 1514James IV
King of Scotland
9 September 15137 months, 21 daysKilled at the Battle of Flodden.
Duarte
Duke of Guimarães
March 1541Duarte
Duke of Guimarães
20 September 15407 months
Françoise d'Orléans-Longueville
Wife of Louis I of Bourbon
5 April 1549François d'Orléans
French nobleman
25 October 15485 months, 8 days
Sebastian
King of Portugal
20 January 1554João Manuel
Prince of Portugal
2 January 155418 daysTuberculosis or diabetes.
Ben Jonson
Elizabethan playwright
c. 11 June 1572His fatherApril 15721-2 months
Henry II
Prince of Condé
1 September 1588Henry I
Prince of Condé
5 Mar 15885 months, 23 daysDisease.
Charles of Austria
Bishop of Wroclaw
7 August 1590Charles II
Archduke of Austria
10 July 159028 days
Toyotomi Sadako
Wife of Kugyō Kujō Yukiie
1592Toyotomi Hidekatsu14 October 1592Killed in Korean Campaign.
Sveinn "Skotti" Björnsson
Icelandic criminal
1596–1597Björn Pétursson
Only Icelandic serial killer
1596Executed for murder.
Thomas Herbert
Welsh seaman and author
15 May 1597Richard Herbert
Justice of the Peace and Member of Parliament
15 October 1596 (buried)7 months
Friedrich Wilhelm II
Duke of Saxe-Altenburg
12 February 1603Friedrich Wilhelm I
Duke of Saxe-Weimar
7 July 16027 months, 5 days
Joseph of Cupertino
Catholic saint
17 June 1603Felice Desa
Apulian carpenter[13]
Abraham Cowley
English poet
1618His father
Elizabeth Gyllenhielm
Swedish noblewoman
1622Charles Philip
Duke of Södermanland
25 January 1622Disease during the 1622 siege of Narva.
François-Henri de Montmorency
Duke of Luxembourg
8 January 1628François de Montmorency-Bouteville
Duke of Luxembourg
22 June 16276 months, 15 daysExecuted for dueling.
Isaac Newton
English scientist
4 January 1643Isaac Newton, Sr.
English farmer
October 16423 months
Gulielma Penn
wife of William Penn, founder of Pennsylvania
February 1644Sir William Springett
English Parliamentarian army officer
3 February 1644a few daysFever following Siege of Arundel.
William III
Stadholder of the Dutch Republic, King of England and Scotland
14 November 1650William II
Stadtholder of the Dutch Republic
6 November 16508 daysSmallpox.
Robert Molesworth
Irish politician and writer
7 September 1656Robert Molesworth, Sr.3 September 16564 days
Adolphus Frederick II
Duke of Mecklenburg-Strelitz
19 October 1658Adolf Frederick I
Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin
27 February 16587 months, 21 days
Jonathan Swift
Author of Gulliver's Travels
30 November 1667Jonathan Swift, Sr.
English lawyer in Ireland
c. April 16677 monthsSyphilis.
William August
Duke of Saxe-Eisenach
30 November 1668Adolf William, Duke of Saxe-Eisenach
Duke of Saxe-Eisenach
21 November 16689 days
Thomas Greenhill
English surgeon
1669?William Greenhill
Emmanuel Lebrecht
Prince of Anhalt-Köthen
20 May 1671Emmanuel
Prince of Anhalt-Köthen
8 November 16706 months
Godscall Paleologue
Last known member of the Paleologus dynasty
12 January 1694Theodorious Paleologus
Barbadian privateer
August-December 1693Up to 5 months
Christine Marie Jacqueline Henriette FitzJames
French nun
29 May 1703Henry FitzJames
Jacobite peer
16 December 17025 months, 13 days
Edward Ward, 9th Baron Dudley
British peer
16 June 1704Edward Ward, 8th Baron Dudley28 March 17042 months, 15 daysSmallpox.
Frederick Christian
Margrave of Brandenburg-Bayreuth
17 July 1708Christian Henry
Margrave of Brandenburg-Kulmbach
5 April 17083 months, 12 days
Georg Wilhelm Richmann
Livonian physicist
22 July 1711His fatherPlague.
William IV
Stadholder of the Dutch Republic
1 September 1711John William Friso
Prince of Orange
14 July 17111 month, 15 daysDrowning in a ferryboat accident.
Robert Petre, 8th Baron Petre
British peer and horticulturist
3 June 1713Robert Petre, 7th Baron Petre22 March 17132 months, 7 daysSmallpox.
Edmund Pendleton
American politician
9 September 1721Henry Pendleton17214 months
John Morton
American politician
1725John Morton, Sr.1724
Sir Brook Bridges, 3rd Baronet
British politician
17 September 1733Sir Brook Bridges, 2nd Baronet23 May 1733[14]3 months, 22 days
Barbara Herbert
Countess of Powis
24 June 1735Edward Herbert
British aristocrat
c. March 17353 months
Caroline Matilda
Consort queen of Denmark and Norway
11 July 1751Frederick, Prince of Wales20 March 17513 months, 17 daysPulmonary embolism.
Thomas Chatterton
English poet and forger
20 November 1752Thomas Chatterton Sr.
English poet and musician
7 August 1752[15]3 months, 13 days
John Hamilton, 1st Marquess of Abercorn
Irish peer and politician
July 1756John Hamilton, Sr.
Royal Navy officer
December 17557 monthsAccidental drowning while on duty.
Frederick Ferdinand Constantin
Prince of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach
8 September 1758Ernest Augustus II
Duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach
28 May 17583 months
Elizabeth Simcoe
British Canadian artist
22 September 1762Thomas Gwillim
Military officer
29 January 17627 months, 22 daysKilled or died otherwise in the Seven Years' War.[16]
Benedict Joseph Flaget
French American bishop
7 November 1763His father[17]
Andrew Jackson
7th President of the United States
15 March 1767Andrew Jackson, Sr.
Irish American colonist
c. 23 February 1767Around 21 daysLogging accident.
Sawai Madhavrao
12th Peshwa of the Maratha Empire
18 April 1774Narayan Rao
10th Peshwa of the Maratha Empire
30 August, 17737 monthsMurder.
Tenskwatawa
Shawnee prophet and leader
January 1775Puckenshinwa
Leader of the Kispokotha division of the Shawnee tribe
October 10, 17743-4 monthsKilled at the Battle of Point Pleasant.

19th century

Name Born Late parent Parent died Gap Cause of parent's death
Lord George Hill
British politician
9 December 1801Arthur Hill, 2nd Marquess of Downshire7 September 18013 months, 2 daysSuicide.
Louis Augustus Karl Frederick Emil
Duke of Anhalt-Köthen
20 September 1802Louis
Prince of Anhalt-Köthen
16 September 18024 days
William Holland Thomas
American merchant, lawyer, politician, soldier.
5 February 1805Richard Thomas ?? ?? ??
Sir George Grey
British soldier, explorer, governor
14 April 1812Lt-Col George GreyEarly April 1812a few daysKilled at the Battle of Badajoz.
Arthur MacArthur Sr.
Governor of Wisconsin and grandfather of Douglas MacArthur
26 January 1815His father19 January 18157 days
François Sabatier-Ungher
French philanthropist
2 July 1818His fathershortly before ??
Charles de La Roche30 March 1820Charles Ferdinand
Duke of Berry
14 February 18201 month, 16 daysAssassination by a Bonapartist. Each child was born to a different mother.
Alix Mélanie Cosnefroy de Saint-Ange16 September 18207 months, 2 days
Henri, Count of Chambord
Legitimist pretender to the French throne
29 September 18207 months, 15 days
Ferdinand Oreille de Carrière10 October 18207 months, 25 days
Rutherford B. Hayes
19th President of the United States
4 October 1822Rutherford Hayes, Jr.
American storekeeper
20 July 18221 month, 22 days
Jemima Blackburn
Scottish painter
1 May 1823James Wedderburn
Solicitor General for Scotland
7 November 18225 months, 23 days
Anna Leonowens
British teacher co-subject of The King and I
5 November 1831Thomas Edwards
East India Company officer
c. August 18313 months
Henry B. Wheatley
English author, editor and indexer
1838Benjamin Wheatley
Auctioneer
David Hyrum Smith
Leader of the RLDS Church
7 November 1844Joseph Smith
Founder of the Latter Day Saint movement
27 June 18444 months, 9 daysLynching while awaiting trial in jail.
Tokugawa Iemochi
14th shōgun of Tokugawa Shogunate
17 July 1846Tokugawa Nariyuki
Lord of Wakayama Domain
1 June 18461 month, 16 days
Princess Kazu
Wife of Tokugawa Iemochi
1 August 1846Ninkō
Emperor of Japan
21 February 18465 months, 9 days
Horace Tabberer Brown
British chemist
20 July 1848His father
Henry Waldegrave, 11th Earl Waldegrave
British minister and noble
14 October 1854William Waldegrave, Viscount Chewton8 October 18546 daysWounds from the Battle of the Alma.
Katherine Harley
British suffragist
3 May 1855John Tracy William French
Royal Navy officer
1854
Samuel Alexander
British philosopher
6 January 1859Samuel Alexander, Sr.
Australian saddler
Motilal Nehru
36th and 47th President of the Indian National Congress
6 May 1861Gangadhar Nehru
Last Kotwal of Delhi
4 February 18613 months, 2 days
Florence Maybrick
British-American convicted murderess
3 September 1862William George Chandler
Banker and Mayor of Mobile
Breaker Morant
Australian soldier and folk hero
9 December 1864Edwin Murrant
English workhouse master
August 18644 months
Frank Anstey
Australian politician
18 August 1865Samuel Anstey
English iron miner
c. March 18655 months
Rua Kenana Hepetipa
Maori prophet, faith healer, and activist
1869Kenana TumoanaNovember 1868Killed in Te Kooti's War.
George Washington Lambert
Australian artist
13 September 1873George Washington Lambert, Sr.25 July 18731 month, 16 days
Rudolf Besier
Dutch/English dramatist
2 July 1878Rudolf Besier, Sr.c. January 1878c. 6 months
Carl Schuricht
German conductor
3 July 1880Carl Conrad SchurichtJune 1880c. 21 daysDrowned in the Baltic Sea while trying to save a friend.
Charles Edward
Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha
19 July 1884Leopold, Duke of Albany
British prince
28 March 18843 months, 18 daysHaemophilia-related intracerebral hemorrhage after a fall.
Chester W. Nimitz
American fleet admiral
24 February 1885Chester Bernard Nimitz14 August 18846 months, 10 days
Abd al-Rahman al-Mahdi
Sudanese Imam of the Ansar, first Chief Minister of Sudan
15 July 1885Muhammad Ahmad
Sudanese self-proclaimed Mahdi
22 June 188523 daysTyphus.
Clara Sipprell
Canadian-American photographer
31 October 1885Francis Sipprell
Alfonso XIII
King of Spain
17 May 1886Alfonso XII
King of Spain
25 November 18855 months, 21 daysDysentery worsened by tuberculosis.
Li Dazhao
Co-founder of the Chinese Communist Party
29 October 1889His fatherA few months
Manuel Roxas
President of the Philippines
1 January 1892Gerardo Roxas y Arroyo21 April 18918 months, 11 daysKilled by the Civil Guard
Charles Wilfred Orr
English song composer
31 July 1893His father
Thomas Iorwerth Ellis
Welsh classicist
19 December 1899Thomas Edward Ellis
Welsh politician
5 April 18998 months, 14 days
Mabel Mercer
British-American jazz singer
3 February 1900Her father

20th century

Name Born Late parent Parent died Gap Cause of parent's death
Stanley Kunitz
American poet
29 July 1905Solomon Z. Kunitz
Immigrant Russian Jewish dressmaker
June 19056 weeksSuicide by drinking carbolic acid after going bankrupt.
Johan Kjær Hansen
Danish Resistance fighter
7 April 1907Hans Christian Johan Andreas Hansen
Bicycle manufacturer
13 December 19063 months, 22 days
Xiao Qian
Chinese essayist and translator
27 January 1910His father
John Jacob Astor VI
American shipping businessman
14 August 1912John Jacob Astor IV
American businessman
15 April 19123 months, 28 daysSinking of the RMS Titanic.
Raoul Wallenberg
Swedish diplomat and humanitarian
14 August 1912Raoul Oscar Wallenberg
Swedish Navy officer
May 19123 monthsCancer.
Red Skelton
American comedian
18 July 1913Joseph Elmer Skelton
Grocer and former circus clown
May 19132 months
Cäzilia Gabriel
Hinterkaifeck victim
January 1915Karl Gabriel
German soldier
December 19141 monthKilled in World War I.
Georg Quistgaard
Danish Resistance fighter
19 February 1915Georg Brockhoff Quistgaard
Danish secretary
18 December 19142 months, 1 day
Alfred Shaughnessy
English screenwriter and producer
19 May 1916Thomas Alfred Shaughnessy
Canadian Army officer
31 March 191650 daysKilled in World War I.
Mihrişah Sultan
Ottoman princess
1 June 1916Yusuf Izzeddin
Ottoman Crown Prince
1 February 19164 monthsSuicide.
Ronald R. Van Stockum
Brigadier General of the U.S. Marines
8 July 1916His father1 weekKilled in World War I.
Edward Bell, Jr.
Squadron Leader of the Royal Air Force
October 1918Edward Bell, Sr.
Commander of the Football Battalion
24 March 19186 monthsKilled in World War I.
Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
Russian novelist
11 December 1918Isaakiy Semyonovich Solzhenitsyn
Imperial Russian Army officer
15 June 19185 months, 25 daysHunting accident.
Lawrence Ferlinghetti
American poet
24 March 1919Carlo Ferlinghetti
Italian immigrant
Heart attack.
John Mitchum
American actor
6 September 1919James Thomas MitchumFebruary 19197 monthsRailyard accident.
Jehanne Rosemary Ernestine Beaumont7 September 1919Dudley Beaumont
British Army officer
24 November 19189 monthsSpanish flu.
Kung Te-cheng
Last Duke Yansheng
23 February 1920Kong Lingyi
Duke Yansheng
8 November 19193 months, 15 days
Alexandra
Last queen consort of Yugoslavia
25 March 1921Alexander
King of Greece
25 October 19205 monthsSepsis from a captive Barbary macaque's bite.
Jules Olitski
Ukrainian-American painter, sculptor
27 March 1922Jevel Demikovsky[18]
Soviet Commissar
A few monthsExecution.
Elisabeth of Austria
Member of the House of Habsburg-Lorraine
31 May 1922Charles I
Last Emperor of Austria and King of Hungary
1 April 19221 month, 30 daysPneumonia.
Stephen Wurm
Hungarian-Australian linguist
19 August 1922Adolphe Wurm
Mary Warnock
English philosopher
14 April 1924Archibald Edward Wilson
Teacher at Winchester College
1923
Anthony Earnshaw
English anarchist
9 October 1924His father
Felipe Rodríguez
Puerto Rican singer
8 May 1926His father
Earl Holliman
American actor
11 September 1928William A. Frost
American farmer
7 months
Bertram Wainer
Australian doctor and activist
30 December 1928His father
Itamar Franco
33rd President of Brazil
28 June 1930Augusto César Stiebler FrancoApril 19302 monthsMalaria.[19]
Thomas Sowell
American economist
30 June 1930His father
Brian Sewell
British art critic
15 July 1931Peter Warlock
British composer and music critic
(claimed by Sewell)
17 December 19306 months, 26 daysCoal gas poisoning.
Don Durant
American actor
20 November 1932His fatherSeptember-October 19322 monthsTruck accident.
Margaret O'Brien
American actress
15 January 1937Lawrence O'Brien
Circus performer
Saddam Hussein
Iraqi dictator
28 April 1937His fatherCancer.
Ian Brady
British serial killer
2 January 1938His father
(according to his mother)
3 monthsUnknown. Brady's father was never identified, casting doubt on his mother's claims.
Lee Harvey Oswald
Assassin of John F. Kennedy
18 October 1939Robert Edward Lee Oswald
United States Marine
19 August 19391 month, 28 daysHeart attack.
Jacques Mairesse
French economist
16 August 1940Jacques Mairesse, Sr.
French footballer
13 June 19402 months, 3 daysKilled while trying to escape a prisoner-of-war camp during the Battle of France.
Edwin Wilson
Australian poet
27 October 1942His father
Henry and David Cecil
British twin racehorse trainers
11 January 1943Henry Kerr Auchmuty Cecil
Parachute Regiment officer
30 November – 2 December 19421 month, 1-2 daysKilled in the North African campaign of World War II.[20]
Sylvester McCoy
British actor and comedian
20 August 1943Percy Kent-Smith18 July 19431 month, 2 daysKilled in World War II.
Ranulph Fiennes
British explorer and writer
7 March 1944Ranulph Twisleton-Wykeham-Fiennes
Royal Scots Greys commander
24 November 19433 months, 12 daysKilled by landmine in Italy while serving in World War II.[21]
John Pelham
Earl of Chichester
14 April 1944John Pelham, Sr.
British diplomat and Captain of the Scots Guards
21 February 19441 month, 22 daysKilled in a road accident while serving in World War II.
Maria João Pires
Portuguese-Swiss classical pianist
23 July 1944João Baptista Pires1 July 194422 days
Bernard Collaery
Australian lawyer and politician
12 October 1944Edward Francis Collaery
RAAF flying officer
29 June 19443 months 13 daysKilled in World War II.
Edward Foljambe
Earl of Liverpool
14 November 1944Peter George William Savile Foljambe2 September 19442 months, 12 daysKilled in World War II.
Joachim
8th Prince Murat
26 November 1944Joachim
7th Prince Murat
20 July 19444 months, 6 daysKilled in World War II.
Konstanze von Schulthess
German author
27 January 1945Claus von Stauffenberg
German army officer
21 July 19446 months, 6 daysExecuted for 20 July plot against Hitler.
Eva Barbara Fegelein5 May 1945Hermann Fegelein
High-ranking Nazi officer
28 April 19456 daysExecution.
Frederica von Stade
American opera singer
1 June 1945Charles S. von Stade
South African-American polo champion
10 April 19451 month, 20 daysKilled in World War II.
Graça Machel
Mozambican politician
17 October 194530 September 194517 days[22]
Bill Clinton
42nd President of the United States
19 August 1946William Jefferson Blythe Jr.
American traveling salesman
17 May 19463 months, 2 daysAutomobile accident.
Peter Kocan
Australian author and attempted assassin of Arthur Calwell
4 May 1947His father3 monthsAutomobile accident.
Pedro López
Colombian serial killer
8 October 1948Midardo Reyes4 April 19486 months, 4 daysMurdered in La Violencia.[23]
Jett Williams
American singer
6 January 1953Hank Williams
American singer
1 January 19535 daysPossibly drug-induced cardiac arrest.
Wally Carr
Aboriginal Australian boxer
11 August 1954His father2 monthsSuicide by gunshot.
Janet Lynn Skinner
American Gospel musician
5 July 1955Billie HailleSpinal meningitis.
Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum
President of the Dubai Civil Aviation Authority and founder of The Emirates Group
1 December 1958Saeed bin Maktoum bin Hasher Al Maktoum
Emir of Dubai
9 September 19582 months, 21 days
Tyrone Power Jr.
American actor
22 January 1959Tyrone Power
American actor
15 November 19582 months, 7 daysFulminant angina pectoris while filming an action scene.
Antwone Fisher
American author and film director
3 August 1959Eddie Elkins2 monthsMurdered (shot) by a jealous girlfriend.
John Clark Gable
American actor
20 March 1961Clark Gable
American actor
16 November 19604 months, 4 daysHeart attack induced by an arterial blood clot.
Yves Amu Klein
French artist
6 August 1962Yves Klein
French Nouveau réalisme artist
6 June 19622 monthsThree heart attacks, the first while watching the exploitation film Mondo Cane.
Sławomir Makaruk
Polish traveler and photographer
4 October 1963Sławomir Makaruk
Polish aviator
20 April 19635 months, 13 daysAccident aboard an experimental SZD-21 Kobuz glider.
Tariq Al-Ali
Kuwaiti actor and comedian
18 January 1966His father
Rory Kennedy
American documentary filmmaker
12 December 1968Robert F. Kennedy
U.S. Senator from New York and younger brother of John F. Kennedy
6 June 19686 months, 6 daysAssassination while campaigning for the 1968 Democratic Party presidential primaries.
Brandon Teena
American victim of transphobic hate murder
12 December 1972Patrick Brandon7 April 19728 months, 5 daysAutomobile accident.
Philippe Cousteau Jr.
Franco-American oceanographer and environmental activist
20 January 1980Philippe Cousteau
French cinematographer
28 June 19796 months, 21 daysAviation accident.
Diana Yukawa
Japanese-British violinist and composer
16 September 1985Akihisa Yukawa
Japanese banker
12 August 19851 month, 4 daysJapan Airlines Flight 123 crash.
Natasha Ignatenko
Chernobyl disaster victim
1986Vasily Ignatenko
Soviet firefighter
13 May 1986Acute Radiation Syndrome contracted while extinguishing fires above the exploded Reactor Nº4.
Gia Coppola
American filmmaker
1 January 1987Gian-Carlo Coppola
American film producer
26 May 19867 months, 3 daysSpeedboating accident.

Religious and mythological people born posthumously

The Bible's Old Testament mentions two named cases of posthumous children:

  • Ashhur, youngest son of Hezron, born when his father had died when aged past 60 years. (1 Chronicles 2:21, 24)
  • Ichabod, who was born when his mother, who subsequently died, heard news that his father Phinehas had been killed at the Battle of Aphek and paternal grandfather Eli accidentally killed afterwards. (1 Samuel 4:19–22)

Parikshit, the sole survivor of the Kuru dynasty in Mahabharata, was born after his father Abhimanyu was killed in the Kurukshetra war.

The Greek god Asclepius is said to have been delivered by caesarean section after his mother was killed on Mount Olympus.[2]

Fictional characters born posthumously

See also

References

  1. "Posthumous Child Law and Legal Definition". USLegal.
  2. 1 2 3 Christine Quigley, The Corpse: A History, McFarland, 1996, ISBN 0-7864-0170-2, pages 180 to 181.
  3. 1 2 3 Renee H. Sekino, Posthumous Conception: The Birth of a New Class Archived 15 July 2004 at the Wayback Machine, Boston University Journal of Sci. and Tech. Law, 2001.
  4. "Frozen in Time: Planning for the Posthumously Conceived Child". The National Law Review. Fairfield and Woods P.C. 9 July 2009. Retrieved 7 April 2012.
  5. "U.S. Department of State Foreign Affairs Manual Volume 8, 8 FAM 304.4 Posthumous Children". Retrieved 18 July 2018.
  6. "Report 49 (1986) — Artificial Conception: Human Artificial Insemination, 12. AIH and Posthumous Use of Semen". Law Reform Commission, New South Wales.
  7. 1 2 "Posthumous fathers to be recognised". BBC News. 25 August 2000.
  8. Bowman, William Dodgson. The Story of Surnames. London, George Routledge & Sons, Ltd., 1932. No ISBN.
  9. Lurie S (2005). "The changing motives of cesarean section: from the ancient world to the twenty-first century". Archives of Gynecology and Obstetrics. 271 (4): 281–285. doi:10.1007/s00404-005-0724-4. PMID 15856269.
  10. Bowen 1928, pp. 384–385.
  11. Bosworth 1993, pp. 723–724.
  12. Franco Silva, A. (2009) "Las mujeres de Juan Pacheco y su parentela." Historia, Instituciones, Documentos. Vol. 36, pgs. 161-182
  13. Catholic Encyclopedia
  14. leighrayment, The Baronetage[usurped]. Retrieved 14 March 2014
  15. Wikisource. Retrieved 14 March 2014
  16. Beacock Fryer, Mary (1989). Elizabeth Posthuma Simcoe 1762-1850. A Biography. Toronto, London: Dundurn. p. 10–12.
  17. Catholic Encyclopedia
  18. New York Magazine (1 Oct 1973), Vol. 6, Nº 40, pg. 76
  19. Corpo de Itamar Franco chega a Juiz de Fora (MG), onde será velado UOL (In Portuguese), 3 July 2011, accessed in 29 November 2016.
  20. Wilson, Julian (11 June 2013). "Sir Henry Cecil obituary". The Guardian. Retrieved 5 July 2015.
  21. Jinman, Richard (19 February 2019). "Sir Ranulph Fiennes on rivalry, pain and the storage of amputated fingers". Sydney Morning Herald. Archived from the original on 22 February 2019. Retrieved 4 August 2021.
  22. "Graca Machel: There Is Nothing Exceptional About Me..." This Day Live. 16 August 2014. Archived from the original on 13 July 2015.
  23. Cowton, Michael (2020) Murders that shocked the world - 70s. Banovallum, 200 pages.
  24. "David Copperfield". Blundeston. Retrieved 5 July 2015.
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