Public Figures & Cultural Luminaries

Arts & Music

14

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Ken Russell

Henry Kenneth Alfred Russell

Great Britain

1927 – 2011 (84 years old)

Flamboyant and controversial British film director renowned for flamboyant, visually extravagant biographies of composers and bold films like Women in Love, The Devils, and The Who's Tommy.

Lymington, United Kingdom

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Sports & Athletics

17

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Vasily Alekseyev

Василий Иванович Алексеев

Russia

1942 – 2011 (69 years old)

Legendary Soviet super-heavyweight weightlifter who won back-to-back Olympic gold medals (1972, 1976), set 80 world records, and remained undefeated in major international competition for eight years.

Shakhty, Russia

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Arts & Music

15

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Paul Motian

Stephen Paul Motian

United States

1931 – 2011 (80 years old)

Revolutionary American jazz drummer and composer of Armenian descent who redefined jazz percussion as an equal melodic voice with the Bill Evans Trio and Keith Jarrett.

New York City, United States

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Sciences & Discovery

16

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Lynn Margulis

Lynn Petra Alexander

United States

1938 – 2011 (73 years old)

Iconoclastic American evolutionary biologist whose serial endosymbiotic theory revolutionized the understanding of cellular evolution, showing that mitochondria and chloroplasts originated as symbiotic bacteria.

Amherst, United States

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Sports & Athletics

9

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Djamel Keddou

جمال كدو

Algeria

1952 – 2011 (59 years old)

Iconic defender and captain of USM Alger, starting central defender of the Algerian national team that won the Gold Medal against France at the 1975 Mediterranean Games.

Algiers, Algeria

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Arts & Music

15

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Lev Borisov

Лев Иванович Борисов

Russia

1933 – 2011 (77 years old)

Eminent Russian stage and film actor, younger brother of Oleg Borisov, who starred in over ninety films and achieved cult television status as crime boss 'Antibiotic' in Bandit Petersburg.

Moscow, Russia

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Sciences & Discovery

18

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Har Gobind Khorana

हर गोबिन्द खोराना

India

1922 – 2011 (89 years old)

Indian-American biochemist who shared the 1968 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for deciphering the genetic code and later synthesized the world's first artificial gene.

Concord, United States

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Sports & Athletics

40

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Joe Frazier

Joseph William Frazier

United States

12 January 1944 – 7 November 2011 (67 years old)

Joseph William 'Smokin' Joe' Frazier was a relentless, ferocious heavyweight boxing champion who became the first man to defeat Muhammad Ali in the 1971 'Fight of the Century'. Armed with an unstoppable bobbing-and-weaving forward attack and the most lethal left hook in boxing history, the 1964 Olympic gold medalist reigned as undisputed heavyweight champion from 1970 to 1973.

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States

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Resistance & Human Rights

17

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Slimane Dehilès (Colonel Sadek)

سليمان دهيليس (العقيد صادق)

Algeria

1920 – 2011 (90 years old)

Legendary ALN Colonel who served as right-hand commander to Krim Belkacem and Ouamrane, commander of Wilaya 4, and husband of resistance heroine Izza Bouzekri.

Algiers, Algeria

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Sciences & Discovery

22

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Norman Foster Ramsey Jr.

Norman Foster Ramsey Jr.

United States

1915 – 2011 (96 years old)

American physicist who received the 1989 Nobel Prize in Physics for inventing the separated oscillatory fields method, which enabled modern cesium atomic clocks and GPS navigation.

Wayland, United States

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Sports & Athletics

18

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Flórián Albert

Albert Flórián

Hungary

1941 – 2011 (70 years old)

Graceful Hungarian striker nicknamed 'The Emperor', the only Hungarian footballer in history to win the Ballon d'Or (1967), who spent his entire career with Ferencváros.

Budapest, Hungary

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Sciences & Discovery

16

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John McCarthy

John McCarthy

United States

1927 – 2011 (84 years old)

Visionary American computer scientist who coined the term 'Artificial Intelligence' (AI), developed the Lisp programming language, and pioneered time-sharing computing systems.

Stanford, United States

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Sports & Athletics

30

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Marco Simoncelli

Marco Simoncelli

Italy

1987 – 2011 (24 years old)

Beloved Italian MotoGP rider and 2008 250cc World Champion 'SuperSic', celebrated for his soaring mop of hair, aggressive riding spirit, and infectious joy that captured the hearts of millions of motorsport fans.

Coriano (Rimini), Italy

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Statesmanship & Statesmen

21

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Sultan bin Abdulaziz Al Saud

سلطان بن عبد العزيز آل سعود

Saudi Arabia

1928 – 2011 (83 years old)

Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia from 2005 to 2011 and Minister of Defense and Aviation for nearly five decades, modernizing the Saudi armed forces and establishing major humanitarian foundations.

Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

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Arts & Music

6

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Habiba El Medkouri

حبيبة المذكوري

Morocco

1927 – 2011 (84 years old)

Historic pioneer of Moroccan dramatic performance, known as the 'First Lady of Radio Drama' whose expressive voice on Radio Maroc in 1952 broke social taboos to launch female acting in Morocco.

Rabat, Morocco

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Literature & Poetry

18

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Norman Corwin

Norman Lewis Corwin

United States

1910 – 2011 (101 years old)

Revered American writer, director, and producer during the Golden Age of Radio whose patriotic broadcast On a Note of Triumph celebrated the end of World War II in Europe before 60 million listeners.

Los Angeles, United States

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Sports & Athletics

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Dan Wheldon

Daniel Clive Wheldon

Great Britain

1978 – 2011 (33 years old)

Charismatic British open-wheel racing driver who won the 2005 IndyCar Series championship and captured two dramatic victories at the Indianapolis 500 in 2005 and 2011.

Saint Petersburg, United States

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Arts & Music

14

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Barbara Kent

Barbara Cloutman

Canada

1907 – 2011 (103 years old)

One of the last surviving adult stars of the Hollywood silent film era, who starred opposite Greta Garbo in Flesh and the Devil and played Harold Lloyd's leading lady in Welcome Danger and Feet First.

Palm Desert, United States

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