Public Figures & Cultural Luminaries

Lasgush Poradeci

Lazar Sotir Gusho

Albania

1899-12-27 – 1987-11-12 (87 years old)

Master 20th-century Albanian lyric poet celebrated for musical, hermetic verse collections Vallja e yjve (Dance of the Stars) and Ylli i zemrës, capturing the mystical tranquility of Lake Ohrid.

Pogradec, Albania

2 Full Record →

Music

Cornelis Vreeswijk

Netherlands

1937-08-08 – 1987-11-12 (50 years old)

Dutch-born Swedish troubadour and poetic genius whose gritty blues-infused ballads and masterful adaptations of Carl Michael Bellman revitalized the Swedish ballad tradition.

Stockholm, Sweden

1 Full Record →

Seyni Kountché

Seyni Kountche

Niger

1931-07-01 – 1987-11-10 (56 years old)

President of the Supreme Military Council of Niger (1974–1987) who led the nation through the cataclysmic Sahelian droughts, achieving complete food self-sufficiency.

Niamey, Niger

1 Full Record →

6

Paulin Soumanou Vieyra

Benin

1925-01-31 – 1987-11-04 (62 years old)

Pioneering Beninese film director and scholar whose 1955 film 'Afrique sur Seine' marked the birth of Francophone Sub-Saharan African cinema.

Porto-Novo, Benin

6 Full Record →

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Prophets & Divine Messengers

André Masson

André-Aimé-René Masson

France

1896 – 1987 (91 years old)

French painter and graphic artist who pioneered automatic drawing in Surrealism and whose sand paintings and expressive gestures directly inspired American Abstract Expressionism.

Paris, France

32 Full Record →

14

Lino Ventura

Angiolino Giuseppe Pasquale Ventura

Italy

1919 – 1987 (68 years old)

Beloved Italian-born titan of French cinema, former European wrestling champion, whose granite jaw and moral gravity anchored French masterpieces including Touchez pas au grisbi, Les Tontons Flingueurs, and L'Armée des ombres.

Le Val-Saint-Germain (Essonne), France

14 Full Record →

Sciences & Discovery

38

Andrey Kolmogorov

Андрей Николаевич Колмогоров

Russia

1903 – 1987 (84 years old)

Soviet mathematician who established the axiomatic foundations of modern probability theory and made monumental breakthroughs in turbulence, topology, algorithmic complexity, and celestial mechanics.

Moscow, Russia

38 Full Record →

Statesmanship & Statesmen

Thomas Sankara

Thomas Isidore Noël Sankara

Burkina Faso

1949-12-21 – 1987-10-15 (37 years old)

Charismatic revolutionary President who renamed the country 'Burkina Faso' (Land of Incorruptible People), vaccinated 2.5 million children in weeks, championed women's rights, and promoted total self-sufficiency.

Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso

1 Full Record →

47

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Thomas Sankara

Thomas Isidore Noël Sankara

🌐 Burkina Faso

1949-12-21 – 1987-10-15 (37 years old)

Icon of incorruptible ethical leadership, environmental reforestation, female emancipation, and defiance against Third World foreign debt subjugation.

Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso

47 Full Record →

20

Hassan El-Hassani

حسن الحسني (حسن بن الشيخ)

Algeria

1916 – 1987 (71 years old)

Beloved comedic actor and satirical genius whose folk character 'Boubaghla' and appearances in films like 'Chronicle of the Years of Fire' made him the quintessential voice of rural Algerian wisdom.

Médéa, Algeria

20 Full Record →

Einar Gerhardsen

Einar Henry Gerhardsen

Norway

1897-05-10 – 1987-09-19 (90 years old)

Towering Norwegian statesman revered as Landsfaderen ('Father of the Nation') who served as Prime Minister for sixteen years and built the modern post-war Norwegian social welfare state.

Oslo, Norway

1 Full Record →

Art

Lorne Greene

The Voice of Canada

Canada

12 February 1915 – 11 September 1987 (72 years old)

Towering Ottawa-born broadcaster and actor who became "The Voice of Doom" on CBC wartime radio before starring as Ben Cartwright in Bonanza.

Culver City, United States

1 Full Record →

Ibrahim Sultan Ali

Eritrea

1909-03-01 – 1987-09-01 (78 years old)

Distinguished Eritrean political leader who founded the Moslem League, co-formed the Eritrean Independence Bloc, and presented the historic petition for sovereignty before the United Nations in 1949.

Keren, Eritrea

1 Full Record →

3

Resistance & Human Rights

Naji al-Ali

ناجي العلي

Palestine

c. 1937 – 29 August 1987 (50 years old)

World-renowned Palestinian political cartoonist whose iconic ten-year-old character 'Handala' became the global symbol of Palestinian defiance.

Woking, United Kingdom

3 Full Record →

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Bayard Rustin

United States

17 March 1912 – 24 August 1987 (75 years old)

Brilliant American civil rights strategist and pacifist who introduced Gandhian nonviolent resistance techniques to Martin Luther King Jr. and served as the chief logistics architect of the 1963 March on Washington.

Manhattan, New York City, United States

43 Full Record →

Sports & Athletics

35

Didier Pironi

Didier Joseph-Louis Pironi

France

1952 – 1987 (35 years old)

French racing driver who won the 1978 24 Hours of Le Mans for Renault, three Formula One Grands Prix for Tyrrell, Ligier, and Ferrari, and was on the brink of the 1982 World Championship before a career-ending crash.

Grimaud (Var), France

35 Full Record →

Literature & Poetry

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