Public Figures & Cultural Luminaries

Statesmanship & Statesmen

34

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Ong Teng Cheong

王鼎昌

Straits Settlements

1936 – 2002 (66 years old)

First directly elected President of Singapore, architect, and labor movement leader who championed the construction of Singapore's Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) subway system.

Singapore, Singapore

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Sports & Athletics

45

🕯️ 1,750

Zizinho

Thomaz Soares da Silva

Brazil

14 September 1921 – 8 February 2002 (80 years old)

Thomaz Soares da Silva, celebrated as Zizinho or 'Mestre Ziza', was the preeminent Brazilian football idol of the 1940s and 1950s, universally cited by Pelé as his childhood inspiration and the greatest player he ever saw. Renowned for his exquisite passing, two-footed dribbling, and tactical mastery, he was voted the Best Player of the 1950 World Cup.

Niterói, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

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Literature & Poetry

5

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Astrid Lindgren

Astrid Anna Emilia Lindgren

Sweden

1907-11-14 – 2002-01-28 (94 years old)

World-renowned Swedish author whose beloved creations, including 'Pippi Longstocking', 'Ronia the Robber's Daughter', and 'The Brothers Lionheart', sold over 165 million copies in 100 languages.

Vimmerby, Sweden

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Art

1

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Peter Gzowski

Captain Highliner

Canada

13 July 1934 – 24 January 2002 (67 years old)

Cherished Canadian radio broadcaster and writer whose intimate, conversational style on CBC Morningside united Canadians coast to coast to coast.

Sutton, Canada

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Sports & Athletics

34

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Vava

Edvaldo Izidio Neto

Brazil

1934 – 2002 (67 years old)

Two-time FIFA World Cup champion striker 'Peito de Aco' (Steel Chest) who scored in two different World Cup finals (1958 and 1962), a feat shared only with Pele, Paul Breitner, Zinedine Zidane, and Kylian Mbappe.

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

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History

0

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Ebenezer Ako-Adjei

Ebenezer Ako-Adjei

Ghana

1916 – 2002 (85 years old)

Founding father of Ghana, member of 'The Big Six', journalist, lawyer, and Foreign Minister who introduced Kwame Nkrumah to the UGCC.

Accra, Ghana

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Arts & Music

6

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Mohamed Zourbat (Maâlem Sam)

محمد زرباط المعلم سام

Morocco

c. 1930 – 2002 (72 years old)

Revered Gnawa master of Casablanca whose lightning-fast guembri ornamentation and mastery of the 240 sacred liturgical songs influenced the modern urban Gnawa revival.

Casablanca, Morocco

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Literature & Poetry

34

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Léopold Sédar Senghor

Léopold Sédar Senghor

Senegal

1906 – 2001 (95 years old)

Senegalese poet, philosopher, statesman, and first President of Senegal who co-founded the Négritude movement and became the first African elected to the Académie Française.

Dakar, Senegal

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History

0

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Martha Jean-Claude

Martha Jean-Claude

Haiti

1919 – 2001 (82 years old)

Revered Haitian singer, composer, and activist who spent decades in Cuban exile singing anthems of anti-dictatorship struggle.

Havana, Haiti

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Politics

0

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Juan Bosch

Juan Emilio Bosch Gaviño

Dominican Republic

1909-06-30 – 2001-11-01 (92 years old)

Colossal 20th-century political leader, master of the Latin American short story, and first democratically elected President after the Trujillo dictatorship (1963), author of 'Cuentos escritos en el exilio'.

La Vega, Dominican Republic

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Politics

4

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Jellouli Fares

الجلولي فارس

Tunisia

1909 – 2001 (92 years old)

Historic nationalist leader from Gabès who presided over the National Constituent Assembly that abolished the monarchy, proclaimed the Republic of Tunisia, and enacted the 1959 Constitution.

Tunis, Tunisia

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Literature & Poetry

0

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René Philombé

Philippe-Louis Ombedé

Cameroon

1930-11-13 – 2001-10-25 (70 years old)

Heroic paralyzed poet and writer who overcame severe physical affliction to found the Association of Cameroonian Writers (APEC) and author poignant humanitarian works like 'Choc anti-choc'.

Yaoundé, Cameroon

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Literature & Poetry

4

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Mongo Beti

Alexandre Biyidi Awala

Cameroon

1932-06-30 – 2001-10-07 (69 years old)

One of Africa's most fearless and influential novelists whose anti-colonial masterpieces 'The Poor Christ of Bomba' and 'Mission to Kala' fiercely challenged both imperialism and neocolonial regimes.

Akometam, Cameroon

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History

0

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Stelios Kazantzidis

Stelios Kazantzidis

Greece

1931 – 2001 (70 years old)

Iconic Greek singer who became the supreme musical voice of the working class, Greek refugees, and gastarbeiter emigrants.

Eleusis, Greece

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Sciences & Discovery

1,236

🕯️ 160

Christiaan Barnard

Christiaan Neethling Barnard

South Africa

1922 – 2001 (78 years old)

South African cardiac surgeon who performed the world's first successful human-to-human heart transplant in 1967.

Beaufort West, Western Cape, South Africa

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Politics

0

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Govan Mbeki

Govan Archibald Mvuyelwa Mbeki

South Africa

1910-07-09 – 2001-08-30 (91 years old)

Heroic Rivonia Trialist and political theorist known as 'Oom Gov', who spent twenty-four years on Robben Island and authored 'The Peasants' Revolt', father of President Thabo Mbeki.

Port Elizabeth, South Africa

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Sciences & Discovery

2,135

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Fred Hoyle

Sir Fred Hoyle

Great Britain

1915 – 2001 (86 years old)

Visionary English astrophysicist who explained stellar nucleosynthesis of chemical elements and coined the term 'Big Bang'.

Leicester, United Kingdom

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Literature & Poetry

35

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Jorge Amado

Jorge Leal Amado de Faria

Brazil

1912 – 2001 (88 years old)

Foremost Brazilian novelist whose colorful, sensual chronicles of Afro-Bahian culture in Gabriela, Clove and Cinnamon and Dona Flor and Her Two Husbands captivated the world.

Salvador da Bahia, Brazil

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