Excerpts from Bellany's recent book,
"Wiki-People Who Died At Age 32"

Since 2006, Bellany has scoured Wikipedia for people who died at his exact age. When he was 32, he found 117 figures - some obscure and others notable, who had died at that tender age. In addition to writing up a short biography for each 'character', Bellany created original black and white portraits using illustrations he uncovered on image searches.

"Being the same age as each person I researched (when they died), I naturally felt a strong personal connection to their stories. I compared our accomplishments, social situations, and the eras in which we lived. It was a new way of looking at both history and myself. Now that I have moved on to age 33, I find myself contemplating the strange fact that I have lived longer than Bruce Lee, King Richard III and Alexander the Great. It definitely motivates me to work harder and make a difference."

↓more

・Bruce Lee

・Buzz Sawyer

・Davey Allison

・Dick Turpin

・Eadred of England

・Elizabeth Siddal

・Galeazzo Maria Sforza

・Glen Kidston

・Hernan Gaviria

・Jedediah 'Strong' Smith

・Joseph I

・Keith Godchaux

・Lya De Putti

・Mike Lockwood

・Ota Benga

・Ottavio Bottecchia

・Proof

・Regnier De Graaf

・Steve Chiasson

・Thomas Ashe

・Vladimir of Novgorod

・William Cartwright

・Wyndham Hallswelle

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Wiki-People Who Died At Age 32

Galeazzo Maria Sforza (1444-1476)
As the Duke of Milan, Galeazzo Maria Sforza was a great patron of the arts, putting together one of the finest choirs the world has ever known. He employed many of Europe's most renowned singers and composers, helping Milan's cultural scene to almost rival Florence, where his friend and ally Cosimo de' Medici ruled. It is said that fine music would bring tears to his eyes.

However, he simultaneously tortured people for miniscule crimes and had a lust for women that could not be satisfied. Quickly tiring of his lovers, Sforza would pass them down to his courtiers as if they were pets or used clothing.

It is said that Sforza once executed a poacher by forcing him to eat a rabbit - hair and all. He also had one man buried alive in his coffin and even went as far as to starve a priest to death for making an unfavorable prediction.

Unsurprisingly, Sforza had many enemies. Three such detractors were the high-ranking officials, Gerolamo Olgiati, Giovanni Andrea Lampugnani and Carlo Visconti, whose sister allegedly had her virginity taken by Sforza. Together with 30 of their friends, these angry men planned and carried out an assassination of Sforza in church on the day after Christmas, stabbing him to death in front of everyone assembled.

The assassins were quickly apprehended and grotesquely executed in public. Before being beheaded and hung in the city courtyard, Olgiati yelled his famous last words, "Death is bitter, but glory is eternal."