Public Figures & Cultural Luminaries

Abdelkebir Khatibi

عبد الكبير الخطيبي

Morocco

1938 – 2009 (71 years old)

Moroccan philosopher, sociologist, and novelist who formulated the concept of the 'double critique' (la double critique), challenging both Western ethnocentrism and traditional Arab patriarchal authoritarianism.

Rabat, Morocco

30 Full Record →

18

Zoubeir Turki

زبير التركي

Tunisia

April 19, 1924 – March 1, 2009 (84 years old)

Foremost Tunisian figurative painter and sculptor whose expressive sketches and monumental bronze statues, notably of Ibn Khaldoun, immortalized traditional urban life and historical national memory.

La Marsa, Tunisia

18 Full Record →

16

Tayeb Salih

الطيب صالح

Sudan

1929 – 2009 (79 years old)

Undisputed giant of modern African and Arab literature whose 1966 masterpiece 'Season of Migration to the North' was declared by the Arab Literary Academy as the most important Arab novel of the 20th century.

Omdurman, Sudan

16 Full Record →

Sports & Athletics

40

🕯️ 2,650

Hélio Gracie

Brazil

1 October 1913 – 29 January 2009 (95 years old)

Grand Master Hélio Gracie was the legendary Brazilian martial artist who, alongside his brother Carlos, created Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ) and the worldwide 'Gracie Challenge'. Being physically frail as a youth, he adapted traditional Japanese Kodokan Judo into a ground-fighting system based entirely on leverage, joint locks, and chokes, proving that a smaller, weaker practitioner can defeat any larger adversary.

Petrópolis, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

40 Full Record →

4,181

🕯️ 43

Andrew Wyeth

Andrew Newell Wyeth

United States

1917 – 2009 (91 years old)

Beloved American Realist painter celebrated for his tempera masterpiece Christina's World and intimate rural landscapes.

Cushing, Maine, United States

4,181 Full Record →

Music

1

Mansour Rahbani

منصور الرحباني

Lebanon

1925 – 13 January 2009 (84 years old)

Monumental Lebanese composer, poet, and dramatist of the Rahbani Brothers whose epic philosophical musicals spanned half a century.

Antelias, Lebanon

1 Full Record →

5

Resistance & Human Rights

Elie Azagury

إيلي أزاغوري

Morocco

1918 – 2009 (91 years old)

Recognized as Morocco's first registered indigenous modern architect, pioneer of post-colonial modernist design who played a leading role in the reconstruction of Agadir following the 1960 earthquake.

Casablanca, Morocco

5 Full Record →

47

🕯️ 890

Helen Suzman

Helen Gavronsky

South Africa

7 November 1917 – 1 January 2009 (91 years old)

South African anti-apartheid activist and parliamentarian who for thirteen years was the sole liberal opposition member of the all-white South African Parliament, relentlessly exposing government human rights abuses.

Johannesburg, South Africa

47 Full Record →

Science

0

Henri-Géry Hers

Belgium

1923 – 2008 (85 years old)

Pioneering Belgian biochemist at the Catholic University of Leuven and de Duve Institute who discovered inborn lysosomal diseases (Pompe disease) and identified the master metabolic regulator fructose 2,6-bisphosphate.

Ottignies-Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium

0 Full Record →

Art

2

Jørn Utzon

Jørn Oberg Utzon

Denmark

1918-04-09 – 2008-11-29 (90 years old)

Visionary Danish architect who received the 2003 Pritzker Architecture Prize for his breathtaking design of the Sydney Opera House, recognized as an architectural wonder of the modern world.

Hellebæk, Denmark

2 Full Record →

1,862

🕯️ 113

Miriam Makeba

Zenzile Miriam Makeba

South Africa

1932 – 2008 (76 years old)

'Mama Africa'—South African musical icon and anti-apartheid activist who popularized Afropop with hits like Pata Pata.

Cape Town, South Africa

1,862 Full Record →

2

Es'kia Mphahlele

South Africa

1919-12-17 – 2008-10-27 (88 years old)

Eminent author and literary theorist acclaimed as the Father of African Humanism, whose 1959 autobiography 'Down Second Avenue' is a global masterpiece of modern African literature.

Lebowakgomo, South Africa

2 Full Record →

Politics

1

Mikael Imru

Ethiopia

1929-11-10 – 2008-10-26 (78 years old)

Progressive aristocrat and diplomat who served as Prime Minister of Ethiopia during the pivotal revolutionary transition of 1974, known for his dedication to land reform.

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

1 Full Record →

Military

2

Leo Major

The Quebec Rambo

United States

23 January 1921 – 12 October 2008 (87 years old)

Legendary French-Canadian soldier, the only Canadian awarded the Distinguished Conduct Medal in two separate wars, who single-handedly liberated the Dutch city of Zwolle in 1945.

Pointe-Claire, Canada

2 Full Record →

8

Ali Sidqi Abd al-Qadir

علي صدقي عبد القادر

Libya

1924 – 2008 (83 years old)

Foundational pioneer of modern free-verse poetry in Libya, dubbed the 'Poet of Youth and Love', whose vibrant, optimistic verses broke classical neoclassical constraints in North African literature.

Tripoli, Libya

8 Full Record →

6

Hassan Skalli

حسن الصقلي

Morocco

1931 – 2008 (77 years old)

Dean of Moroccan stage actors, co-founder of the historic Maâmora theater troupe in 1952, and celebrated actor of monumental national television series and cinema classics.

Rabat, Morocco

6 Full Record →