1885 births

Sydney John Chaplin (né Hill; 16 March 1885 – 16 April 1965) was an English actor. Chaplin was the elder half-brother of actor and filmmaker Charlie Chaplin and served as his business manager in later life.
Through their mother Hannah, they were older half-brothers to the younger Wheeler Dryden, who grew up separately with his father in England and was not told about his half-brothers until 1915. Dryden later emigrated to the United States, joining the Chaplins in Hollywood. Sydney Chaplin was also a half-uncle of actor Sydney Chaplin (1926–2009), who was named after him.

Gertrud Leistikow (12 September 1885 – 23 November 1948) was a German dancer and choreographer. She is primarily associated with nude and Grotesque dance.

Dino Campana (20 August 1885 – 1 March 1932) was an Italian visionary poet. His fame rests on his only published book of poetry, the Canti Orfici ("Orphic Songs"), as well as his wild and erratic personality, including his ill-fated love affair with Sibilla Aleramo. He is often seen as an Italian example of a poète maudit.

Jean Prouvost (24 April 1885, Roubaix – 18 October 1978, Yvoy-le-Marron) was a businessman, media owner and French politician. Prouvost was best known for building and owning the publications that became France-Soir, Paris Match, and Télé 7 Jours.

Carlos Salzedo (6 April 1885 – 17 August 1961) was a French harpist, pianist, composer and conductor. His compositions presented the harp as a virtuoso instrument. He influenced many composers with his new ideas for the harp's sounds, and was influential in New York's new music scene through his work leading the International Composers' Guild with Edgard Varèse.
Salzedo started studying at the Paris Conservatory at age nine and won the premier prix in harp and piano when he was just 16. He started his solo recital career at age 18, and was brought to the United States of America six years later, to perform as solo harpist with the Metropolitan Opera House in New York City. He toured extensively with the Trio de Lutèce, with Georges Barrère, flute and Paul Kéfer, cello. After being drafted into the French Army during World War I, Salzedo returned to the United States and continued touring with the trio.
In consultation with Vaslav Nijinsky during a summer in Maine, together they developed a system of esthetic gestures to be used while performing on the harp. Subsequently, he was instrumental in raising money to save Nijinsky by funding his residence in a Swiss Sanatorium. Aside from touring with his trio, he organized The Salzedo Harp Ensemble, utilizing his students, which toured extensively, often in collaboration with singers from the Metropolitan Opera.
He co-founded the International Composers' Guild with Edgard Varèse in 1921, and founded the National Harp Association to promote the harp. In addition to forming a summer harp colony, first in Seal Harbor, then later in Camden, Maine, he founded the harp department at the Curtis Institute of Music in 1924. He continued to teach privately in New York City until his death. He developed new techniques and notations for these techniques, which he used extensively in his compositions after 1919.

Fernand de Brinon, Marquis de Brinon (French pronunciation: [feʁnɑ̃ də bʁinɔ̃]; 26 August 1885 – 15 April 1947) was a French lawyer and journalist who was one of the architects of French collaboration with the Nazis during World War II. He claimed to have had five private talks with Adolf Hitler between 1933 and 1937.Brinon was a high official of the collaborationist Vichy regime. During the liberation of France in 1944, remnants of the Vichy leadership fled into exile, where Brinon was selected as president of the rump government in exile. After the war was over, he was tried in France for war crimes, found guilty, sentenced to death, and executed.