List of prison deaths

This is a list of notable people who have died in prison, whether in prison or in hospital while still serving a prison sentence. This list does not include inmates who were executed as punishment for their crimes.

Pre-11th century NameDate of deathNationalityCause of deathKnown forCommentsRim-Sîn IAfter 1764 BCLarsaUnknownRuler of LarsaVercingetorixduring 46 BCGaul (detained by the Roman Republic)StrangulationGaulish leader defeated by Julius CaesarGaius Asinius Gallus33Roman EmpireStarvationRoman senatorAlexander of Jerusalem251UnknownMartyr and saintMani274-03-02 or 277-02-26Prophet and founder of ManichaeismManichaeans later depicted his death as a crucifixion in analogy to the crucifixion of Jesus.Hilderic530Vandal KingdomMurderKing of the Vandals and AlansAl-Abbas ibn al-Walid750Umayyad CaliphateUnknown diseasePrince and generalAbu Hanifa767-08-15Abbasid CaliphateUnknownFounder of the Hanafi school of Islamic jurisprudenceHis tomb was destroyed by Shah Ismail of the Safavid Empire in 1508, but rebuilt by the Ottomans in 1533.Itakh849ThirstCommander in the Turkic army of the Abbasid CaliphateTughj ibn Juff906UnknownTurkic military officerMuhammad ibn Yaqut935Official of the Abbasid Caliphate

11th to 15th century NameDate of deathNationalityCause of deathKnown forCommentsAbd al-Rahim ibn Ilyas1021Fatimid CaliphateSuicideHeir-apparent of the caliph al-Hakim bi-Amr AllahAccording to the official account, he committed suicide by thrusting a fruit knife into his belly, but coeval rumours insisted that he was assassinated.Robert Curthose1134House of NormandyUnknownDuke of Normandy, eldest son of William the ConquerorImprisoned by his younger brother Henry I of England.Ibn Barrajan1141Almoravid dynastyArab Sufi figure of Al-AndalusJoscelin II, Count of Edessa1159 (detained by the Zengid State)Last ruling count of EdessaDaoud ibn al-Adid1207/0825th imam of Hafizi Isma'ilismPeter II of Courtenay1219Latin EmperorEleanor, Fair Maid of Brittany1241-08-10House of PlantagenetPrincess and potential heiress to her house as granddaughter of Henry II of EnglandImprisoned by her uncle King John of England and cousin Henry III of England to prevent her potential claim, without trial or sentence. Unbelievably rumored to be starved by John.Sulayman ibn Daoud124826th and last imam of Hafizi Isma'ilismGuy de Montfort, Count of Nola1291 (detained by )Son of Simon de Montfort, 6th Earl of LeicesterSayf al-Din SalarOctober 1310StarvationViceroy of the Mamluk sultan al-Nasir MuhammadMargaret of VillehardouinFebruary/March 1315Barony of AkovaUnknownBaroness of two thirds of AkovaPietro d'Abano1315Abano Bagni (detained by the )Philosopher, astrologerIbn Taymiyya1328-09-26Unknown illnessSunni Muslim ʿālim, muhaddith, judge, proto-Salafist theologian, ascetic, and iconoclastic theologianKęstutisAugust 1382Unknown, presumably strangledGrand Duke of Lithuania, father of Vytautas, uncle of JogailaJogaila claimed that his death was suicide by hanging. Most coeval sources conjecture that Kęstutis was strangled on Jogaila's orders.Nicolò Guarcoc. 1385Unknown7th doge of the Republic of GenoaDionysius, Metropolitan of Kiev1385-10-15Principality of MoscowRussian Orthodox metropolitanGuido III da Polenta1389RavennaLord of Ravenna, member of the Da Polenta familyImprisoned by his sons.Thomas of Woodstock, Duke of Gloucester1397-09-08/09MurderYoungest child of King Edward III of EnglandEleanor, Duchess of Gloucester1452-07-07UnknownEnglish noblewoman, second wife of Humphrey, Duke of GloucesterSentenced to life imprisonment for treasonable necromancy. Her imprisonment and forced divorce was likely politically motivated.Pak P'aengnyŏn1456-06-07JoseonTortureScholar-official, one of the six martyred ministers, uncle of Queen JanggyeongAll the males in his family were executed and females were enslaved.Henry VI of England1471-05-21Probably murderLast King of England of the House of Plantagenet and disputed King of France

16th century NameDate of deathNationalityCause of deathKnown forCommentsDmitry Ivanovich1509-02-14Grand Principality of MoscowUnknownGrand Prince of Moscow (co-ruler), grandson of Ivan IIIPietro TorrigianoAugust 1528 (detained by )Natural causesItalian Renaissance sculptorYury Ivanovich1536-08-03Grand Principality of MoscowStarvationSon of Ivan IIIAndrey of Staritsa1537-12-11UnknownYoungest son of Ivan IIIGirolamo Zane1572-10-13Natural causesCapitano Generale da Mar of the Venetian fleetEric XIV of Sweden1577-02-26Arsenic poisoningKing of Sweden, brother of John III of SwedenJames Hepburn, 4th Earl of Bothwell1578-04-14 (detained by )UnknownKing consort of Scotland in 1567Ferenc Dávid1579-04-14Principality of TransylvaniaNatural causesProtestant preacher and theologian, founder of the Unitarian Church of TransylvaniaPhilip Howard, 13th Earl of Arundel1595-10-19DysenteryImprisoned in the Tower of London as a Roman Catholic recusant by Elizabeth I of England. Acclaimed a martyr almost immediately and canonised in 1970 as one of the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales.

17th century NameDate of deathNationalityCause of deathKnown forCommentsLi Zhi1602ChinaSuicide by cutting his throatPhilosopher, historian, writerSimon I of Kartli1611Kingdom of Kartli (detained by the Ottoman Empire)UnknownKing of KartliVasili IV of Russia1612-09-12 (detained by )Tsar of RussiaCesare Corte1613Renaissance painterMarina Mniszech1614-12-24Tsaritsa, wife of False Dmitry I and False Dmitry IIHusayn Pasha1663Ottoman EmpireMurderGovernor of Gaza SanjakMarcy Clay1665Suicide by poisoningEnglish thief and highwayrobberSentenced to death by hangingHardress Waller1666-07-30UnknownMember of Parliament, regicide of King Charles I of EnglandGilbert Millington1666Barrister, regicide of King Charles I of EnglandHenry Smith1668Member of Parliament, regicide of King Charles I of EnglandJames Temple1680-02-17Soldier, regicide of King Charles I of EnglandSarah Osborne1692-05-10One of the first women to be accused of witchcraft in the Salem witch trialsGiuseppe Francesco Borri1695-08-20 (detained by the )MalariaAlchemist, freethinker, physician

18th century NameDate of deathNationalityCause of deathKnown forCommentsBartholomew Sharp1702-10-29 (detained by the )UnknownBuccaneer and privateerMan in the Iron Mask1703-11-19Mysterious prisoner kept in a solitary cellGiovanni Battista Sidotti1714-11-27 (detained by the )Priest, missionary of the Propaganda FideAlexei Petrovich, Tsarevich of Russia1718-06-26TsarevichDied two days after the senate had condemned him to death.Mary Read1721-04-08 (detained by the Colony of Jamaica)FeverPirateOriginally sentenced to hang, she claimed to be pregnant and received a temporary stay of execution.Aaron Margalitac. 1725Poland (detained by )UnknownRabbi who later converted to Calvinism and LutheranismDmitry Mikhailovich Golitsyn the Elder1737-04-14Natural causesAristocrat of the Golitsyn family, attempted to turn Russia into a constitutional monarchyRobert Blackbourn1748UnknownJacobite conspiratorArrested for his involvement in an assassination plot of 1696Stepan Fyodorovich Apraksin1758-08-17Commander during the Seven Years' WarIvan VI1764-AssassinationEmperor of RussiaDuke Anthony Ulrich of Brunswick1774-05-04Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel (detained by )UnknownPrince and military officerTarakanova1775-12-15TuberculosisPretender to the Russian throneLord George Gordon1793-11-01Typhoid feverBritish politicianLouis XVII1795-06-08ScrofulaDauphin of FranceFranz Gotthardi1795UnknownHungarian-born businessman and senior police officerWolfe Tone1798-11-19 (detained by )SuicideLeader of the 1798 Irish Rebellion against Great BritainSentenced to death by hanging; committed suicide because he wanted to die by firing squad (a soldier's death, rather than a criminal's) instead.

19th century NameDate of deathNationalityCause of deathKnown forCommentsDarya Nikolayevna Saltykova1801-12-09Natural causesNoblewoman from the Saltykov family, serial killerToussaint Louverture1804-04-07 (detained by )Leader of the Haitian Revolution who was imprisoned for launching a rebellion against FranceErminio Criscione1807-12-07Suicide or killed by Alexandre PétionHaitian Independence heroWazir Ali Khan1817-05-15 (detained by )UnknownNawab of OudhImprisoned for leading the Massacre of Benares.Pedro Carujo1836-01-31Battle woundsMilitary officer, one of the leaders in the Revolution of the ReformsSolomon Dodashvili1836-08-20TuberculosisGeorgian philosopher, journalist, historian, grammarian, belletrist and enlightenerAnthony Van Egmond1838-01-05 (detained by )Pneumonia, malnutrition and exposureDutch war veteran and an early settler in the Huron TractOsceola1838-01-30Seminole (detained by the )Peritonsillar abscess caused by tonsillitisLeader of the SeminoleWilhelm Küchelbecker1846-08-23TuberculosisRomantic poet, Decembrist revolutionaryMullá ʻAlíy-i-Bastámí1846 (detained by the )Unknown2nd Letter of the Living in the Bábí movementRrapo HekaliDecember 1847Albanian revolutionaryIon Negulici1851-04-05TuberculosisPainter, participant in the Wallachian Revolution of 1848Chui A-poo1851Suicide by hangingPirateOne of the two most notorious South China Sea pirates of the eraMatilde Malenchini1858-09-08UnknownAcademic painterAccused of pushing one of her maids out of a window when the maid was caught stealing.Dimitar MiladinovJanuary 1862TyphusBulgarian poet, folklorist, and activistKonstantin MiladinovJames Henry Gooding1864-07-19 (detained by the )UnknownCorporal in the 54th Massachusetts Infantry RegimentLorenzo Denning1865-02-08Soldier, awarded with the Medal of HonorWalerian Łukasiński1868-01-27Natural causesPolish officer and political activist, symbol of the Polish struggle for independenceStanislav Dospevski1878-01-06UnknownBulgarian painter, nephew of Zahari ZografSándor Rózsa1878-11-22TuberculosisOutlaw, best-known Hungarian highwaymanGrigory GoldenbergJuly 1880SuicideRevolutionary, member of Narodnaya VolyaHesya Helfman1882-02-01PeritonitisBelarusian-Jewish revolutionary, member of Narodnaya VolyaNikolai Kletochnikov1883-07-13Hunger strikeRevolutionary, joined the police to act as a source of inside informationAlexander Dmitrievich Mikhailov1884-03-30UnknownRevolutionary, one of the founders of Zemlya i Volya and Narodnaya VolyaAlexander Dolgushin1885-06-30TuberculosisPopulistMaria Kutitonskaya1887-05-04Ukrainian Narodnik revolutionary, attempted to assassinate the military governor Luka IllyashevichAizik Aronchik1888-04-02UnknownRussian revolutionary, attempted to assassinate Tsar Alexander IIMaria Kalyuzhnaya1889-11-07Suicide by poisoningUkrainian Narodnik revolutionaryNadia SmyrnytskaNadezhda Sigida1889-11-08RevolutionaryMaria Kovalevska1889-11-19Ukrainian Narodnik revolutionaryMariia Vetrova1897-02-24Self-immolationUkrainian teacher and revolutionaryDervish CaraLate 19th centuryUnknownAlbanian revolutionary leader

1900–1939