Public Figures & Cultural Luminaries

Resistance & Human Rights

Aminu Kano

Nigeria

1920-08-09 – 1983-04-17 (62 years old)

Champion of the northern masses (Talakawa) and founder of NEPU and PRP who waged a lifelong campaign for democratic humanism, women's liberation, and the abolition of feudal taxes.

Kano, Nigeria

1 Full Record →

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🕯️ 920

Corrie ten Boom

Cornelia Arnolda Johanna ten Boom

Netherlands

15 April 1892 – 15 April 1983 (91 years old)

Dutch watchmaker who, along with her family, harbored hundreds of Jews and resistance fighters in a secret room inside their Haarlem house during the Nazi occupation, surviving Ravensbrück concentration camp.

Placentia, California, United States

43 Full Record →

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Louis Bobet

France

1925 – 1983 (58 years old)

French professional road cyclist who was the first rider to win the Tour de France in three consecutive years (1953, 1954, 1955).

Saint-Méen-le-Grand, France

44 Full Record →

Science

Ulf von Euler

Ulf Svante von Euler

Sweden

1905-02-07 – 1983-03-09 (78 years old)

Physiologist and pharmacologist awarded the 1970 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for discovering noradrenaline as the key sympathetic neurotransmitter and isolating prostaglandins.

Solna, Sweden

1 Full Record →

Arts & Music

37

Chabuca Granda

María Isabel Granda y Larco

Peru

1920 – 1983 (62 years old)

Peruvian singer-songwriter and poet universally revered as the queen of musica criolla, world-famous for the iconic waltz La flor de la canela.

Lima, Peru

37 Full Record →

Music

Claude Vivier

Canada

14 April 1948 – 7 March 1983 (34 years old)

Visionary Quebec contemporary classical composer whose radiant spectral masterpiece Lonely Child and ritual opera Kopernikus earned worldwide acclaim.

Montreal, Canada

1 Full Record →

Arts & Music

4

Hergé (Georges Remi)

Georges Prosper Remi

Belgium

1907 – 1983 (75 years old)

Belgian comic book genius universally revered as the father of modern Franco-Belgian bande dessinée, creator of The Adventures of Tintin, and originator of the influential 'ligne claire' drawing style.

Uccle (Brussels), Belgium

4 Full Record →

Music

Grand Kalle

Joseph Athanase Kabasele Tshamala

Congo

1930-12-16 – 1983-02-11 (52 years old)

Revered musician acclaimed as the father of modern Congolese music who founded African Jazz and composed 'Indépendance Cha Cha', the universal soundtrack of African liberation in 1960.

Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo

1 Full Record →

Arts & Music

19

Slimane Azem

ⵙⵍⵉⵎⴰⵏ ⵄⴰⵣⴻⵎ

Algeria

1918 – 1983 (64 years old)

Immense Kabyle poet, composer, and satirist who recorded over 200 songs, becoming the beloved voice of the Algerian working-class diaspora through his allegorical animal fables and nostalgia.

Moissac, France

19 Full Record →

Prophets & Divine Messengers

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Garrincha

Manuel Francisco dos Santos

Brazil

28 October 1933 – 20 January 1983 (49 years old)

Manuel Francisco dos Santos, beloved worldwide as Garrincha ('the Little Bird'), was an Argentine and Brazilian football folk hero renowned as the most mesmerizing dribbler in the history of the sport. Born with physical deformities including a deformed spine and crooked legs, he triumphed over all physical limitations to win the 1958 and 1962 World Cups, single-handedly carrying Brazil to the 1962 trophy after Pelé's injury.

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

43 Full Record →

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Lenyeletse Seretse

Lenyeletse Mpetwane Seretse

🌐 Botswana

1920-06-25 – 1983-01-03 (62 years old)

Pioneering public administrator and statesman who served as Vice-President of Botswana under Quett Masire, advancing grassroots local council governance and rural land administration.

Serowe, Botswana

6 Full Record →

Literature & Poetry

5

Louis Aragon

France

1897 – 1982 (85 years old)

French literary titan who co-founded Surrealism with André Breton, became the legendary bard of the French Resistance with Le Crève-cœur and Les Yeux d'Elsa, and devoted his life's poetry to his muse Elsa Triolet.

Saint-Arnoult-en-Yvelines, France

5 Full Record →

Art

Ásmundur Sveinsson

Iceland

1893-05-20 – 1982-12-09 (89 years old)

Master Icelandic modernist sculptor whose monumental, stylized public works celebrating workers, Icelandic sagas, and space technology decorate parks across Reykjavík.

Reykjavík, Iceland

1 Full Record →

4

Harry Jerome

Canada

30 September 1940 – 7 December 1982 (42 years old)

Sensational Canadian sprinter who set seven world records, won Olympic bronze at Tokyo 1964, and overcame a severed quadriceps tendon through sheer determination.

Vancouver, Canada

4 Full Record →

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Statesmanship & Statesmen

Percy Williams

The Vancouver Flash

Canada

19 May 1908 – 29 November 1982 (74 years old)

Vancouver sprinter who stunned the athletic world at the 1928 Amsterdam Olympics by winning both the 100m and 200m gold medals.

Vancouver, Canada

3 Full Record →

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