Public Figures & Cultural Luminaries

Arts & Music

7

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Mohamed Bastaoui

محمد بسطاوي

Morocco

1954 – 2014 (60 years old)

Beloved Moroccan stage and cinema actor acclaimed for his extraordinary ability to embody authentic rural Moroccan figures, starring in iconic series like Dwayer Zman and Jnane El Karma.

Rabat, Morocco

7 Full Record →

Sports & Athletics

39

🕯️ 320

Joseph Jean Arthur Béliveau

Joseph Jean Arthur Béliveau

Canada

1931 – 2014 (83 years old)

Canadian professional ice hockey center who won 10 Stanley Cups as a player for the Montreal Canadiens, celebrated as hockey's ultimate gentleman.

Longueuil, Canada

39 Full Record →

Literature & Poetry

17

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Radwa Ashour

رضوى عاشور

Egypt

May 26, 1946 – November 30, 2014 (68 years old)

Distinguished Egyptian novelist, literary critic, and university professor whose epic masterpiece 'The Granada Trilogy' chronicled the tragic fall of Islamic Spain, celebrated for her profound intellectual courage and championing of human rights.

Cairo, Egypt

17 Full Record →

Literature & Poetry

5

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Said Aql

سعيد عقل

Lebanon

4 July 1912 – 28 November 2014 (102 years old)

Centenarian titan of Lebanese poetry whose sublime linguistic perfection and Phoenician cultural nationalism shaped modern Lebanese literature.

Zahlé, Lebanon

5 Full Record →

Music

4

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Sabah

صباح / جانيت فغالي

Lebanon

10 November 1927 – 26 November 2014 (87 years old)

Legendary Lebanese-Egyptian diva known as 'Al-Shahroura' and 'The Empress of Arab Song' who starred in ninety-eight films and recorded over three thousand songs.

Bdoun, Lebanon

4 Full Record →

Philosophy & Thought

34

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Abdelwahab Meddeb

عبد الوهاب المؤدب

Tunisia

1946 – 2014 (68 years old)

Tunisian-French poet, novelist, and philosopher who produced the renowned radio broadcast 'Cultures d'Islam' and authored the acclaimed critical treatise 'The Malady of Islam'.

Paris, France

34 Full Record →

Resistance & Human Rights

6

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Zoubir Bouadjadj

زبير بوعجاج

Algeria

1925 – 2014 (89 years old)

Founding member of the Historic 22 who commanded the armed urban action groups in the Casbah of Algiers on November 1, 1954.

Algiers, Algeria

6 Full Record →

Arts & Music

16

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Farid Belkahia

فريد بلكاهية

Morocco

1934 – 2014 (79 years old)

Founding father of modern contemporary art in Morocco who directed the Casablanca Art School (1962-1974), pioneering the use of raw animal vellum, henna, and Amazigh symbols.

Palm Grove (Marrakech), Morocco

16 Full Record →

Music

3

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Kenny Wheeler

Kenny Wheeler

Canada

14 January 1930 – 18 September 2014 (84 years old)

Internationally revered Toronto-born jazz composer and flugelhornist whose wistful, melancholy tone and ECM recordings shaped modern European jazz.

London, United Kingdom

3 Full Record →

Music

4

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Salah El Mahdi

صالح المهدي (زرياب)

Tunisia

1925 – 2014 (89 years old)

Legendary musicologist, ney master, and composer known as 'Ziryab' who composed Tunisia's first national anthem Ala Khallidi and established the nationwide network of regional music conservatories.

Tunis, Tunisia

4 Full Record →

Music

0

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Amadou Balaké

Amadou Traoré

Burkina Faso

1944-01-01 – 2014-08-27 (70 years old)

Pioneering Burkinabé singer whose rich vocal power, blending traditional Mossi Warba dance rhythms with Afro-Cuban salsa and funk ('Taximen', 'Whisky et Coca-Cola'), made him a West African musical legend.

Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso

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Literature & Poetry

5

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Samih al-Qasim

سميح القاسم

Jordan

11 May 1939 – 19 August 2014 (75 years old)

Formidable Palestinian resistance poet from Rameh who authored seventy books of verse and was repeatedly jailed for refusing military conscription.

Rameh, Palestine

5 Full Record →

Literature & Poetry

0

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Tsegai Negash

Tsegai Negash

Eritrea

c. 1942 – 2014 (72 years old)

Master poet and playwright whose patriotic Tigrinya dramas, including 'Bahlina' and revolutionary stage plays, inspired freedom fighters in the trenches of Sahel during the liberation war.

Asmara, Eritrea

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Prophets & Divine Messengers

19

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Hassen Zirelli

حسن الزرلي

Tunisia

1938 AD – 2014 (76 years old)

Virtuoso master of the qanun (zither) and classical music theorist who modernized Arabic instrumental pedagogy and composed intricate instrumental pieces for the national ensemble.

Tunis, Tunisia

19 Full Record →

Sports & Athletics

43

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Alfredo Di Stéfano

Alfredo Stéfano Di Stéfano Laulhé

Argentina

4 July 1926 – 7 July 2014 (88 years old)

Alfredo Di Stéfano was an extraordinary Argentine-Spanish footballer whose unmatched versatility, endurance, and leadership turned Real Madrid into the undisputed kings of European football. Winning five consecutive European Cups between 1956 and 1960 and scoring in every single final, he is widely regarded as the most complete footballer who ever lived.

Madrid, Spain

43 Full Record →

Politics

0

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Marcel Sandoungout

Marcel Sandoungout

Gabon

1938 – 2014 (76 years old)

Distinguished jurist and founding diplomat who served as Gabon's long-serving Ambassador to France, represented Gabon at the United Nations, and presided over the Supreme Court of Gabon.

Libreville, Gabon

0 Full Record →

Sciences & Discovery

3,676

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Stephanie Kwolek

Stephanie Louise Kwolek

United States

1923 – 2014 (90 years old)

American chemist at DuPont who invented Kevlar, the revolutionary synthetic fiber five times stronger than steel.

Wilmington, Delaware, United States

3,676 Full Record →

Philosophy & Thought

36

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Mahdi Elmandjra

المهدي المنجرة

Morocco

1933 – 2014 (81 years old)

Visionary Moroccan futurist, economist, and sociologist who served as Assistant Director-General of UNESCO, President of the World Future Studies Federation, and author of 'The First Cultural World War'.

Rabat, Morocco

36 Full Record →