Public Figures & Cultural Luminaries

Art

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Carl Theodor Dreyer

Carl Theodor Dreyer

Denmark

1889-02-03 – 1968-03-20 (79 years old)

Visionary Danish film director and auteur universally regarded as one of cinema's supreme masters, creator of The Passion of Joan of Arc, Vampyr, Day of Wrath, and Ordet.

Copenhagen, Denmark

1 Full Record →

Politics

2

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Camille Huysmans

Camiel Huysmans

Belgium

1871 – 1968 (96 years old)

Belgian socialist titan, philologist, and statesman who served as Secretary of the Second International (1905–1922), Prime Minister (1946–1947), and beloved Burgomaster of Antwerp for seven decades of political life.

Hoboken (Antwerp), Belgium

2 Full Record →

Sciences & Discovery

3,728

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Howard Florey

Howard Walter Florey, Baron Florey

Australia

1898 – 1968 (69 years old)

Australian pathologist and pharmacologist who transformed penicillin from a laboratory curiosity into a mass-produced, lifesaving antibiotic.

Marston, Oxfordshire, United Kingdom

3,728 Full Record →

Sports & Athletics

35

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George Hackenschmidt

Георг Гаккеншмидт

Estonia

1877 – 1968 (90 years old)

Pioneering Estonian-Russian strength athlete and first recognized World Heavyweight Wrestling Champion, celebrated as 'The Russian Lion' and inventor of the bench press and hack squat.

London, United Kingdom

35 Full Record →

Music

1

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Healey Willan

James Healey Willan

Great Britain

1880 – 1968 (87 years old)

Preeminent Anglo-Canadian classical composer who produced over eight hundred sacred choral works, organ masterworks, and operas, and was commissioned to compose an anthem for Queen Elizabeth II's 1953 coronation.

Toronto, Canada

1 Full Record →

Music

1

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Portia White

Portia White

Canada

24 June 1911 – 13 February 1968 (56 years old)

Nova Scotia contralto whose majestic voice triumphed at Town Hall in New York in 1944, breaking color barriers as Canada's first Black classical concert singer of global stature.

Truro, Canada

1 Full Record →

Humanitarian & Peace

44

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Muriel Lester

Muriel Lester

Great Britain

1883 – 1968 (84 years old)

Réformatrice sociale et pacifiste britannique, fondatrice du centre communautaire Kingsley Hall dans l'East End londonien où logea Gandhi en 1931.

Manor Park, London, United Kingdom

44 Full Record →

Arts & Music

30

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Tsuguharu Foujita

藤田嗣治

Japan

1886 – 1968 (81 years old)

Japanese-French master of the School of Paris who dazzled the Roaring Twenties with his secret milky-white canvas glaze ('grand fond blanc') fusing Japanese sumi ink with Western oils.

Reims, France

30 Full Record →

Sports & Athletics

41

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Duke Paoa Kahinu Mokoe Hulikohola Kahanamoku

Duke Paoa Kahanamoku

United States

1890 – 1968 (77 years old)

Native Hawaiian competitive swimmer, five-time Olympic medalist, and universally revered father of modern surfing who spread the sport globally.

Honolulu, Hawaii, United States

41 Full Record →

Politics

1

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Vincent Massey

Vincent Massey

Canada

20 February 1887 – 30 December 1967 (80 years old)

Distinguished statesman and arts patron who chaired the landmark 1951 Massey Commission and made history in 1952 as the first Canadian-born Governor General.

Port Hope, Canada

1 Full Record →

Military

2

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Si M'hamed ben Abdelkrim al-Khattabi

محمد بن عبد الكريم الخطابي (الأخ)

Morocco

c. 1893 – 1967 (74 years old)

Younger brother and chief military engineer/strategist of Abdelkrim al-Khattabi during the Rif War, trained in mining engineering in Madrid, who organized artillery batteries and international diplomacy.

Cairo, Egypt

2 Full Record →

Arts & Music

3,089

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Otis Redding

Otis Ray Redding Jr.

United States

1941 – 1967 (26 years old)

Soul titan whose raw passionate vocals at Stax Records and immortal song (Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay defined Southern soul.

Round Oak, Georgia, United States

3,089 Full Record →

Statesmanship & Statesmen

32

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Leon M'ba

Léon M'ba

🌐 Gabon

1902 – 1967 (65 years old)

First President of Gabon who led the country to independence in 1960, restored to power by French paratroopers following the 1964 coup, establishing Franco-Gabonese strategic ties.

Libreville, Gabon

32 Full Record →

Literature & Poetry

44

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Guimaraes Rosa

João Guimarães Rosa

Brazil

1908 – 1967 (59 years old)

Brazilian novelist and diplomat whose epic The Devil to Pay in the Backlands is hailed as the Brazilian Ulysses, revolutionizing Portuguese prose with daring neologisms and metaphysical depth.

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

44 Full Record →

Literature & Poetry

28

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Mustapha Khraïef

مصطفى خريف

Tunisia

October 10, 1910 – October 21, 1967 (57 years old)

Prolific Tunisian poet, essayist, and dramatist of the famed bohemian Taht al-Sur literary circle whose lyrical poetry blended classical Arabic elegance with vivid vernacular rhythms and social consciousness.

Tunis, Tunisia

28 Full Record →

Statesmanship & Statesmen

37

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Shigeru Yoshida

吉田 茂

Japan

1878 – 1967 (89 years old)

Five-term Prime Minister of Japan who signed the 1951 San Francisco Peace Treaty, ending the Allied occupation, and formulated the Yoshida Doctrine prioritizing economic growth.

Yokohama, Japan

37 Full Record →

Monarchs, Kings & Royalty

63

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Puyi (Xuantong Emperor)

愛新覺羅·溥儀 / 宣統帝

China

1906 – 1967 (61 years old)

Twelfth and final monarch of the Qing dynasty and the last emperor of China, whose abdication marked the end of over two millennia of imperial dynastic rule.

Yixian, China

63 Full Record →

Statesmanship & Statesmen

30

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Clement Attlee

Clement Richard Attlee, 1st Earl Attlee

Great Britain

1883 – 1967 (84 years old)

British Prime Minister (1945–1951) who defeated Winston Churchill in a post-war landslide, created the modern British welfare state including the National Health Service, nationalized key industries, and granted independence to India.

London, United Kingdom

30 Full Record →