Public Figures & Cultural Luminaries

Charles Brenton Huggins

Charles B. Huggins

Canada

22 September 1901 – 12 January 1997 (95 years old)

Halifax-born cancer researcher who discovered that hormones could regulate metastatic prostate and breast cancer, winning the 1966 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.

Chicago, United States

2 Full Record →

Arts & Music

André Franquin

Belgium

1924 – 1997 (73 years old)

One of the greatest comic book cartoonists in history, cornerstone of the Marcinelle School, who revitalized Spirou & Fantasio, created the legendary Marsupilami and Gaston Lagaffe, and penned the caustic Idées Noires.

Ixelles (Brussels), Belgium

2 Full Record →

Sports & Athletics

11

Hédi Berrekhissa

الهادي بالرخيصة

Tunisia

1972 – 1997 (24 years old)

Iconic left-back for Espérance de Tunis and the Tunisian national team, crowned African Best Player in 1995, who tragically died of sudden cardiac arrest on the pitch at age 24.

Tunis, Tunisia

11 Full Record →

Muhammad Mahdi al-Jawahiri

محمد مهدي الجواهري

Iraq

26 July 1899 – 1 January 1997 (97 years old)

Revered as the greatest neoclassical Arab poet of the 20th century, hailed as the 'Poet of the Arab World' for his majestic verse.

Damascus, Syria

2 Full Record →

Dorothy Livesay

Canada

12 October 1909 – 29 December 1996 (87 years old)

Trailblazing Canadian poet whose passionate social realism, labor solidarity, and feminist poetics spanned seven decades of cultural activism.

Victoria, Canada

2 Full Record →

Sciences & Discovery

2,783

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Carl Sagan

Carl Edward Sagan

United States

1934 – 1996 (62 years old)

American astronomer, astrobiologist, and science communicator who created Cosmos and championed the search for extraterrestrial life.

Ithaca, New York, United States

2,783 Full Record →

Science

0

Rune Elmqvist

Sweden

1906-12-01 – 1996-12-15 (90 years old)

Visionary physician and bio-engineer who in 1958 developed the world's first implantable cardiac pacemaker, molded in an Araldite epoxy resin shoe polish tin, implanted by Åke Senning.

Danderyd, Sweden

0 Full Record →

Resistance & Human Rights

Gaston Miron

Canada

1928 – 1996 (68 years old)

Revered national poet of Quebec and co-founder of Éditions de l'Hexagone, whose seminal 1970 poetry collection L'homme rapaillé became the poetic manifesto of Quebec identity.

Sainte-Agathe-des-Monts, Canada

2 Full Record →

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Marie-Claude Vaillant-Couturier

Marie-Claude Vogel

France

3 November 1912 – 11 December 1996 (84 years old)

French photojournalist and communist resistance member who survived deportation to Auschwitz and Ravensbrück, becoming the premier eyewitness to detail the mechanics of the Nazi death factories at the Nuremberg Trials.

Villejuif, Val-de-Marne, France

44 Full Record →

Prophets & Divine Messengers

6

Statesmanship & Statesmen

Maria Casarès

María Victoria Casares Pérez

Spain

1922 – 1996 (74 years old)

Galician-born tragic actress of volcanic intensity who fled to France during the Spanish Civil War, starred as Death in Jean Cocteau's Orphée, played Nathalie in Children of Paradise, and was the lifelong soulmate of Albert Camus.

Alloue (Charente), France

6 Full Record →

18

Maati Bouabid

المعطي بوعبيد

Morocco

1927 – 1996 (68 years old)

Eminent Moroccan jurist, President of the Casablanca Bar, Minister of Justice, and Prime Minister who founded the Constitutional Union (UC) party and reformed the Moroccan penal and civil codes.

Casablanca, Morocco

18 Full Record →

Arts & Music

6

Youcef Abdjaoui

يوسف عبدجاوي

Algeria

1932 – 1996 (63 years old)

Master of Kabyle Chaabi song and brilliant mandole player from Bejaïa, who composed deeply moving social and philosophical songs including 'Yellis N'Tmurth'.

Akfadou (Bejaïa), Algeria

6 Full Record →

Arts & Music

14

Mohamed Hayani

محمد الحياني

Morocco

1947 – 1996 (49 years old)

Celebrated as the 'Moroccan Nightingale', Hayani was the undisputed prince of modern Moroccan romantic song, admired by Abdel Halim Hafez for his flawless classical vocal mastery.

Rabat, Morocco

14 Full Record →

8

Abdelhamid Benhedouga

عبد الحميد بن هدوقة

Algeria

1925 – 1996 (71 years old)

Foundational novelist hailed as the father of modern Arabic fiction in Algeria, whose 1971 masterpiece Rih al-Janub (Wind from the South) was adapted into Algeria's first Arabic feature film.

Algiers, Algeria

8 Full Record →

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