Public Figures & Cultural Luminaries

Timo Sarpaneva

Timo Tapani Sarpaneva

Finland

1926-10-31 – 2006-10-06 (79 years old)

Visionary Finnish designer and master glassmaker who designed the famous red Iittala 'i' logo, the Claritas art glass collection, Festivo candleholders, and the classic cast-iron pot with teak handle.

Helsinki, Finland

1 Full Record →

Politics

Margaret Ekpo

Margaret Sambu

Nigeria

1914-07-27 – 2006-09-21 (92 years old)

Pioneering Nigerian nationalist and women's rights campaigner who organized market women's associations, mobilized for suffrage, and served in the Eastern Region House of Chiefs.

Calabar, Nigeria

1 Full Record →

Art

Sven Nykvist

Sven Vilhem Nykvist

Sweden

1922-12-03 – 2006-09-20 (83 years old)

Legendary Swedish cinematographer who won two Academy Awards for Best Cinematography for 'Cries and Whispers' and 'Fanny and Alexander', celebrated as cinema's master of natural light.

Stockholm, Sweden

1 Full Record →

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Fouad El-Mohandes

فؤاد المهندس

Egypt

1924 – 2006 (82 years old)

Revered as 'El-Ostaz' (The Master), he was the towering architect of Egyptian stage comedy in the 20th century, inspiring generations of Arab comedians and hosting the daily radio show Kalemny Shokran.

Cairo, Egypt

11 Full Record →

Sports & Athletics

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Bob Mathias

Robert Bruce Mathias

United States

17 November 1930 – 2 September 2006 (75 years old)

Robert Bruce 'Bob' Mathias was an American multi-sport prodigy who became the youngest Olympic decathlon champion in history in 1948 at age seventeen, just four months after taking up the ten-event discipline. At Helsinki 1952, he became the first athlete to successfully defend an Olympic decathlon title, winning by a record margin of 912 points before serving four terms in the US House of Representatives.

Fresno, California, United States

34 Full Record →

Naguib Mahfouz Abdelaziz Ibrahim Ahmed Pasha

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Naguib Mahfouz Abdelaziz Ibrahim Ahmed Pasha

نجيب محفوظ

Egypt

11 December 1911 – 30 August 2006 (94 years old)

Preeminent Egyptian literary giant and first Arabic-language writer to win the Nobel Prize in Literature (1988), whose monumental Cairo Trilogy (Palace Walk) and Children of Gebelawi captured the alleys and soul of Egypt over seven decades.

Giza (Cairo), Egypt

41 Full Record →

Music

3

Maynard Ferguson

Canada

4 May 1928 – 23 August 2006 (78 years old)

Montreal-born jazz trumpet virtuoso whose astonishing high-register power, fiery big bands, and chart-topping "Gonna Fly Now" electrified global jazz.

Ventura, United States

3 Full Record →

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Bismillah Khan

उस्ताद बिस्मिल्लाह ख़ान

India

1916 – 2006 (90 years old)

Legendary Indian classical musician who elevated the shehnai from a modest wedding folk instrument to the premier concert classical stage, awarded the Bharat Ratna in 2001.

Varanasi (Uttar Pradesh), India

26 Full Record →

Shamsur Rahman

শামসুর রাহমান

Bangladesh

1929-10-23 – 2006-08-17 (76 years old)

Premier modernist poet of post-partition Bengal whose verses (including 'Asad's Shirt' and 'To You, O Freedom') served as the poetic conscience of the 1969 Mass Uprising and 1971 Liberation War.

Dhaka, Bangladesh

1 Full Record →

Sciences & Discovery

4

Mahfoud Kaddache

محفوظ قداش

Algeria

1921 – 2006 (85 years old)

The foremost academic historian of the Algerian National Movement, whose monumental two-volume study 'Histoire du nationalisme algérien' is the bedrock text on the rise of the revolution.

Algiers, Algeria

4 Full Record →

6

Midani Ben Salah

الميداني بن صالح

Tunisia

1929 – 2006 (76 years old)

Celebrated poet of the Jerid desert oasis who celebrated Palestinian solidarity, southern working-class struggles, and North African brotherhood in vibrant collections such as Night in the Oasis.

Nefta, Tunisia

6 Full Record →

5

Fatima Chebchoub

فاطمة شبشوب

Morocco

1952 – 2006 (54 years old)

Visionary dramatist, director, and university professor who made history as Morocco's first female Halqa street storyteller, transforming traditional masculine oral theater into feminist social critique.

Casablanca, Morocco

5 Full Record →

15

El Hachemi Guerouabi

الهاشمي قروابي

Algeria

1938 – 2006 (68 years old)

Undisputed modern giant of Algerian Chaabi music who modernized the Casbah musical genre with peerless vocal elegance, theatrical charisma, and unforgettable masterpieces like 'El Barah'.

Algiers, Algeria

15 Full Record →

3

Ismail Shammout

إسماعيل شموط

Palestine

1930 – 3 July 2006 (76 years old)

Founding father of modern Palestinian painting whose iconic realist and symbolic canvases depicted the Nakba and the return to the homeland.

Amman, Jordan

3 Full Record →

31

Cheikha Rimitti

الشيخة ريميتي (سعدية الغيزانية)

Algeria

1923 – 2006 (83 years old)

Fierce and legendary Algerian vocalist acclaimed as the 'Grandmother of Raï' (Godmother of Raï), who defied social conventions for six decades to sing raw, uncensored songs of female desire, poverty, and liberation.

Val-de-Marne, France

31 Full Record →

Sports & Athletics

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Floyd Patterson

United States

4 January 1935 – 11 May 2006 (71 years old)

Floyd Patterson was an Olympic gold medalist and two-time world heavyweight champion who became the youngest undisputed heavyweight champion in history in 1956 at age twenty-one. Mentored by legendary trainer Cus D'Amato, he utilized the peek-a-boo defense and leaping 'gazelle punch', and in 1960 became the first man in boxing history to regain the heavyweight crown.

New Paltz, New York, United States

36 Full Record →

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