Public Figures & Cultural Luminaries

Hannah Höch

Anna Therese Johanne Höch

Germany

1889 – 1978 (88 years old)

German Dada artist and the supreme pioneer of photomontage, famous for her subversive, witty, and feminist critiques of Weimar society, gender roles, and mass media.

West Berlin, Germany

34 Full Record →

Ali Soilih

Ali Soilih M'Tsashiwa

Madagascar

1937-01-07 – 1978-05-29 (41 years old)

Visionary and radical revolutionary President of the Comoros (1976–1978) who dismantled feudal traditions, emancipated women and youth, and was toppled by European mercenaries.

Grande Comore, Comoros

1 Full Record →

Literature & Poetry

2

Statesmanship & Statesmen

Jorge Icaza

Jorge Icaza Coronel

Ecuador

1906-07-10 – 1978-05-26 (71 years old)

Foremost indigenist novelist of Latin America whose explosive 1934 masterpiece 'Huasipungo' shocked the world with its raw, unflinching depiction of the feudal exploitation and dispossession of indigenous Andean peasants.

Quito, Ecuador

2 Full Record →

37

Cyrille Adoula

Congo

1921 – 1978 (56 years old)

Prime Minister of the Democratic Republic of the Congo who formed a government of national reconciliation during the Congo Crisis and successfully reintegrated secessionist Katanga.

Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo

37 Full Record →

Moses Kotane

Moses Mauane Kotane

South Africa

1905-08-09 – 1978-05-19 (72 years old)

Colossal political strategist who served as General Secretary of the South African Communist Party (SACP) from 1939 to 1978 and Treasurer-General of the ANC, bridging the historic alliance.

Pella, South Africa

1 Full Record →

Music

Prophets & Divine Messengers

Aram Khachaturian

Արամ Խաչատրյան

Georgia

1903-06-06 – 1978-05-01 (74 years old)

Titan of 20th-century classical music whose fiery, rhythmically dazzling compositions, including the 'Sabre Dance' and the ballets 'Gayane' and 'Spartacus', achieved worldwide renown.

Yerevan, Armenia

1 Full Record →

Christian Lattier

Ivory Coast

1925-12-25 – 1978-04-23 (52 years old)

Acclaimed modernist sculptor who revolutionized 20th-century African art by creating monumental wire and string sculptures, winning the Grand Prix at the 1966 World Festival of Negro Arts in Dakar.

Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire

1 Full Record →

Philibert Tsiranana

Madagascar

1912-10-18 – 1978-04-16 (65 years old)

First President of the Republic of Madagascar (1959–1972) who proclaimed national independence in 1960 and governed through peaceful social democratic policies.

Antananarivo, Madagascar

1 Full Record →

Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti

Funmilayo Anikulapo-Kuti

Nigeria

1900-10-25 – 1978-04-13 (77 years old)

Foremost Nigerian educator, political campaigner, and suffragist who led the Abeokuta Women's Revolt and spearheaded women's voting rights across Nigeria.

Abeokuta, Nigeria

1 Full Record →

Science

Statesmanship & Statesmen

Charles Best

United States

27 February 1899 – 31 March 1978 (79 years old)

Pioneering medical scientist who co-discovered insulin alongside Frederick Banting at the University of Toronto in 1921, saving millions of diabetic lives.

Toronto, Canada

1 Full Record →

Sports & Athletics

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Jacques Edmond Brugnon

France

1895 – 1978 (82 years old)

French tennis player, fourth member of the legendary 'Four Musketeers', supreme doubles specialist who won 10 Grand Slam doubles titles.

Paris, France

38 Full Record →

Sports & Athletics

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Edward Ryon Makuahanai Aikau

United States

1946 – 1978 (31 years old)

Hawaiian big wave surfer and the first Waimea Bay lifeguard, saved over 500 people and sacrificed his life attempting to rescue the crew of the Hokule'a.

Oahu, Hawaii, United States

39 Full Record →

4

Resistance & Human Rights

Kaïd Ahmed (Commandant Si Slimane)

قايد أحمد (سي سليمان)

Algeria

1921 – 1978 (56 years old)

Senior ALN commander (Commandant Si Slimane) in Wilaya 5, Minister of Finance and Tourism, and party chief who spearheaded early agrarian and economic modernization.

Tiaret, Algeria

4 Full Record →

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Robert Sobukwe

Robert Mangaliso Sobukwe

South Africa

5 December 1924 – 27 February 1978 (53 years old)

South African political leader, scholar, and intellectual who broke away from the ANC to found the Pan Africanist Congress (PAC), initiating the fateful 1960 anti-pass campaign that led to the Sharpeville massacre.

Kimberley, Cape Province, South Africa

42 Full Record →

Arts & Music

5

Cheikh Abdelkrim Dali

عبد الكريم دالي

Algeria

1914 – 1978 (63 years old)

Virtuoso master of Andalusian Gharnati and Hawzi music, who served as a musical bridge between Tlemcen and Algiers and composed the beloved pilgrimage anthem 'Rehla Djamila'.

Algiers, Algeria

5 Full Record →

Literature & Poetry

6

Harry Martinson

Harry Edmund Martinson

Sweden

1904-05-06 – 1978-02-11 (73 years old)

Poet and author awarded the 1974 Nobel Prize in Literature, celebrated for his autobiographical novels and his visionary 1956 science fiction verse epic 'Aniara'.

Sollentuna, Sweden

6 Full Record →

Music