Public Figures & Cultural Luminaries

Sports & Athletics

26

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Helmut Rahn

Helmut Rahn

Germany

1929 – 2003 (73 years old)

German forward nicknamed 'Der Boss' whose iconic 84th-minute winning goal in the 1954 World Cup final against Hungary sealed the 'Miracle of Bern'.

Essen, Germany

26 Full Record →

Literature & Poetry

2

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Carol Shields

Carol Shields

United States

2 June 1935 – 16 July 2003 (68 years old)

Beloved Canadian novelist whose masterpiece The Stone Diaries won the Pulitzer Prize and Governor General's Award, illuminating women's everyday lives.

Victoria, Canada

2 Full Record →

Arts & Music

7

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Kamal El-Taweel

كمال الطويل

Egypt

1922 – 2003 (80 years old)

Master melodic composer and architect of 1950s–1960s Arab patriotic anthems, who composed Abdel Halim Hafez's timeless romantic songs Ahwak and Fi Youm Fi Shahr, and Umm Kulthum's Wallahi Zaman Ya Selahi.

Cairo, Egypt

7 Full Record →

Literature & Poetry

0

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Vasil Bykaŭ

Васіль Быкаў

Belarus

1924-06-19 – 2003-06-22 (79 years old)

World-renowned novelist and moral conscience of Belarus whose searing existential war novellas (including 'Sotnikov' and 'The Ordeal') examined human moral integrity in the face of death.

Minsk, Belarus

0 Full Record →

Art

1

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Hume Cronyn

Hume Cronyn

Canada

18 July 1911 – 15 June 2003 (91 years old)

Distinguished London, Ontario-born stage and film actor who won the Tony Award for Polonius and formed one of theatre's most legendary partnerships with Jessica Tandy.

Fairfield, United States

1 Full Record →

Music

2

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Tahar Gharsa

طاهر غرسة

Tunisia

1933 – 2003 (70 years old)

Primary disciple of Khemaïs Tarnane and conductor of the Rachidia, who spent a half-century transmitting the oral traditions, microtonal nuances, and poetic texts of the classical Tunisian Malouf.

Tunis, Tunisia

2 Full Record →

Science

1

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Ilya Prigogine

Ilya Romanovich Prigogine

Russia

1917 – 2003 (86 years old)

Russian-born Belgian physical chemist who won the 1977 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his groundbreaking contributions to non-equilibrium thermodynamics, particularly the theory of dissipative structures.

Ixelles (Brussels), Belgium

1 Full Record →

Arts & Music

14

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Tahia Halim

تحية حليم

Sudan

September 9, 1919 – May 24, 2003 (83 years old)

Distinguished Egyptian expressionist painter who won the prestigious Guggenheim International Award in 1958, celebrated for her deeply empathetic, earth-toned canvases depicting the ancient folklore, boats, and women of Nubia.

Cairo, Egypt

14 Full Record →

Statesmanship & Statesmen

3

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M'hammed Yazid

محمد يزيد

Algeria

1923 – 2003 (80 years old)

Charismatic Minister of Information of the GPRA whose brilliant diplomacy at the 1955 Bandung Conference and the United Nations internationalized the Algerian Cause.

Algiers, Algeria

3 Full Record →

Sports & Athletics

5

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Rik Van Steenbergen

Hendrik Van Steenbergen

Belgium

1924 – 2003 (78 years old)

Colossus of twentieth-century cycling known as 'The Boss' (Rik I), one of only six men to win three World Road Cycling Championships (1949, 1956, 1957) and victor in 40 Six-Day track races.

Arendonk (Antwerp Province), Belgium

5 Full Record →

Humanitarian & Peace

42

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Prince Sadruddin Aga Khan

صدر الدين آغا خان

France

1933 – 2003 (70 years old)

Haut-Commissaire des Nations unies pour les réfugiés de 1966 à 1977, qui transforma le HCR en une agence mondiale secourant des millions de réfugiés en Asie, Afrique et Amérique latine.

Collonge-Bellerive, Geneva, Switzerland

42 Full Record →

Humanitarian & Peace

38

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Walter Sisulu

Walter Max Ulyate Sisulu

South Africa

1912 – 2003 (90 years old)

Architect of the modern African National Congress who mentored Nelson Mandela, co-founded the ANC Youth League, and served twenty-six years on Robben Island.

Johannesburg, South Africa

38 Full Record →

Prophets & Divine Messengers

2

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Skunder Boghossian

Alexander Boghossian

Ethiopia

1937-07-22 – 2003-05-04 (65 years old)

Internationally renowned Ethiopian painter who fused Afro-metaphysics, Coptic church iconography, and European surrealism, becoming the first contemporary African artist collected by MoMA.

Washington, D.C., United States

2 Full Record →

Prophets & Divine Messengers

11

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Mongi Ben Hamida

المنجي بن حميدة

Tunisia

1928 – 2003 (75 years old)

World-renowned neurologist and neurogeneticist who founded the National Institute of Neurology of Tunis and discovered the genetic etiology of severe childhood muscular dystrophies (Ben Hamida Syndrome).

Kelibia, Tunisia

11 Full Record →

Literature & Poetry

36

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Mohammed Dib

محمد ديب

Algeria

1920 – 2003 (82 years old)

One of Algeria's most prolific and poetic writers, whose realist 'Algerian Trilogy' (La Grande Maison, L'Incendie, Le Métier à tisser) exposed the raw social misery and peasant awakening under colonial rule.

Yvelines, France

36 Full Record →

Arts & Music

3,492

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Nina Simone

Eunice Kathleen Waymon

United States

1933 – 2003 (70 years old)

The 'High Priestess of Soul'—singer, classically trained pianist, and Civil Rights icon whose fierce emotional power transformed modern music.

Carry-le-Rouet, France

3,492 Full Record →

Sciences & Discovery

28

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Bernard Katz

Sir Bernard Katz

Germany

1911 – 2003 (92 years old)

German-born British biophysicist who was awarded the 1970 Nobel Prize in Medicine for discovering that neurotransmitters are released at synapses in discrete packets or 'quanta' via calcium-mediated synaptic vesicles.

London, United Kingdom

28 Full Record →

Humanitarian & Peace

41

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Piero Corti

Piero Corti

Italy

1925 – 2003 (77 years old)

Médecin pédiatre italien, cofondateur et bâtisseur avec Lucille Teasdale de l'hôpital de Lacor en Ouganda, sanctuaire de santé et de paix en Afrique équatoriale.

Gulu, Uganda

41 Full Record →