Public Figures & Cultural Luminaries

Tabu Ley Rochereau

Pascal-Emmanuel Sinamoyi Tabu

Congo

1937-11-13 – 2013-11-30 (76 years old)

Visionary Congolese rumba pioneer who composed thousands of melodies, launched the career of Mbilia Bel, and in 1970 became the first African musician to headline the Paris Olympia.

Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo

4 Full Record →

Humanities

4

Mohamed Sibari

محمد سيباري

Morocco

1945 – 2013 (68 years old)

Pioneering founder and dean of Moroccan literature in the Spanish language, author of El caballo blanco and La rosa de El Ksar, decorated with the Officer's Cross of the Order of Civil Merit by the King of Spain.

Ksar El Kebir, Morocco

4 Full Record →

38

🕯️ 1,880

Nilton Santos

Nílton dos Reis Santos

Brazil

16 May 1925 – 27 November 2013 (88 years old)

Nilton Santos was an extraordinary Brazilian defender widely acclaimed as the greatest left-back in the history of football. Known as 'The Encyclopedia' for his encyclopedic knowledge of the game and flawless technique, he revolutionized defending by becoming the first full-back in World Cup history to attack down the flank, winning consecutive World Cups in 1958 and 1962.

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

38 Full Record →

17

Allal Ben-Kassou

علال بن قصو

Morocco

1941 – 2013 (71 years old)

Legendary goalkeeper for FAR Rabat and the Moroccan national team who earned 116 international caps and delivered heroic performances at the 1970 FIFA World Cup in Mexico against West Germany.

Rabat, Morocco

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Music

4

Wadih El Safi

وديع الصافي

Lebanon

1 November 1921 – 11 October 2013 (91 years old)

Revered as 'The Voice of Lebanon', iconic tenor whose seventy-year career elevated the Lebanese rural folk song and mawwal to international glory.

Niha, Lebanon

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18

Mehdi Faria

المهدي فاريا (خوسيه فاريا)

Brazil

1933 – 2013 (80 years old)

Beloved Brazilian-Moroccan football manager who converted to Islam, adopted Moroccan nationality, and led the Atlas Lions to the historic Round of 16 at the 1986 World Cup.

Kenitra, Morocco

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38

🕯️ 2,080

Sergey Belov

Сергей Александрович Белов

Russia

23 January 1944 – 3 October 2013 (69 years old)

Sergey Alexandrovich Belov was an elite Soviet shooting guard who scored 20 points in the historic, controversial gold-medal game at the 1972 Munich Olympics, ending the United States' 63-game Olympic winning streak. Winning eleven Soviet championships and two EuroLeague titles with CSKA Moscow, in 1992 he became the first international, non-American player inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.

Perm, Russia

38 Full Record →

Music

0

Jacques Loubélo

Congo

1940-01-01 – 2013-09-28 (73 years old)

Beloved folk balladeer and acoustic guitarist whose tender patriotic song 'Congo' ('Congo, mon beau pays...') is taught to every schoolchild as the nation's unofficial second national anthem.

Brazzaville, Republic of the Congo

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7

Lazhar Hakkar

لزهر حكار

Algeria

1945 – 2013 (67 years old)

Master painter and sculptor from Khenchela whose powerful totemic sculptures and mixed-media paintings celebrated the ancestral resilience and visual heritage of the Aurès.

Khenchela, Algeria

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Science

3

David Hubel

Canada

27 February 1926 – 22 September 2013 (87 years old)

Canadian-born neuroscientist whose Harvard experiments with Torsten Wiesel deciphered how the brain processes visual images, winning the 1981 Nobel Prize in Medicine.

Lincoln, United States

3 Full Record →

History

0

Kofi Awoonor

Ghana

1935 – 2013 (78 years old)

Acclaimed Ghanaian poet, novelist, diplomat, and scholar who served as Ghana's Ambassador to the United Nations.

Wheta, Ghana

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17

Amidou

حميدو بنمسعود

Morocco

1935 – 2013 (78 years old)

Pioneering Moroccan actor who broke into international cinema, starring in masterpieces by Claude Lelouch and Hollywood blockbusters including 'Ronin' and 'Rules of Engagement'.

Rabat, Morocco

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History

0

Paul Scoon

Grenada

1935 – 2013 (78 years old)

Governor-General of Grenada from 1978 to 1992 who guided the country through revolution, military coup, and the restoration of democracy.

St. George's, Grenada

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Literature & Poetry

1

Dagon Taya

ဒဂုန်တာရာ

Myanmar

1919-05-10 – 2013-08-19 (94 years old)

Towering modernist author, essayist, and peace advocate who led the post-war 'Sar-Thit' (New Literature) movement, championing humanist realism and authoring the classic portrait of Aung San 'Aung San the Untamed'.

Aungban, Shan State, Myanmar

1 Full Record →

14

Resistance & Human Rights

Tewfik Saleh

توفيق صالح

Egypt

1926 – 2013 (86 years old)

Intellectual pioneer of Arab political cinema whose adaptation of Ghassan Kanafani's Men in the Sun into the film The Dupes (Al-Makhdou'un) won the Tanit d'Or at the 1972 Carthage Film Festival.

Cairo, Egypt

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20

Mohamed Brahmi

محمد براهمي

Tunisia

1955 – 2013 (58 years old)

Founder of the People's Movement and member of Tunisia's National Constituent Assembly, assassinated on Republic Day 2013 for his outspoken defense of national sovereignty and secular democracy.

Tunis, Tunisia

20 Full Record →

16