Public Figures & Cultural Luminaries

Georges Rawiri

Gabon

1932-11-30 – 2006-04-09 (73 years old)

Eminent Gabonese poet and statesman who served as Foreign Minister, Deputy Prime Minister, and first President of the Senate of Gabon, author of classic lyrical collections.

Lambarene, Gabon

2 Full Record →

Arts & Music

Marcel Dubé

Canada

1930 – 2006 (76 years old)

Prolific Quebec dramatist whose powerful urban tragedies Zone and Un simple soldat captured the existential alienation of working-class youth on the eve of the Quiet Revolution.

Montreal, Canada

2 Full Record →

3

Muhammad al-Maghut

محمد الماغوط

Syria

1934 – 3 April 2006 (72 years old)

Revolutionary Syrian poet and satirical playwright who fathered modern Arabic prose poetry and skewered Arab authoritarianism.

Salamiyah, Syria

3 Full Record →

Arts & Music

Edgar Naccache

إدغار نقاش

Tunisia

1917 – 2006 (88 years old)

Leading Tunisian Jewish painter and co-founder of the Tunis School whose luminous Mediterranean landscapes, harbor scenes, and still lifes captured the soft coastal light of Carthage.

Paris (Memorial in Tunis), France

2 Full Record →

29

Stanisław Lem

Stanisław Herman Lem

Poland

1921 – 2006 (84 years old)

Foremost Polish science fiction author and philosopher of technology whose Solaris, The Cyberiad, and Summa Technologiae explored the limits of human intelligence.

Kraków, Poland

29 Full Record →

7

Abdelkrim al-Filali

عبد الكريم الفيلالي

Morocco

1927 – 2006 (79 years old)

Distinguished Moroccan historian and anti-colonial journalist who authored the monumental 10-volume Political History of the Arab Maghreb, documenting shared North African anti-imperialist solidarity.

Rabat, Morocco

7 Full Record →

Tsegaye Gabre-Medhin

Ethiopia

1936-08-17 – 2006-02-25 (69 years old)

Revered Poet Laureate of Ethiopia whose epic plays, including 'Oda Oak Oracle' and 'Tewodros', and master translations of Shakespeare revitalized modern Ethiopian theatre.

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

2 Full Record →

Sports & Athletics

25

Telmo Zarra

Pedro Telmo Zarraonandía Montoya

Spain

1921 – 2006 (85 years old)

Prolific Athletic Bilbao striker whose record of six Pichichi trophies stood for six decades, and whose goal against England in 1950 gave Spain fourth at the World Cup.

Derio, Spain

25 Full Record →

Politics

1

Beko Ransome-Kuti

Bekololari Ransome-Kuti

Nigeria

1940-08-02 – 2006-02-10 (65 years old)

Renowned Nigerian medical doctor, human rights stalwart, and pro-democracy campaigner who led the Campaign for Democracy against General Sani Abacha's military dictatorship.

Lagos, Nigeria

1 Full Record →

3

Resistance & Human Rights

Mustapha Fersi

مصطفى الفارسي

Tunisia

1931 – 2006 (74 years old)

Pioneering modernist playwright, novelist, and cultural administrator whose plays revolutionized Tunisian theatrical drama and whose translations introduced world literature to Arabic readers.

Tunis, Tunisia

3 Full Record →

44

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Coretta Scott King

Coretta Scott

United States

27 April 1927 – 30 January 2006 (78 years old)

American civil rights author, activist, and leader who stood alongside Martin Luther King Jr., founded the King Center, campaigned successfully to establish MLK Day as a federal holiday, and championed international anti-apartheid and LGBTQ+ rights.

Rosarito Beach, Mexico

44 Full Record →

Humanitarian & Peace

32

Hugh Thompson Jr.

Hugh Clowers Thompson Jr.

United States

1943 – 2006 (62 years old)

United States Army helicopter pilot who landed his aircraft between American soldiers and Vietnamese civilians during the My Lai Massacre, halting the slaughter.

Lafayette, United States

32 Full Record →

Irving Layton

Israel Pincu Lazarovitch

Romania

1912 – 2006 (93 years old)

Flamoyant and combative Montreal poet whose vibrant, sensual verse and fierce attacks on puritanical prudery in A Red Carpet for the Sun energized post-war Canadian literature.

Montreal, Canada

2 Full Record →

Arts & Music

Osuitok Ipeelee

Canada

1923 – 31 December 2005 (82 years old)

Preeminent master Inuit sculptor of Cape Dorset celebrated for his gravity-defying green serpentine stone carvings of caribou and Arctic wildlife.

Kinngait (Cape Dorset), Canada

2 Full Record →

Music

1

Birgit Nilsson

Märta Birgit Nilsson

Sweden

1918-05-17 – 2005-12-25 (87 years old)

The undisputed supreme Wagnerian dramatic soprano of the 20th century whose laser-like vocal power conquered Bayreuth, the Met, and La Scala as Isolde, Brünnhilde, and Turandot.

Båstad, Sweden

1 Full Record →

Sports & Athletics

29

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Charly Gaul

Luxembourg

1932 – 2005 (72 years old)

Luxembourgish professional cyclist known as 'The Angel of the Mountains', renowned for his supernatural climbing abilities in freezing, apocalyptic weather.

Hesperange, Luxembourg

29 Full Record →

Sports & Athletics

25