Public Figures & Cultural Luminaries

Jean Brachet

Jean Louis Auguste Brachet

Belgium

1909 – 1988 (79 years old)

Brilliant Belgian biochemist who pioneered molecular embryology, demonstrating in 1933 that DNA resides exclusively in the cell nucleus while RNA is present in the cytoplasm, and proving RNA's direct role in protein synthesis.

Ixelles (Brussels), Belgium

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Music

Félix Leclerc

Canada

1914 – 1988 (74 years old)

The founding giant of the modern Quebec chanson whose 1950 Paris triumph with Le P'tit Bonheur awakened French-Canadian cultural pride, inspiring the chansonniers of the Quiet Revolution.

Saint-Pierre-de-l'Île-d'Orléans, Canada

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Sports & Athletics

40

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Kid Chocolate

Eligio Sardiñas Montalvo

Cuba

6 January 1910 – 8 August 1988 (78 years old)

Eligio Sardiñas Montalvo, universally celebrated as Kid Chocolate, was Cuba's first-ever world boxing champion and one of the most stylish, graceful, and dazzling pugilists of the twentieth century. Reining as World Junior Lightweight and Featherweight Champion in the 1930s, his sublime footwork, feints, and hand speed inspired Sugar Ray Robinson, who openly adopted Chocolate's rhythmic boxing style.

Havana, Cuba

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Francis Ponge

France

1899 – 1988 (89 years old)

Inventive French poet who revolutionized twentieth-century literature with Le Parti pris des choses (Taking the Side of Things, 1942), dedicating dense prose poems to inanimate objects like bread, snails, soap, and pebbles.

Montpellier, France

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Arts & Music

5

Mohammed Temmam

محمد تمام

Algeria

1915 – 1988 (73 years old)

Virtuoso master of Algerian illumination and miniature painting, designer of the first banknotes and postage stamps of independent Algeria, and museum conservator.

Algiers, Algeria

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E. M. L. Endeley

Emmanuel Mbela Lifafa Endeley

Cameroon

1916-04-10 – 1988-06-29 (72 years old)

Pioneering physician and statesman who served as the first Premier of Southern Cameroons (1954–1959) and founder of the Cameroons National Federation.

Buea, Cameroon

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Religious Figures & Theologians

Emmanuel Mbela Lifafa Endeley

Cameroon

1916-04-10 – 1988-06-28 (72 years old)

Pioneering Bakweri physician and political leader who served as the first Leader of Government Business and Premier of British Southern Cameroons, securing its quasi-federal status from Nigeria in 1954.

Buea, South West Region, Cameroon

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Hans Urs von Balthasar

Switzerland

1905 – 1988 (82 years old)

Swiss Catholic theologian, cultural philosopher, and priest whose monumental 16-volume trilogy centered theology on the transcendental of Beauty ('The Glory of the Lord').

Lucerne, Switzerland

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Arts & Music

3,444

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Chet Baker

Chesney Henry Baker Jr.

United States

1929 – 1988 (58 years old)

American jazz trumpeter and vocalist whose delicate lyricism, whispery vocals, and cool jazz aesthetic made him an international icon.

Inglewood, California, United States

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Shen Congwen

沈从文

China

1902 – 1988 (85 years old)

Chinese writer celebrated for his lyrical pastoral novella Border Town, who captured the traditional culture and Miao indigenous harmony of rural western Hunan.

Fenghuang (Hunan), China

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Tchicaya U Tam'si

Gérald-Félix Tchicaya

Republic of the Congo

1931-08-25 – 1988-04-22 (56 years old)

One of the greatest lyrical poets of the African continent whose visceral, surrealist collections ('Le Mauvais Sang', 'Feu de brousse') and novels captured the wounded soul and rivers of the Congo.

Yvelines, France

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3

Tchicaya U Tam'si

Gerald-Felix Tchicaya

Congo

1931-08-25 – 1988-04-22 (56 years old)

One of modern Africa's greatest poets whose visceral, surrealist French verse collections like 'Epitomé' and 'Le Mauvais Sang' expressed the torment and resilience of the African continent.

Bazancourt, France

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Humanitarian & Peace

40

Colin W. Bell

Colin Bell

Great Britain

1903 – 1988 (85 years old)

Dirigeant humanitaire quaker anglo-américain, directeur de la Friends Ambulance Unit en Chine et secrétaire exécutif de l'AFSC pendant la guerre froide.

Swarthmore, Pennsylvania, United States

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Military

Khalil al-Wazir

خليل الوزير / أبو جهاد

Palestine

10 October 1935 – 16 April 1988 (52 years old)

Supreme military commander and co-founder of Fatah, celebrated as the strategic mastermind of the 1987 First Intifada.

Damascus, Syria

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Dulcie September

Dulcie Evonne September

South Africa

1935-08-20 – 1988-03-29 (52 years old)

Courageous anti-apartheid teacher and ANC Chief Representative in France, Switzerland, and Luxembourg who investigated illegal arms trafficking to South Africa and was assassinated in Paris.

Paris, France

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