Historical Archives & Public Figures

Jean-Paul Riopelle

Canada

1923 – 2002 (78 years old)

Internationally renowned abstract expressionist painter whose vibrant, mosaic-like canvases applied with a palette knife established him alongside Pollock and de Kooning as a titan of post-war art.

Montreal, Canada

0 Full Record →

Arts & Music

2

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Mohamed Zourbat (Maâlem Sam)

محمد زرباط المعلم سام

Morocco

c. 1930 – 2002 (72 years old)

Revered Gnawa master of Casablanca whose lightning-fast guembri ornamentation and mastery of the 240 sacred liturgical songs influenced the modern urban Gnawa revival.

Casablanca, Morocco

2 Full Record →

Arts & Music

3

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Aly Bellagha

علي البلاغة

Tunisia

1924 – 2001 (77 years old)

Renowned painter and master wood craftsman of the Tunis School who elevated traditional North African artisanal iconography into sophisticated modernist assemblages and carvings.

Sidi Bou Said, Tunisia

3 Full Record →

Arts & Music

0

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Morris (Maurice de Bevere)

Maurice De Bevere

Belgium

1923 – 2001 (77 years old)

Belgian comic book creator who created Lucky Luke, 'the man who shoots faster than his own shadow', crafting alongside writer René Goscinny the definitive humorous Western saga.

Schaerbeek (Brussels), Belgium

0 Full Record →

Arts & Music

3

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Mustapha Badie (Mustapha Berkoune)

مصطفى بديع (مصطفى بركون)

Algeria

1927 – 2001 (74 years old)

Visionary founding director of Algerian television drama, whose 1974 masterpiece 'L'Incendie' (The Fire) brought colonial rural realities to millions of viewers.

Algiers, Algeria

3 Full Record →

Arts & Music

16

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Soad Hosny

سعاد حسني

Egypt

January 26, 1943 – June 21, 2001 (58 years old)

Incomparable Egyptian screen superstar adored as 'The Cinderella of Egyptian Cinema' (Sindirella al-Shasha), whose radiant exuberance, comedic brilliance, and dramatic depth in over eighty films defined modern Egyptian popular culture.

6th of October City, Egypt

16 Full Record →

Arts & Music

3

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Maâti Belkacem

المعطي بلقاسم

Morocco

1928 – 2001 (73 years old)

Beloved pioneer of Moroccan modern song whose iconic hits like 'Ala Ghafla' and 'Cana' defined the optimistic cultural spirit of post-independence Morocco.

Salé, Morocco

3 Full Record →

Arts & Music

16

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Cheikh El Arbi Temsamani

الشيخ العربي التمسماني

Morocco

c. 1920 – 2001 (81 years old)

The supreme guardian and maestro of the classical Moroccan Andalusian musical tradition (Al-Ala) whose Tetouan orchestra set the international benchmark for Andalusian orchestral perfection.

Tetouan, Morocco

16 Full Record →

Arts & Music

3

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Brahim El Alami

إبراهيم العلمي

Morocco

1930 – 2000 (70 years old)

Legendary singer and composer of the Golden Age of modern Moroccan music (Al-Ughniya al-Maghribiyya), famed for timeless hits including 'Ma Hla Ifrikya', 'Ya Nassini', and 'Khadija'.

Casablanca, Morocco

3 Full Record →

Arts & Music

2

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Maâzouz Bouadjadj

معزوز بوعجاج

Algeria

1935 – 2000 (64 years old)

The premier master of Chaabi and Hawzi in Mostaganem, disciple of Cheikh Abdelkader Djelloul, who bridged western rural melhoun with Casbah urban Chaabi.

Mostaganem, Algeria

2 Full Record →

Arts & Music

4,000

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Amália Rodrigues

Amália da Piedade Rebordão Rodrigues

Portugal

1920 – 1999 (79 years old)

The 'Queen of Fado' whose dramatic voice and black shawl made Portuguese fado world-famous.

Lisbon, Portugal

4,000 Full Record →

Arts & Music

5

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Abdelkader Rachdi

عبد القادر الراشدي

Morocco

1929 – 1999 (70 years old)

Giant of Moroccan melodic composition and conductor of the National Orchestra of Moroccan Radio and Television (RTM) for three decades, who composed iconic anthems and classic ballads.

Rabat, Morocco

5 Full Record →

Arts & Music

12

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Taheyya Kariokka

تحية كاريوكا

Egypt

1919 – 1999 (80 years old)

Legendary Egyptian classical dancer and actress dubbed by Edward Said as an embodied monument of Egyptian national style, renowned for her fierce anti-monarchical and anti-imperialist political activism.

Cairo, Egypt

12 Full Record →

Arts & Music

0

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Fateh Moudarres

فاتح المدرس

Syria

1922 – 30 April 1999 (77 years old)

Iconic pioneer of Syrian modern art whose textured, expressionist canvases merged ancient Assyrian-Aramaean motifs with raw human anguish.

Damascus, Syria

0 Full Record →

Arts & Music

0

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Gratien Gélinas

Canada

1909 – 1999 (89 years old)

The founding father of contemporary French-Canadian theater whose 1948 masterpiece Tit-Coq was the first indigenous blockbuster play to give voice to Quebec working-class reality.

Montreal, Canada

0 Full Record →

Arts & Music

31

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Oswaldo Guayasamin

Oswaldo Guayasamín Calero

Ecuador

1919 – 1999 (79 years old)

Ecuadorian painter and sculptor of Quechua-indigenous descent whose expressionist masterwork The Age of Rage (La Edad de la Ira) denounced the violence and oppression of twentieth-century tyranny.

Quito, Ecuador

31 Full Record →

Arts & Music

2

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Albert Rouimi (Blond-Blond)

ألبير رويمي (بلوند بلوند)

Algeria

1919 – 1999 (79 years old)

Beloved Jewish-Algerian albino singer from Oran who created the joyous 'Francarabe' genre, combining Andalusian Hawzi with jazz and flamenco.

Oran / Marseille, Algeria

2 Full Record →

Arts & Music

15

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Rouiched

رويشد (أحمد عياد)

Algeria

1921 – 1999 (77 years old)

Legendary comedic actor and dramatist of the Algerian theatre and cinema whose iconic satirical character 'Hassan Terro' captured the humorous foibles, courage, and humanity of ordinary Algerians.

Algiers, Algeria

15 Full Record →

Public Figures & Cultural Luminaries