Public Figures & Cultural Luminaries

Statesmanship & Statesmen

Farouk Shousha

فاروق شوشة

Egypt

1936 – 2016 (80 years old)

Celebrated lyric poet and iconic radio broadcaster whose program 'Our Beautiful Language' (Lughatuna al-Jamila) aired for forty years, serving as President of the Academy of the Arabic Language in Cairo.

Damietta, Egypt

15 Full Record →

36

King Bhumibol Adulyadej (Rama IX)

พระบาทสมเด็จพระบรมชนกาธิเบศร มหาภูมิพลอดุลยเดชมหาราช

United States

1927 – 2016 (88 years old)

Ninth monarch of the Chakri Dynasty of Thailand whose 70-year reign made him one of the longest-reigning monarchs in history, revered as the moral anchor of Thailand who initiated 4,000 royal development projects.

Bangkok, Thailand

36 Full Record →

Arts & Music

6

Daphne Odjig

Canada

1919 – 2016 (97 years old)

Pioneering Potawatomi-Odawa artist who co-founded the Indian Group of Seven in 1973, blending cubist and Indigenous woodland styles, and became the first Indigenous woman admitted to the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts.

Manitoulin Island (Ontario), Canada

6 Full Record →

Humanitarian & Peace

50

Shimon Peres

שמעון פרס

Belarus

1923 – 2016 (93 years old)

Premier ministre et président de l'État d'Israël, artisan central des accords de paix d'Oslo de 1993 et lauréat du prix Nobel de la paix 1994.

Jerusalem, Israel

50 Full Record →

41

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Arnold Daniel Palmer

United States

1929 – 2016 (87 years old)

American professional golfer universally known as 'The King', won seven major championships and popularized golf for the television era with 'Arnie's Army'.

Latrobe, Pennsylvania, United States

41 Full Record →

Literature & Poetry

7

Hamid Nacer-Khodja

حميد ناصر خوجة

Algeria

1953 – 2016 (63 years old)

Esteemed Algerian poet and professor at the University of Djelfa, whose scholarly research single-handedly rescued and published the complete works of Jean Sénac.

Algiers, Algeria

7 Full Record →

Arts & Music

7

Kalthoum Bornaz

كلثوم برناز

Tunisia

1945 – 2016 (71 years old)

Pioneering female Tunisian filmmaker and editor whose feature films Keswa (The Thread of the Tale) and The Other Half of the Sky explored female emancipation, generational memory, and cultural tradition.

Tunis, Tunisia

7 Full Record →

Literature & Poetry

23

Nabile Farès

نبيل فارس

Algeria

1940 – 2016 (75 years old)

Visionary Algerian novelist, poet, and psychoanalyst whose avant-garde trilogy 'The Discovery of the Passions' explored the psychological wounds of colonization, exile, and Amazigh identity.

Paris, France

23 Full Record →

Music

Toots Thielemans

Jean-Baptiste Frédéric Isidor Thielemans

Belgium

1922 – 2016 (94 years old)

World-renowned jazz giant from the working-class Marolles district of Brussels who elevated the chromatic harmonica into a premier jazz solo instrument, composed Bluesette, and performed with Charlie Parker and Quincy Jones.

La Hulpe (Walloon Brabant), Belgium

4 Full Record →

Art

Arthur Hiller

Canada

22 November 1923 – 17 August 2016 (92 years old)

Edmonton-born Hollywood film director whose global blockbuster Love Story and satirical classic The Hospital earned major Academy Awards, and who served as Academy President.

Los Angeles, United States

4 Full Record →

Sciences & Discovery

3,505

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Ahmed Zewail

أحمد حسن زويل

Egypt

1946 – 2016 (70 years old)

Egyptian-American chemist revered as the 'father of femtochemistry' who used ultrafast lasers to film chemical bonds breaking and forming in real time.

Giza, Egypt

3,505 Full Record →

Music

Einojuhani Rautavaara

Finland

1928-10-09 – 2016-07-27 (87 years old)

Visionary Finnish composer whose luminous, mystical works—notably Cantus Arcticus (Concerto for Birds and Orchestra) and Symphony No. 7 Angel of Light—captivated the global classical music world.

Helsinki, Finland

4 Full Record →

Humanitarian & Peace

47

Abdul Sattar Edhi

عبد الستار ایدھی

India

1928 – 2016 (88 years old)

Icône humanitaire pakistanaise surnommée l'« Ange de la miséricorde », créateur du plus vaste réseau ambulancier et d'orphelinats bénévoles au monde.

Karachi, Pakistan

47 Full Record →

42

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Pat Summitt

Patricia Sue Head Summitt

United States

14 June 1952 – 28 June 2016 (64 years old)

Patricia Sue Head Summitt was a monumental American basketball coach who transformed women's sports during her 38-year reign at the University of Tennessee (1974–2012). Winning eight NCAA national championships and 1,098 games—the most in NCAA Division I basketball history at her retirement—her ferocious 'death glare', 100% player graduation rate, and courage against early-onset Alzheimer's made her a national hero.

Knoxville, Tennessee, United States

42 Full Record →

45

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Gordon Howe

Canada

1928 – 2016 (88 years old)

Canadian professional ice hockey player universally revered as 'Mr. Hockey', played 32 professional seasons across five decades and won four Stanley Cups.

Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada

45 Full Record →

Politics

Leonard Marchand

Len Marchand

Canada

16 November 1933 – 3 June 2016 (82 years old)

Trailblazing Syilx (Okanagan) agronomist who in 1968 became the first Status Indian elected to the Canadian Parliament, breaking political barriers in federal cabinet.

Kamloops, Canada

4 Full Record →