Public Figures & Cultural Luminaries

George Habash

جورج حبش

Palestine

2 August 1926 – 26 January 2008 (81 years old)

Revered Palestinian revolutionary leader known as 'Al-Hakim', founder of the Arab Nationalist Movement (ANM) and the PFLP.

Amman, Jordan

2 Full Record →

27

Bobby Fischer

Robert James Fischer

United States

1943 – 2008 (64 years old)

Eleventh World Chess Champion whose sensational victory over Boris Spassky in the 1972 'Match of the Century' ended decades of Soviet chess hegemony.

Selfoss, Iceland

27 Full Record →

34

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Sir Edmund Percival Hillary

New Zealand

1919 – 2008 (88 years old)

New Zealand mountaineer, explorer, and philanthropist who, along with Tenzing Norgay, became the first climber confirmed to reach the summit of Mount Everest.

Auckland, New Zealand

34 Full Record →

4

Abdelaziz Gorgi

عبد العزيز القرجي

Tunisia

1928 – 2008 (79 years old)

Pivotal figure of modern Tunisian painting and head of the Tunis School for over forty years, whose whimsical figurative works and founding of the Gorgi Gallery catalyzed the national art market.

Sidi Bou Said, Tunisia

4 Full Record →

5

Religious Figures & Theologians

Cheikh Mohamed Bouzroud

محمد بوزروذ

Morocco

1925 – 2008 (83 years old)

Legendary Amayna (master) of Middle Atlas Amazigh Ahidous, whose charismatic leadership of communal allnatt circle dances and allun (frame drum) rhythms defined Moroccan mountain folklore.

Khenifra, Morocco

5 Full Record →

30

Statesmanship & Statesmen

Mohamed Salem Ould Baddah

محمد سالم ولد عدود (البداح)

Mauritania

1920 – 2008 (88 years old)

Revered Grand Mufti of Mauritania and supreme authority on Maliki jurisprudence whose encyclopedic memorization of Islamic texts earned him international acclaim across the Islamic world.

Nouakchott, Mauritania

30 Full Record →

25

Benazir Bhutto

بینظیر بھٹو

Pakistan

1953 – 2007 (54 years old)

Pakistani politician who made history in 1988 as the first woman elected to head a democratic government in a Muslim-majority nation, serving twice as Prime Minister of Pakistan.

Garhi Khuda Bakhsh (Sindh), Pakistan

25 Full Record →

32

Oscar Peterson

Oscar Emmanuel Peterson

Canada

1925 – 2007 (82 years old)

Canadian jazz piano titan celebrated as the 'Maharaja of the Keyboard', world-renowned for his dazzling speed, flawless blues articulation, and celebrated trio recordings.

Mississauga, Canada

32 Full Record →

9

Abderrahim Bargach

عبد الرحيم بركاش

Morocco

1949 – 2007 (58 years old)

Beloved Moroccan actor, journalist, and cultural personality who hosted the iconic television program Walima for two decades, celebrating Moroccan gastronomy and popular arts.

Casablanca, Morocco

9 Full Record →

3

Norval Morrisseau

Jean-Baptiste Norman Henry Morrisseau

Canada

1932 – 2007 (75 years old)

Anishinaabe visionary artist known as 'Copper Thunderbird' who founded the Woodland School of Art, painting sacred Ojibwe legends in brilliant primary colors with black astral energy lines.

Thunder Bay (Ontario), Canada

3 Full Record →

24

Nils Liedholm

Sweden

1922 – 2007 (85 years old)

Swedish playmaker and manager affectionately known in Italy as 'Il Barone', who won four Serie A titles as a player with AC Milan and captained Sweden in the 1958 World Cup final.

Cuccaro Monferrato, Italy

24 Full Record →

Literature & Poetry

4

Cyprian Ekwensi

Cyprian Odiatu Duaka Ekwensi

Nigeria

1921-09-26 – 2007-11-04 (86 years old)

Prolific Nigerian novelist, short story writer, and pharmacist celebrated for his vivid depictions of urban Nigerian life in masterworks like 'Jagua Nana' and 'People of the City'.

Enugu, Nigeria

4 Full Record →

Politics

0

Ahmed Al-Omran

أحمد العمران

Bahrain

1909-01-01 – 2007-10-21 (98 years old)

Venerated educator recognized as the 'Father of Modern Education in Bahrain' who directed the national educational system for over three decades and served as independent Bahrain's first Minister of Education.

Muharraq, Bahrain

0 Full Record →

History

1

Andrée de Jongh

Andrée Eugénie Adrienne de Jongh

Belgium

1916 – 2007 (90 years old)

Legendary Belgian resistance heroine code-named 'Dédée' who founded the WWII Comet Line escape network, personally leading over 118 downed Allied airmen across the snowy Pyrenees into neutral Spain.

Schaerbeek (Brussels), Belgium

1 Full Record →

37

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Al Oerter

Alfred Adolf Oerter Jr.

United States

19 September 1936 – 1 October 2007 (71 years old)

Alfred Adolf 'Al' Oerter Jr. was an American track and field titan who became the first athlete in history to win the gold medal in the same individual event at four consecutive Olympic Games (Melbourne 1956, Rome 1960, Tokyo 1964, Mexico City 1968). Remarkably, he entered none of the four Olympics as the world record holder or favorite, yet set an Olympic record in every single one.

Fort Myers, Florida, United States

37 Full Record →

Art

1