Public Figures & Cultural Luminaries

Rodolfo Galeotti Torres

Guatemala

1912 – 1988 (76 years old)

Master Guatemalan monumental sculptor who sculpted the iconic monuments to Tecún Umán and Atanasio Tzul.

Quetzaltenango, Guatemala

0 Full Record →

Arts & Music

3,445

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Chet Baker

Chesney Henry Baker Jr.

United States

1929 – 1988 (58 years old)

American jazz trumpeter and vocalist whose delicate lyricism, whispery vocals, and cool jazz aesthetic made him an international icon.

Inglewood, California, United States

3,445 Full Record →

32

Shen Congwen

沈从文

China

1902 – 1988 (85 years old)

Chinese writer celebrated for his lyrical pastoral novella Border Town, who captured the traditional culture and Miao indigenous harmony of rural western Hunan.

Fenghuang (Hunan), China

32 Full Record →

4

Tchicaya U Tam'si

Gerald-Felix Tchicaya

Congo

1931-08-25 – 1988-04-22 (56 years old)

One of modern Africa's greatest poets whose visceral, surrealist French verse collections like 'Epitomé' and 'Le Mauvais Sang' expressed the torment and resilience of the African continent.

Bazancourt, France

4 Full Record →

Humanitarian & Peace

40

Colin W. Bell

Colin Bell

Great Britain

1903 – 1988 (85 years old)

Dirigeant humanitaire quaker anglo-américain, directeur de la Friends Ambulance Unit en Chine et secrétaire exécutif de l'AFSC pendant la guerre froide.

Swarthmore, Pennsylvania, United States

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Military

Khalil al-Wazir

خليل الوزير / أبو جهاد

Palestine

10 October 1935 – 16 April 1988 (52 years old)

Supreme military commander and co-founder of Fatah, celebrated as the strategic mastermind of the 1987 First Intifada.

Damascus, Syria

1 Full Record →

Politics

Dulcie September

Dulcie Evonne September

South Africa

1935-08-20 – 1988-03-29 (52 years old)

Courageous anti-apartheid teacher and ANC Chief Representative in France, Switzerland, and Luxembourg who investigated illegal arms trafficking to South Africa and was assassinated in Paris.

Paris, France

1 Full Record →

Politics

Abdullahi Issa

Cabdullaahi Ciise Maxamuud

Somalia

1922-01-01 – 1988-03-24 (66 years old)

First Prime Minister of the Trust Territory of Somalia (1956–1960) and Secretary-General of the Somali Youth League who presented the case for Somali independence before the United Nations.

Mogadishu, Somalia

1 Full Record →

Music

Vicky Longomba

Victor Longomba Besange Lokuli

Congo

1927-12-13 – 1988-03-12 (60 years old)

Foundational singer and composer who co-founded the legendary Tout Puissant OK Jazz in 1956 alongside Franco Luambo Makiadi, crafting unforgettable vocal harmonies that shaped modern African music.

Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo

1 Full Record →

Sciences & Discovery

37

Sewall Wright

Sewall Green Wright

United States

1889 – 1988 (98 years old)

American geneticist who co-founded theoretical population genetics alongside Fisher and Haldane, discovered genetic drift (the Sewall Wright Effect), invented the inbreeding coefficient, and developed the Shifting Balance Theory of evolution.

Madison (Wisconsin), United States

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4

Mikhail Naimy

ميخائيل نعيمة

Lebanon

22 November 1889 – 28 February 1988 (98 years old)

Beloved Lebanese philosopher, poet, and novelist who co-founded the New York Pen League and authored 'The Book of Mirdad'.

Baskinta, Lebanon

4 Full Record →

4

René Char

René Émile Char

France

1907 – 1988 (80 years old)

Colossal Provençal poet and WWII resistance commander code-named 'Capitaine Alexandre' whose aphoristic masterpiece Feuillets d'Hypnos recorded moral defiance in the maquis, praised by Albert Camus as France's greatest living poet.

L'Isle-sur-la-Sorgue (Vaucluse), France

4 Full Record →

Sciences & Discovery

1,332

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Richard Feynman

Richard Phillips Feynman

United States

1918 – 1988 (69 years old)

Iconic American theoretical physicist who pioneered quantum electrodynamics, Feynman diagrams, and nanotechnology.

Altadena, California, United States

1,332 Full Record →

Arts & Music

3

Qamrul Hassan

কামরুল হাসান

India

1921-12-02 – 1988-02-02 (66 years old)

Renowned master painter and folk modernist who designed the final geometric specifications of the National Flag and State Emblem of Bangladesh, famous for his iconic anti-authoritarian poster 'This Monster Must Be Annihilated'.

Dhaka, Bangladesh

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Humanitarian & Peace

45

Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan

خان عبدالغفار خان

Pakistan

1890 – 1988 (97 years old)

Leader spirituel et politique pachtoune surnommé le « Gandhi de la frontière », fondateur de la première armée de non-violence au monde, les Khudai Khidmatgar.

Jalalabad, Nangarhar, Afghanistan

45 Full Record →

Humanitarian & Peace

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