Public Figures & Cultural Luminaries

Arts & Music

32

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Idir

إيدير (حميد شريت)

Algeria

1949 – 2020 (70 years old)

Beloved Algerian Kabyle singer-songwriter and acoustic guitarist whose 1976 lullaby 'A Vava Inouva' became the first international world music hit from North Africa, heard in seventy-seven countries.

Paris, France

32 Full Record →

Sports & Athletics

17

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Noureddine Diwa

نور الدين ديوة

Tunisia

1937 – 2020 (83 years old)

One of Tunisia's greatest technical footballers of all time, the magical dribbler who led Stade Tunisien to four national league titles and starred in France with Limoges FC.

Tunis, Tunisia

17 Full Record →

Statesmanship & Statesmen

23

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Ahmed Osman

أحمد عثمان

Morocco

1930 – 2020 (89 years old)

Distinguished Moroccan statesman who served seven years as Prime Minister (1972-1979)—the longest tenure in modern Moroccan history—and later as President of the House of Representatives.

Rabat, Morocco

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Arts & Music

12

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Lassaad Jamoussi

لسعد الجموسي

Tunisia

1953 – 2020 (67 years old)

Acclaimed theater director, actor, and academic who spearheaded alternative stage arts in Sfax and directed the Carthage Theatre Days (JTC).

Sfax, Tunisia

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Sports & Athletics

40

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Sir Stirling Craufurd Moss

Sir Stirling Craufurd Moss

Great Britain

1929 – 2020 (90 years old)

English racing driver, widely acclaimed as the greatest driver never to win the Formula One World Championship, winner of 212 races across disciplines.

London, Great Britain

40 Full Record →

Arts & Music

5

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Rifat Chadirji

رفعت الجادرجي

Iraq

6 December 2026 – 10 April 2020 (93 years old)

Pioneering Iraqi architect and theorist who formulated 'regionalism' and designed over one hundred landmark modernist buildings across Iraq.

Woking, United Kingdom

5 Full Record →

Statesmanship & Statesmen

14

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Mahmoud Jibril

محمود جبريل

Libya

1952 – 2020 (67 years old)

Prominent political scientist who served as interim Prime Minister and head of the executive board of the National Transitional Council during the 2011 Libyan uprising, securing international diplomatic recognition.

Cairo, Egypt

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Politics

0

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Joachim Yhombi-Opango

Jacques Joachim Yhombi-Opango

Republic of the Congo

1939-01-12 – 2020-03-30 (81 years old)

Army general who succeeded Marien Ngouabi as President of the Congo (1977–1979) and later served as Prime Minister under Pascal Lissouba during the democratic transition of the 1990s.

Owando, Cuvette, Republic of the Congo

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Humanitarian & Peace

43

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Joseph Echols Lowery

Joseph Lowery

United States

1921 – 2020 (98 years old)

Pasteur méthodiste surnommé le « Doyen du mouvement des droits civiques », cofondateur de la SCLC avec Martin Luther King Jr., engagé pour la paix et contre l'apartheid.

Atlanta, Georgia, United States

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Music

0

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Manu Dibango

Emmanuel N'Djoké Dibango

Cameroon

1933-12-12 – 2020-03-24 (86 years old)

World-renowned saxophonist and titan of Afro-jazz whose electrifying 1972 hit 'Soul Makossa' created the modern global Afro-funk sound, famously sampled by Michael Jackson and Rihanna.

Paris, France

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Arts & Music

5

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Mohamed Aram

محمد عرام

Algeria

1934 – 2020 (86 years old)

The founding father of Algerian comic book art and animation, creator of Algeria's first superhero comic 'Naar, l'Invincible' in 1964.

Algiers, Algeria

5 Full Record →

Humanitarian & Peace

53

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Betty Williams

Betty Williams

Great Britain

1943 – 2020 (76 years old)

Militante de la paix nord-irlandaise, cofondatrice du mouvement Community of Peace People après le drame des enfants Maguire, prix Nobel de la paix 1976.

Belfast, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom

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Art

0

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Max von Sydow

Carl Adolf von Sydow

Sweden

1929-04-10 – 2020-03-08 (90 years old)

Colossal Swedish actor whose commanding presence in eleven Ingmar Bergman masterpieces, Hollywood epics like 'The Exorcist', and 'Pelle the Conqueror' earned two Academy Award nominations.

Seillans, France

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Music

3

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Victor Olaiya

Victor Abimbola Olaiya

Nigeria

1930-12-31 – 2020-02-12 (89 years old)

Revered trumpeter and bandleader known as the Evil Genius of Highlife who performed at Nigeria's Independence Ball in 1960 and mentored generations of West African musicians.

Lagos, Nigeria

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Humanitarian & Peace

28

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Frederick R. Koch

United States

c. 1934 – 2020 (86 years old)

Frederick Robinson Koch was an American collector and philanthropist, the eldest of the four sons born to American industrialist Fred Chase Koch, founder of what is now Koch Industries, and Mary Clementine Koch.. Celebrated internationally for distinguished contributions to humanitarian.

Washington, D.C., United States

28 Full Record →

Arts & Music

6

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Rezki Zérarti

رزقي زيرارتي

Algeria

1938 – 2020 (81 years old)

Pioneering expressionist painter, co-founder of the influential 'Aouchem' (Tattoo) modern art movement in 1967 alongside Baya Mahieddine and Mustapha Adane.

Algiers, Algeria

6 Full Record →

Literature & Poetry

3

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Kamau Brathwaite

Edward Kamau Brathwaite

Barbados

1930-05-11 – 2020-02-04 (89 years old)

Renowned Barbadian poet, historian, and cultural theorist who pioneered 'nation language' and the tidalectic philosophy of Caribbean history through his poetic trilogy 'The Arrivants'.

Bridgetown, Barbados

3 Full Record →

Resistance & Human Rights

43

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Lina Ben Mhenni

Switzerland

c. 1984 – 2020 (36 years old)

Lina Ben Mhenni was a Tunisian Internet activist, blogger and lecturer in linguistics at Tunis University. Celebrated internationally for distinguished contributions to resistance.

Geneva, Switzerland

43 Full Record →