Public Figures & Cultural Luminaries

Statesmanship & Statesmen

17

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Emmanuel Niyonkuru

Switzerland

c. 1963 – 2017 (54 years old)

Emmanuel Niyonkuru was a Burundian politician.. Celebrated internationally for distinguished contributions to leadership.

Geneva, Switzerland

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Statesmanship & Statesmen

21

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Yaakov Neeman

Switzerland

c. 1940 – 2017 (77 years old)

Yaakov Israel Neeman was an Israeli lawyer who served as Minister of Justice and Minister of Finance, although he was never a member of the Knesset.. Celebrated internationally for distinguished contributions to leadership.

Geneva, Switzerland

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Literature & Poetry

1

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Pierre Makombo Bamboté

Pierre Makombo Bamboté

Central African Republic

1932-02-15 – 2016-12-30 (84 years old)

Pioneering Central African poet, playwright, and novelist whose masterwork 'Princesse Mandapu' (1972) and lyrical verses brought the oral traditions and colonial wounds of the Ubangi basin to global acclaim.

Bangui, Central African Republic

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Sciences & Discovery

3,597

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Vera Rubin

Vera Florence Cooper Rubin

United States

1928 – 2016 (88 years old)

Pioneering astronomer whose measurements of galaxy rotation rates provided the first robust empirical evidence for dark matter.

Washington, D.C., United States

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Arts & Music

1

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Chheng Phon

ឆេង ផុន

Cambodia

1930-08-19 – 2016-12-22 (86 years old)

Heroic cultural guardian, playwright, and Minister of Culture who miraculously revived the ancient Khmer Royal Ballet, shadowed theatre, and the Royal University of Fine Arts after the Khmer Rouge genocide.

Ta Khmau, Kandal, Cambodia

1 Full Record →

Sciences & Discovery

4,527

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John Glenn

John Herschel Glenn Jr.

United States

1921 – 2016 (95 years old)

First American to orbit the Earth aboard Friendship 7 in 1962, U.S. Senator, and oldest person to fly in space at age 77.

Arlington, Virginia, United States

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Arts & Music

7

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Hadj Mohamed Tahar Fergani

محمد الطاهر الفرجاني

Algeria

1928 – 2016 (88 years old)

The undisputed 'King of Constantine Malouf', master violinist with a golden voice who preserved and recorded the ancient Andalusian musical patrimony of eastern Algeria.

Constantine, Algeria

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Arts & Music

14

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Aïcha Mint Chighaly

عائشة منت شغالي

Mauritania

1948 – 2016 (68 years old)

Renowned female Mauritanian griot and master of the ancestral ardine harp whose powerful, hypnotic vocal renditions preserved the oral epics of the Sahara at world music festivals.

Nouakchott, Mauritania

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Literature & Poetry

8

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Mabrouk Belhocine

مبروك بلحسين

Algeria

1920 – 2016 (96 years old)

Distinguished nationalist lawyer, GPRA diplomat, and author of definitive historical works on the historic 1956 Algerian student strike and the GPRA.

Algiers, Algeria

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Literature & Poetry

1

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Antoine Bangui-Rombet

Antoine Bangui-Rombet

Chad

1933-10-24 – c. 2016 (83 years old)

Statesman and novelist who served as cabinet minister under Tombalbaye; imprisoned for three years in a desert cell, he authored the harrowing memoir 'Prisonnier de Tombalbaye' (1980).

Bousso, Chad

1 Full Record →

Arts & Music

18

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Amar Ezzahi

عمار الزاهي (عمار أيت زاي)

Algeria

1941 – 2016 (75 years old)

Beloved Algerian Chaabi maestro and ascetic street philosopher whose soul-stirring mandole improvisations, humble Casbah lifestyle, and refusal of commercial stardom made him a sacred folk legend.

Algiers, Algeria

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Arts & Music

5

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Vladimir Tamari

فلاديمير تماري

Palestine

1942 – 23 November 2016 (74 years old)

Visionary Palestinian optical artist and inventor in Tokyo who created the 3DD drawing instrument and designed the modern 'Al-Quds' Arabic font.

Yokohama, Japan

5 Full Record →

Music

4

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Leonard Cohen

Leonard Norman Cohen

Canada

1934 – 2016 (82 years old)

World-renowned Montreal poet and singer-songwriter whose gravelly baritone and sublime poetic meditations on love, grace, and despair produced global anthems like Suzanne, Bird on the Wire, and Hallelujah.

Montreal, Canada

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Arts & Music

5

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Marc Sleen

Marcel Neels

Belgium

1922 – 2016 (93 years old)

Iconic Flemish cartoonist and wildlife documentary filmmaker who created The Adventures of Nero and co., holding the Guinness World Record for single-handedly drawing over 200 full comic strip albums without assistants.

Sint-Amandsberg (Ghent), Belgium

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Arts & Music

7

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Moncef Souissi

المنصف السويسي

Tunisia

1944 AD – 2016 (72 years old)

Visionary theatrical innovator who founded the legendary Regional Theater Troupe of El Kef, decentralizing Tunisian drama and staging masterworks like El Halag and Diwan Ezzanj.

Tunis, Tunisia

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Arts & Music

11

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Lounès Kheloui

لوناس خلوي

Algeria

1950 – 2016 (66 years old)

Supreme virtuoso of the Algerian ten-string mandole who preserved the classical Berber poetic forms (isefra) through mesmerizing improvisations.

Tizi Ouzou, Algeria

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Sports & Athletics

38

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Carlos Alberto Torres

Carlos Alberto Torres

Brazil

1944 – 2016 (72 years old)

Brazilian football captain 'O Capita' who led Brazil's legendary 1970 World Cup winning team and scored the fourth goal in the final against Italy, universally hailed as the greatest team goal in World Cup history.

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

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Arts & Music

6

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Marwan Kassab-Bachi

مروان قصاب باشي

Syria

31 January 1934 – 22 October 2016 (82 years old)

Internationally renowned Syrian-German painter celebrated for his monumental, layered expressionist human face landscapes (Köpfe).

Berlin, Germany

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