Public Figures & Cultural Luminaries

Eqrem Çabej

Turkey

1908-08-06 – 1980-08-13 (72 years old)

Foremost 20th-century Albanian linguist, etymologist, and philologist who authored the definitive etymological dictionary of the Albanian language and proved the Illyrian origin of Albanians.

Tirana, Albania

1 Full Record →

37

Marino Marini

Italy

1901 – 1980 (79 years old)

Italian sculptor and painter celebrated for his tragic, expressive equestrian sculptures of horse and rider reflecting the existential trauma and loss of control of modern man.

Viareggio, Italy

37 Full Record →

Sports & Athletics

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Patrick Depailler

Patrick Andre Eugene Joseph Depailler

France

1944 – 1980 (35 years old)

Daring French Formula One driver who scored historic Grand Prix victories for Tyrrell at Monaco and for Ligier at Jarama, celebrated for his courage, chain-smoking charm, and mastery of the six-wheeled Tyrrell P34.

Crevant-Laveine (Puy-de-Dome), France

33 Full Record →

11

Roushdi Abaza

رشدي أباظة

Egypt

1926 – 1980 (53 years old)

Charismatic screen idol and leading man dubbed the 'Clark Gable of Arab Cinema', scion of the aristocratic Abaza family who starred in over 150 masterpieces of the Egyptian cinema Golden Age.

Al-Qalyubiyya, Egypt

11 Full Record →

14

Roushdy Abaza

رشدي أباظة

Egypt

1926 – 1980 (53 years old)

Charismatic leading man dubbed the 'Cary Grant of Egyptian Cinema', starring in over 150 classics of the Egyptian Golden Age including Struggle on the Nile, Jamila the Algerian, and Sunset and Sunrise.

Sharqia, Egypt

14 Full Record →

Politics

Statesmanship & Statesmen

Marcelo Quiroga Santa Cruz

Bolivia

1931-03-13 – 1980-07-17 (49 years old)

Visionary Bolivian socialist leader, novelist, and Minister of Mines who nationalized Gulf Oil in 1969 and was assassinated by military paramilitaries during the bloody 1980 Garcia Meza coup.

Cochabamba, Bolivia

1 Full Record →

40

🕯️ 860

Seretse Khama

Sir Seretse Goitsebeng Maphiri Khama

🌐 Botswana

1921-07-01 – 1980-07-13 (59 years old)

Managed diamond discoveries with exemplary fiscal transparency and rule of law, creating the most resilient and prosperous democracy in Southern Africa.

Gaborone, Botswana

40 Full Record →

32

Clyfford Still

United States

1904 – 1980 (75 years old)

American Abstract Expressionist titan who pioneered monumental Color Field painting with rugged, palette-knife fissures of raw pigment and maintained uncompromising artistic autonomy.

Baltimore, United States

32 Full Record →

5

Jijé (Joseph Gillain)

Joseph Gillain

Belgium

1914 – 1980 (66 years old)

Founding master and mentor of the Marcinelle School of comics who sustained Spirou magazine single-handedly during World War II and taught André Franquin, Morris, and Will at his Waterloo studio.

Essonne, France

5 Full Record →

Sciences & Discovery

16

Yehia El-Mashad

يحيى المشد

Egypt

January 11, 1932 – June 13, 1980 (48 years old)

Leading Egyptian nuclear scientist and professor who headed the nuclear engineering department at the University of Alexandria and directed the scientific development of the Osirak nuclear reactor program.

Benha, Egypt

16 Full Record →

Humanitarian & Peace

32

🕯️ 1,290

Ángel Sanz Briz

Spain

28 September 1910 – 11 June 1980 (69 years old)

Ángel Sanz Briz was a Spanish diplomat who served as Chargé d'Affaires in Budapest during World War II. Appalled by the Holocaust unfolding around him, he exploited an archaic 1924 Spanish royal decree to issue protective passports to Hungarian Jews, multiplying Spanish-protected safe houses and saving more than 5,200 Jews from deportation to Auschwitz.

Zaragoza, Aragon, Spain

32 Full Record →

37

Philip Guston

Phillip Goldstein

Canada

1913 – 1980 (66 years old)

American painter who transitioned from ethereal Abstract Expressionism to revolutionary, cartoonish Neo-Expressionist allegories of hooded Klansmen, cigarettes, and studio angst.

Woodstock, United States

37 Full Record →

Music

Ayinla Omowura

Ayinla Waidi Omowura

Nigeria

1933-01-01 – 1980-05-06 (47 years old)

Electrifying Yoruba musician known as Hadji Costello who dominated the 1970s music scene with fiery social commentary, razor-sharp wit, and explosive Apala percussion.

Abeokuta, Nigeria

1 Full Record →

Politics

André-Marie Mbida

Cameroon

1917-01-01 – 1980-05-02 (63 years old)

Pioneering Cameroonian statesman who served as the first native Prime Minister of French Cameroun (1957–1958), advocating early independence and democratic multi-party governance.

Endinding, Cameroon

1 Full Record →

Literature & Poetry

31

Alejo Carpentier

Alejo Carpentier y Valmont

Switzerland

1904 – 1980 (75 years old)

Cuban novelist and musicologist who conceptualized 'lo real maravilloso' (the marvelous real), authoring The Kingdom of This World and Explosion in a Cathedral.

Havana, Cuba

31 Full Record →

Literature & Poetry

4

Sohrab Sepehri

سهراب سپهری

Iran

7 October 1928 – 21 April 1980 (51 years old)

Cherished modern Persian poet and painter whose luminous, Zen-infused verses in 'The Water's Footfall' celebrated the sacredness of nature.

Mashhad-e Ardehal, Iran

4 Full Record →

Sciences & Discovery

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