Public Figures & Cultural Luminaries

Politics

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Ellen Fairclough

Ellen Louks Cook

Canada

28 January 1905 – 13 November 2004 (99 years old)

Historic trailblazer who became the first woman appointed to the federal Cabinet of Canada in 1957, reforming immigration and human rights.

Hamilton, Canada

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Statesmanship & Statesmen

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Yasser Arafat

محمد ياسر عبد الرحمن عبد الرؤوف عرفات القدوة

Egypt

1929-08-24 – 2004-11-11 (75 years old)

Transformed the Palestinian refugee plight into an internationally recognized national self-determination movement, establishing the Palestinian National Authority.

Clamart, France

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Prophets & Divine Messengers

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Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan

زايد بن سلطان آل نهيان

United Arab Emirates

6 May 1918 – 2 November 2004 (86 years old)

Founding father and first President of the United Arab Emirates whose visionary diplomacy united the seven Emirates in 1971.

Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

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Arts & Music

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Cherif Lamrani

الشريف لمراني

Morocco

1947 – 2004 (57 years old)

Founder, mandocello virtuoso, and chief composer of the groundbreaking Moroccan protest group Lemchaheb, who fused Maghrebi rhythms with electric mandolin, rock, and polyphonic vocal counterpoints.

Casablanca, Morocco

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Music

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Ildo Lobo

Ildo Neves Lobo

Cape Verde

1953-11-25 – 2004-10-20 (50 years old)

Iconic vocalist and frontman of 'Os Tubarões' whose electrifying, husky voice and socially conscious coladeiras and mornas provided the musical soundtrack to post-independence Cape Verde.

Praia, Santiago, Cape Verde

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Arts & Music

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Yahia Benmabrouk

يحيى بن مبروك (القويط / المساعد)

Algeria

1928 – 2004 (76 years old)

Legendary comic and dramatic actor who formed the immortal duo with Hadj Abderrahmane as 'L'Apprenti' and was a stalwart of the Algerian National Theater.

Algiers, Algeria

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Philosophy & Thought

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Jacques Derrida

جاك دريدا

Algeria

1930 – 2004 (74 years old)

World-renowned philosopher born and raised in El Biar, Algeria, who founded the revolutionary philosophy of 'Deconstruction', fundamentally transforming modern philosophy, literary criticism, and legal theory.

Paris (Essonne), France

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Politics

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Ahmed Dini Ahmed

Axmed Dini Axmed

Somalia

1932-01-01 – 2004-09-12 (72 years old)

Intellectual champion of Djiboutian independence and first Prime Minister of the Republic, who co-drafted the declaration of independence and led the movement for democratic multiparty governance.

Djibouti City, Djibouti

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Humanitarian & Peace

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Beyers Naude

Christiaan Frederick Beyers Naudé

South Africa

1915 – 2004 (89 years old)

Afrikaner Dutch Reformed minister who rejected the theological justification for apartheid, founded the Christian Institute, and stood as a moral beacon of reconciliation.

Johannesburg, South Africa

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Music

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Delkash

دلکش / عصمت باقرپور

Iran

26 February 1924 – 1 September 2004 (80 years old)

Iconic Iranian contralto whose powerful, rich voice dominated classical and popular music for five decades, starring in the first Iranian musical films.

Karaj, Iran

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Literature & Poetry

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Min Thu Wun

မင်းသုဝဏ်

Myanmar

1909-02-10 – 2004-08-15 (95 years old)

Revered poet, scholar, and educator who co-founded the 'Khitsan' (Testing the Age) modern literary movement, introducing fresh, simple vernacular lyricism and children's poems into Burmese literature.

North Okkalapa, Yangon, Myanmar

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Politics

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Paul Ngei

Paul Joseph Ngei

Kenya

1923-10-18 – 2004-08-15 (80 years old)

Heroic Kapenguria Six anti-colonial freedom fighter who saved Jomo Kenyatta's life in prison and served as a powerful cabinet minister for nearly three decades.

Machakos, Kenya

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Literature & Poetry

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Czesław Miłosz

Czesław Miłosz

Russia

1911 – 2004 (93 years old)

1980 Nobel laureate in Literature, Polish poet, essayist, and dissident whose The Captive Mind exposed the psychological seduction of totalitarianism.

Kraków, Poland

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History

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Papa Kouyaté

Papa Kouyaté

Guinea

1947 – 2004 (57 years old)

Master Guinean modern drum-kit percussionist and bandleader who backed Miriam Makeba and Les Ambassadeurs.

Conakry, Guinea

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Art

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Fay Wray

Fay Wray

Canada

15 September 1907 – 8 August 2004 (96 years old)

Alberta-born Hollywood golden age actress immortalized worldwide as the beauty who captivated the beast in the 1933 cinematic landmark King Kong.

Los Angeles, United States

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Politics

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Munir al-Ajlani

منير العجلاني

Syria

1912 – 20 June 2004 (92 years old)

Prominent Syrian constitutional jurist and Minister of Education who reorganized the Syrian educational system in the 1940s and 1950s.

Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

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Literature & Poetry

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Óscar Ribas

Óscar Bento Ribas

Angola

1909-08-17 – 2004-06-19 (94 years old)

Distinguished Angolan ethnologist and writer who lost his sight at age twenty-one and devoted his life to dictating masterworks of Angolan folklore, including Ilundo and Uanga.

Luanda, Angola

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Resistance & Human Rights

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Jacek Kuroń

Jacek Jan Kuroń

Ukraine

3 March 1934 – 17 June 2004 (70 years old)

Jacek Kuroń was an iconic Polish historian, dissident theorist, and principal strategist of the democratic opposition whose visionary concept of civil self-organization dismantled communist totalitarianism from within. Co-founder of the Workers' Defence Committee (KOR) and chief adviser to Lech Wałęsa's Solidarity, he spent over nine years in political imprisonment before guiding Poland's peaceful transition to democracy.

Warsaw, Poland

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