Frederick the Great

1712 – 1786 · died at about 74^[1][2]

Politics & Leadership

Fun Facts About Frederick the Great

• Visitors to Frederick the Great's grave often leave potatoes on the gravestone in honor of his role in promoting the potato in Prussia.^[1]
• Frederick played the flute and composed 121 flute sonatas, and his 1747 meeting with Johann Sebastian Bach led Bach to write The Musical Offering.^[1][3][4]
• In 1739 Frederick finished Anti-Machiavel, a rebuttal of Machiavelli, and Voltaire distributed it to great popularity.^{[1][5][6][7][8]}
• After a victory in 1807, Napoleon visited Frederick's tomb and told his officers, "Gentlemen, if this man were still alive I would not be here".^[1][9][10]
• Frederick took little pleasure in his popularity, preferring the company of his Italian greyhounds, which he called his "marquises de Pompadour"; he asked to be buried beside them.^[1]
• French, not German, was Frederick's preferred language for speaking and writing, though he relied on proofreaders to correct his spelling.^[1]
• Frederick the Great was alive at the same time as Isaac Newton — their lives overlapped for 15 years (1712–1727).^{[1][2][11][12]}
• Frederick the Great and Jean-Jacques Rousseau were both born in 1712.^{[1][2][13][14]}

Frederick II was the monarch of Prussia from 1740 until his death in 1786. He was the last Hohenzollern monarch titled King in Prussia, declaring himself King of Prussia after annexing Royal Prussia from the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth in 1772. His most significant accomplishments include military successes in the Silesian wars, reorganisation of the Prussian Army, the First Partition of Poland, and patronage of the arts and the Enlightenment. Prussia greatly increased its territories and became a major military power in Europe under his rule. He became known as Frederick the Great and was nicknamed "Old Fritz".^[1]

Contemporaries

Benjamin Franklin

74 yr overlap

Leonhard Euler

71 yr overlap

Voltaire

66 yr overlap

Carl Linnaeus

66 yr overlap

Jean-Jacques Rousseau

66 yr overlap

Adam Smith

63 yr overlap

Immanuel Kant

62 yr overlap

Catherine the Great

57 yr overlap

George Washington

54 yr overlap

Joseph Haydn

54 yr overlap

Captain James Cook

51 yr overlap

John Adams

51 yr overlap

Their World

Questions About Frederick the Great

When was Frederick the Great born?

Frederick the Great was born on January 24, 1712, and died on August 17, 1786.

How old was Frederick the Great at death?

Frederick the Great was born on January 24, 1712, and died on August 17, 1786, at age 74.

What was Frederick the Great known for?

Frederick the Great was known for: King of Prussia and military strategist. Frederick II was the monarch of Prussia from 1740 until his death in 1786. He was the last Hohenzollern monarch titled King in Prussia, declaring himself King of Prussia after annexing Royal Prussia from the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth in 1772. His most significant accomplishments include military successes in the Silesian wars, reorganisation of the Prussian Army, the First Partition of Poland, and patronage of the arts and the Enlightenment. Prussia greatly increased its territories and became a major military power in Europe under his rule. He became known as Frederick the Great and was nicknamed "Old Fritz".

Who was alive at the same time as Frederick the Great?

Frederick the Great's closest contemporary was Benjamin Franklin. Their lives overlapped for 74 years.