Public Figures & Cultural Luminaries

Raymond Lemieux

Canada

16 June 1920 – 22 January 2000 (79 years old)

Eminent Canadian organic chemist whose 1953 first total synthesis of sucrose and discovery of the anomeric effect laid modern carbohydrate chemistry.

Edmonton, Canada

1 Full Record →

Literature & Poetry

2

Anne Hébert

Canada

1916 – 2000 (83 years old)

Brilliant Quebec poet and novelist whose chilling novella Le Torrent, poetry collection Le Tombeau des rois, and historical novel Kamouraska earned her three Governor General's Awards and France's Prix des Libraires.

Quebec City, Canada

2 Full Record →

Politics

Saeb Salam

صائب سلام

Lebanon

17 January 1905 – 21 January 2000 (95 years old)

Four-time Prime Minister of Lebanon, statesman of Beirut who coined the famous coexistence principle 'Neither victor nor vanquished'.

Beirut, Lebanon

1 Full Record →

5

Maâzouz Bouadjadj

معزوز بوعجاج

Algeria

1935 – 2000 (64 years old)

The premier master of Chaabi and Hawzi in Mostaganem, disciple of Cheikh Abdelkader Djelloul, who bridged western rural melhoun with Casbah urban Chaabi.

Mostaganem, Algeria

5 Full Record →

Music

Dan Gourmou

Mamane Dan Gourmou

Niger

1935-01-01 – 2000-01-01 (65 years old)

Legendary Nigerien traditional musician and master of the molo two-string lute whose philosophical poetry and historical epics preserved the oral memory of the Sahel.

Maradi, Niger

1 Full Record →

Politics

Charles Assalé

Charles Assale

Cameroon

1911-11-04 – 1999-12-10 (88 years old)

Pioneering Cameroonian trade unionist, diplomat, and statesman who served as the first Prime Minister of East Cameroon (1960–1965) following independence.

Ebolowa, Cameroon

1 Full Record →

Literature & Poetry

Sufia Kamal

বেগম সুফিয়া কামাল

Bangladesh

1911-06-20 – 1999-11-20 (88 years old)

Revered poet, feminist pioneer, and moral conscience of Bangladesh civil society who organized relief during the 1971 Liberation War and led the Bangladesh Mahila Parishad for three decades.

Dhaka, Bangladesh

1 Full Record →

Humanities

3

Paul Frederic Bowles

بول بولز

United States

1910 – 1999 (88 years old)

American writer and composer who lived in Tangier for 52 years, author of The Sheltering Sky, and ethnomusicologist who recorded hundreds of hours of traditional Moroccan indigenous music for the Library of Congress in 1959.

Lakewood, United States

3 Full Record →

37

🕯️ 280

Malcolm Denzil Marshall

🌐 Barbados

1958 – 1999 (41 years old)

Barbadian cricketer for the West Indies, widely acknowledged as the most devastatingly complete and fearsome fast bowler of modern cricket.

Christ Church, Barbados

37 Full Record →

37

🕯️ 3,250

Walter Payton

Walter Jerry Payton

United States

25 July 1954 – 1 November 1999 (45 years old)

Walter Jerry Payton, known affectionately across America as 'Sweetness', was an iconic running back for the Chicago Bears celebrated for his punishing 'never-die-easy' running style, exceptional stutter-step, and radiant off-field charity. Retiring in 1987 as the NFL's all-time leading rusher with 16,726 yards, the NFL named its prestigious annual Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year Award in his honor.

South Barrington, Illinois, United States

37 Full Record →

2

Statesmanship & Statesmen

Greg Moore

Canada

22 April 1975 – 31 October 1999 (24 years old)

Charismatic young British Columbia racing driver whose dazzling talent in CART IndyCar racing captured the racing world before his tragic death at age 24.

Coquitlam, Canada

2 Full Record →

37

🕯️ 840

Julius Nyerere

Julius Kambarage Nyerere

Tanzania

1922-04-13 – 1999-10-14 (77 years old)

Moral giant of African post-colonial governance; united over 120 ethnic groups into one stable peaceful nation and provided rear bases to defeat white minority regimes in Rhodesia and South Africa.

London, Great Britain

37 Full Record →

38

🕯️ 3,150

Wilt Chamberlain

Wilton Norman Chamberlain

United States

21 August 1936 – 12 October 1999 (63 years old)

Wilton Norman 'Wilt' Chamberlain was the most dominant individual physical force in the history of basketball, holding dozens of unbreakable NBA statistical records. Standing 7 feet 1 inch with world-class track and field athleticism, he averaged 50.4 points per game in the 1961–62 season, grabbed 55 rebounds in a single game, and scored 100 points in a single contest on 2 March 1962.

Bel-Air, Los Angeles, California, United States

38 Full Record →

4,001

🕯️ 52

Amália Rodrigues

Amália da Piedade Rebordão Rodrigues

Portugal

1920 – 1999 (79 years old)

The 'Queen of Fado' whose dramatic voice and black shawl made Portuguese fado world-famous.

Lisbon, Portugal

4,001 Full Record →

6

Abdelkader Rachdi

عبد القادر الراشدي

Morocco

1929 – 1999 (70 years old)

Giant of Moroccan melodic composition and conductor of the National Orchestra of Moroccan Radio and Television (RTM) for three decades, who composed iconic anthems and classic ballads.

Rabat, Morocco

6 Full Record →

14

Statesmanship & Statesmen

Taheyya Kariokka

تحية كاريوكا

Egypt

1919 – 1999 (80 years old)

Legendary Egyptian classical dancer and actress dubbed by Edward Said as an embodied monument of Egyptian national style, renowned for her fierce anti-monarchical and anti-imperialist political activism.

Cairo, Egypt

14 Full Record →

20