Public Figures & Cultural Luminaries

Kacem Kafi

قاسم كافي

Tunisia

1945 – 2018 (73 years old)

Beloved popular singer and composer from Sfax who revitalized southern folk music and popular rhythmic traditions with timeless hits like Yamma Wela Tsaddi and Hal Kasserine.

Tunis, Tunisia

5 Full Record →

10

Mimoun Bakouch (Mimoun El Oujdi)

ميمون الوجدي

Morocco

1950 – 2018 (68 years old)

Morocco's foremost pioneer of Raï music whose expressive voice, poetic Moroccan Darija lyrics, and smash hits like 'Nar Raï Gueddat' and 'Sawlouh' defined eastern Moroccan youth culture for thirty years.

Oujda, Morocco

10 Full Record →

7

Abdelbasset Ben Dahman

عبد الباسط بن دحمان

Morocco

1949 – 2018 (69 years old)

Tangier-born painter celebrated for luminous hyper-realistic portraits and dreamlike figurative compositions that captured the mysterious light and spiritual serenity of Moroccan faces.

Tangier, Morocco

7 Full Record →

Literature & Poetry

5

Arto Paasilinna

Arto Tapio Paasilinna

Finland

1942-04-20 – 2018-10-15 (76 years old)

World-famous Finnish satirical novelist whose picaresque ecological fable Jäniksen vuosi (The Year of the Hare) was translated into over forty languages as a global cult classic.

Espoo, Finland

5 Full Record →

7

Rachid Taha

رشيد طه

Algeria

1958 – 2018 (59 years old)

Trailblazing punk-rock and Raï icon born in Sig, who fronted 'Carte de Séjour', electrified global audiences with 'Ya Rayah', and performed the legendary '1, 2, 3 Soleils'.

Sig (Mascara), Algeria

7 Full Record →

19

Djamel Allam

جمال علام

Algeria

1947 – 2018 (71 years old)

Acclaimed Algerian singer-songwriter, actor, and musical pioneer from Bejaia whose modern, joyful Mediterranean arrangements and songs like 'Mara-d Youghal' conquered international stages.

Bejaia, Algeria

19 Full Record →

Literature & Poetry

5

Statesmanship & Statesmen

Hanna Mina

حنا مينه

Syria

9 March 1924 – 21 August 2018 (94 years old)

Celebrated Syrian social realist novelist renowned as the 'novelist of the sea', author of 'The Sail and the Storm'.

Latakia, Syria

5 Full Record →

40

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Kofi Annan

Kofi Atta Annan

Ghana

1938-04-08 – 2018-08-18 (80 years old)

World's preeminent diplomat who redefined global development through the Millennium Goals, humanized the UN civil service, and elevated human rights to a fundamental pillar of international law.

Bern, Switzerland

40 Full Record →

4,009

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Aretha Franklin

Aretha Louise Franklin

United States

1942 – 2018 (76 years old)

The undisputed 'Queen of Soul' whose incomparable four-octave voice and anthem Respect defined American vocal mastery.

Detroit, Michigan, United States

4,009 Full Record →

Art

Mary Pratt

Canada

15 March 1935 – 14 August 2018 (83 years old)

Celebrated Canadian realist painter whose hyper-detailed canvases of domestic life—jars of red jelly, cracked eggs, and fish on foil—revealed the transcendent eroticism of light.

Salmonier, Canada

3 Full Record →

Science

Donald Shaver

Canada

12 August 1920 – 28 July 2018 (97 years old)

Legendary Canadian geneticist and agribusiness innovator whose Shaver Starcross 288 breed produced billions of eggs, feeding generations across developing nations.

Cambridge, Canada

3 Full Record →

Sports & Athletics

16

Hacène Lalmas

أحسن لالماس

Algeria

1943 – 2018 (75 years old)

Voted Algeria's greatest footballer of the 20th century by sports journalists, Lalmas was the legendary captain and maestro of the great CR Belouizdad team of the 1960s.

Kouba, Algeria

16 Full Record →

Science

Arvid Carlsson

Sweden

1923-01-25 – 2018-06-29 (95 years old)

Eminent Swedish pharmacologist awarded the 2000 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for proving dopamine is a brain neurotransmitter, leading directly to L-DOPA therapy for Parkinson's disease.

Gothenburg, Sweden

3 Full Record →

11

Hassan El Glaoui

حسن الكلاوي

Morocco

1924 – 2018 (93 years old)

Foremost pioneer of modern Moroccan figurative painting whose dramatic, light-infused canvases of charging Berber horses, Tbourida fantasias, and Atlas landscapes were encouraged by Winston Churchill.

Rabat, Morocco

11 Full Record →

8

Khadija Jamal

خديجة جمال

Morocco

1935 – 2018 (83 years old)

Pioneering Moroccan actress who joined the national resistance against French colonialism in her youth, celebrated for decades of memorable roles in classical theater and hit television sitcoms like Lalla Fatima.

Casablanca, Morocco

8 Full Record →

12

Madiha Yousri

مديحة يسري

Egypt

1921 – 2018 (96 years old)

Celebrated screen legend dubbed 'The Dark Beauty of the Nile', who starred in over 90 classics of Egyptian cinema, founded her own film production company, and served as a UN goodwill ambassador.

Cairo, Egypt

12 Full Record →

Science