Public Figures & Cultural Luminaries

Arts & Music

3,383

🕯️ 164

Ray Charles

Ray Charles Robinson

United States

1930 – 2004 (73 years old)

'The Genius' who pioneered soul music by fusing gospel fervour, rhythm and blues, and country music into American pop royalty.

Inglewood, California, United States

3,383 Full Record →

Arts & Music

6

🕯️ 0

Cheikha Djenia

الشيخة الجنية (فاطمة قنديل)

Algeria

1954 – 2004 (50 years old)

Raw, charismatic queen of traditional gasba-driven Raï from Sidi Bel Abbès, famous for unfiltered emotional improvisation and poetic storytelling.

Sidi Bel Abbès, Algeria

6 Full Record →

Music

3

🕯️ 0

Ridha Kalaï

رضا القلعي

Tunisia

1931 – 2004 (73 years old)

Legendary violin virtuoso and composer who discovered and launched the careers of iconic singers Oulaya and Safia Chamia, composing immortal tunes like Ya Hasra Alik Ya Zina.

Tunis, Tunisia

3 Full Record →

Literature & Poetry

36

🕯️ 0

Nick Joaquin

Nicomedes Márquez Joaquín

Philippines

1917 – 2004 (86 years old)

Philippine writer, playwright, and journalist named National Artist for Literature, who explored the complex Spanish-Catholic and Filipino identity in The Woman Who Had Two Navels and A Portrait of the Artist as Filipino.

Taguig (Metro Manila), Philippines

36 Full Record →

Politics

2

🕯️ 0

Mitchell Sharp

Mitchell Sharp

Canada

11 May 1911 – 19 April 2004 (92 years old)

Eminent public servant and federal minister under Pearson and Trudeau who steered Canadian finance, established the Canada Pension Plan, and guided foreign policy.

Ottawa, Canada

2 Full Record →

Arts & Music

5

🕯️ 0

Shafic Abboud

شفيق عبود

Lebanon

22 November 1926 – 8 April 2004 (77 years old)

Celebrated Lebanese painter of the École de Paris whose luminous, layered lyrical abstractions merged Mediterranean light and childhood memories.

Paris, France

5 Full Record →

Sports & Athletics

5

🕯️ 0

Briek Schotte

Albéric Schotte

Belgium

1919 – 2004 (84 years old)

Legendary Flemish cyclist known as 'Iron Briek', double World Road Champion (1948, 1950), two-time winner of the Tour of Flanders, and iconic embodiment of Flemish endurance through wind, mud, and cobblestones.

Kanegem (Tielt, West Flanders), Belgium

5 Full Record →

Arts & Music

2

🕯️ 0

Enrique Grau

Enrique Grau Araújo

Panama

1920-12-18 – 2004-04-01 (83 years old)

Master painter and sculptor of the 'Big Five' of modern Colombian art whose sensual, theatrical portraits of Afro-Colombian women and bronze sculptures celebrated Caribbean warmth and cultural hybridity.

Cartagena, Colombia

2 Full Record →

Arts & Music

10

🕯️ 0

Safia Chamia

صفية الشامية

Lebanon

1932 – 2004 (72 years old)

Beloved popular singer and musical comedian whose vibrant stage energy, sparkling wit, and hits like 'Mahla Qadek' shaped Tunisian radio, theater, and television for five decades.

Tunis, Tunisia

10 Full Record →

Arts & Music

32

🕯️ 0

Chaïbia Talal

الشعيبية طلال

Morocco

1929 – 2004 (75 years old)

Celebrated self-taught Moroccan painter from Chtouka whose vibrant, raw, and uninhibited canvases of rural women and feasts earned global acclaim from the CoBrA movement and the Salon d'Automne in Paris.

Casablanca, Morocco

32 Full Record →

Arts & Music

34

🕯️ 0

Vilayat Khan

विलायत ख़ान

Bangladesh

1928 – 2004 (75 years old)

Indian sitar virtuoso of the Imdadkhani gharana who modified the structure of the sitar to develop the revolutionary 'gayaki ang' (vocal style), making the instrument sing with the human voice.

Mumbai, India

34 Full Record →

Music

2

🕯️ 0

Zaki Nassif

زكي ناصيف

Lebanon

4 July 1916 – 11 March 2004 (87 years old)

Foundational pioneer of modern Lebanese music whose iconic folk compositions, including 'Raji Yit'ammar Lubnan', became national anthems of hope.

Mashghara, Lebanon

2 Full Record →

Literature & Poetry

2

🕯️ 0

Costas Montis

Costas Montis

Cyprus

1914-02-18 – 2004-03-01 (90 years old)

Foremost 20th-century Cypriot poet and novelist whose monumental work 'Poetic Moments' and novel 'Afentis Batistas' recorded seven decades of Cypriot historical anguish with poignant, razor-sharp brevity.

Nicosia, Cyprus

2 Full Record →

Arts & Music

5

🕯️ 0

Shakir Hassan Al Said

شاكر حسن آل سعيد

Iraq

1925 – 1 March 2004 (79 years old)

Profound Iraqi painter, calligrapher, and theorist who founded the One Dimension Group, blending Islamic mysticism and the Arabic letter.

Baghdad, Iraq

5 Full Record →

Literature & Poetry

48

🕯️ 0

Ahmed Sefrioui

أحمد صفريوي

Morocco

1915 – 2004 (89 years old)

Pioneering Moroccan author who published 'La Boîte à merveilles' (The Wonder Box) in 1954, recognized as the foundational classic of modern Moroccan literature in the French language.

Rabat, Morocco

48 Full Record →

Sports & Athletics

45

🕯️ 430

Marco Pantani

Marco Pantani

Italy

1970 – 2004 (34 years old)

Italian professional cyclist renowned as 'Il Pirata', widely regarded as the greatest pure mountain climber in cycling history, won the 1998 Giro-Tour double.

Cesenatico, Italy

45 Full Record →

Humanitarian & Peace

45

🕯️ 0

Denis Eugene Hurley

Denis Hurley

South Africa

1915 – 2004 (88 years old)

Archevêque catholique de Durban et figure morale majeure de la lutte contre l'apartheid en Afrique du Sud, défenseur intrépide des opprimés pendant cinquante ans.

Durban, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa

45 Full Record →

Arts & Music

18

🕯️ 0

Safia Farhat

صفية فرحات

Tunisia

1924 – February 7, 2004 (80 years old)

Trailblazing Tunisian visual artist, ceramicist, and educator who was the only female member of the École de Tunis, celebrated for revitalizing traditional tapestry weaving and championing women's artistic independence.

Radès, Tunisia

18 Full Record →