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Baire René-Louis (b. 1874-01-21 / d. 1932-07-05)
René-Louis Baire was a French mathematician most famous for his Baire category theorem, which helped to generalize and prove future theorems. His theory was published originally in his dissertation Sur les fonctions de variable réelles ("On the Functions of Real Variables") in 1899. Since he was young, Baire always had "delicate" health. He had developed problems with his esophagus before he attended school and he would occasionally experience severe attacks of agoraphobia. From time to time, his health would prevent him from working or studying. The bad spells became more frequent, immobilizing him for long periods of time. Over time, he had developed a kind of psychological disorder that made him unable to undertake work that required long periods of concentration. At times this would make his ability to research mathematics impossible. Between 1909 and 1914 this problem continually plagued him and his teaching duties became more and more difficult. He was given a leave of absence from the University of Dijon due to all these breakdowns. He retired from Dijon in 1925 and spent his last years living in multiple hotels that he could afford with his meager pension.
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89
Born 1936-03-28. Domain:Writing. Cause of death:Age
Jorge Mario Pedro Vargas Llosa, 1st Marquess of Vargas Llosa, more commonly known as Mario Vargas Llosa (Spanish: [ˈmaɾjo ˈβaɾɣaz ˈʎosa]), was a Peruvian novelist, journalist, essayist, and politician. Vargas Llosa was one of the Spanish language and Latin America's most significant novelists and essayists and one of the leading writers of his generation. Some critics consider him to have had a more substantial international impact and worldwide audience than any other writer of the Latin American Boom. In 2010, he won the Nobel Prize in Literature "for his cartography of structures of power and his trenchant images of the individual's resistance, revolt, and defeat".
95
Born 1930-01-30. Domain:Performing. Cause of death:Age
Eugene Allen Hackman (January 30, 1930 – c. February 18, 2025) was an American actor. Considered one of the greatest actors of his generation and a paragon of the New Hollywood movement, Hackman's acting career spanned over four decades. He received several accolades, including two Academy Awards, two British Academy Film Awards, and four Golden Globe Awards. Hackman was found dead along with his wife, Betsy Arakawa, and one of their three dogs, at their home in Santa Fe on February 26, 2025. He is presumed to have died of heart disease complicated by advanced Alzheimer's disease around February 18, about a week after Arakawa died from hantavirus pulmonary syndrome. In 1990, Hackman underwent an angioplasty. In 2012, Hackman was struck by a pickup truck while he was cycling in the Florida Keys. It was initially reported that he had suffered serious head trauma; however, his publicist stated that his injury was nothing more than "bumps and bruises". Hackman attended an event in Santa Fe in late 2022. He was last seen in public in March 2024. After his death, autopsy reports revealed Hackman had Alzheimer's disease, which contributed to his death. Hackman's will, created in 1995, lists Arakawa as his sole inheritor; Arakawa's will states that if they die within 90 days of each other, the proceeds go to charity.
61
Born 1962-12-28. Domain:Society. Cause of death:Murder
Konstantin Evgenievich Smeshko (Константи́н Евге́ньевич Смешко́) was a Russian military commander who was deputy chief of the Engineer Troops (starting in 2017) and a major general. He previously commanded the engineering troops of the Far Eastern Military District and those of the Southern Military District from 2012 to 2017. In 2015, he was responsible for cleaning the area of explosive objects on the territory of the Chechnya and the Ingushetia. For that, he was awarded the honour "Mastery in clearing of (to the Party of) mines in the Chechen Republic and the Republic of Ingushetia". He later also operated the demining near Deir ez-Zor, Syria in 2017. Killed in an unknown location allegedly due to the Himars strike in one of the multiple attacks carried out in December. His funeral ceremony was held in Moscow in last days of December 2024
32
Born 1991-02-24. Domain:Sport. Cause of death:Murder
Melissa Hoskins was an Australian track and road racing cyclist. She topped the general classification in the 2012 Tour of Chongming Island. She was a member of the Australian track cycling team pursuit team that finished in fourth place at the 2012 Summer Olympics. Hoskins announced her retirement from professional cycling on 2 May 2017. Hoskins died after being struck by a vehicle allegedly driven by her husband, cyclist Rohan Dennis.
94
Born 1929-07-19. Domain:Writing. Cause of death:Age
Emmanuel Bernard Le Roy Ladurie was a French historian whose work was mainly focused upon Languedoc in the Ancien Régime, particularly the history of the peasantry. One of the leading historians of France, Le Roy Ladurie has been called the "standard-bearer" of the third generation of the Annales school and the "rock star of the medievalists", noted for his work in social history.
74
Born 1948-08-30. Domain:Society. Cause of death:Accident
Jean-Louis Georgelin was a French Army General who was Chief of the Defence Staff ("Chef d'état-major des armées", CEMA) between 4 October 2006 and 25 February 2010. From 9 June 2010 until 2016 he served as Great Chancellor of the French national order, the Légion d'honneur. On April 17, 2019, in the wake of the fire at Notre-Dame de Paris and with a view to rebuilding the cathedral, he was appointed by the Council of Ministers to head a special representative mission "to oversee the progress of the procedures and work that will be undertaken ". During an exchange at the National Assembly on November 13, 2019, he declared that he had asked Philippe Villeneuve, chief architect of historic monuments, "to shut the fuck up" (sic), while Villeneuve had on several occasions publicly stated his wish to rebuild the spire identically in compliance with the French Heritage Code and France's international commitments, and in accordance with the Venice Charter. His comments caused "astonishment", including at the Ministry of Culture. Jean-Louis Georgelin died while hiking in the commune of Bordes-Uchentein, Ariège. His body was found the next day by the high-mountain gendarmerie platoon on the slopes of Mont Valier.
90
Born 1932-08-30. Domain:Society. Cause of death:Age
Geneviève Suzanne Marie-Thérèse Mulmann, known professionally as Geneviève de Fontenay (French pronunciation: [ʒənvjɛv də fɔ̃tnɛ]), was a French businesswoman who served as the president of the Miss France Committee from 1981 until 2007. After leaving her position with Miss France, Fontenay created the beauty pageant Miss Prestige National in 2010, and served as its president until her retirement in 2016. On 2 August 2023, Fontenay's son announced that she had died in her sleep of cardiac arrest on the night of 1 August, at her Saint-Cloud home. She was 90. She had been growing weak in the time prior to her death, and spent her last moments with her brother and granddaughter.
75
Born 1947-06-22. Domain:Philosophy. Cause of death:cancer (pancreas)
Bruno Latour was a French philosopher, anthropologist and sociologist. He was especially known for his work in the field of science and technology studies (STS). After teaching at the École des Mines de Paris (Centre de Sociologie de l'Innovation) from 1982 to 2006, he became Professor at Sciences Po Paris (2006–2017), where he was the scientific director of the Sciences Po Medialab. He retired from several university activities in 2017. He was also a Centennial Professor at the London School of Economics. Latour is best known for his books We Have Never Been Modern (1991; English translation, 1993), Laboratory Life (with Steve Woolgar, 1979) and Science in Action (1987). Although his studies of scientific practice were at one time associated with social constructionist approaches to the philosophy of science, Latour diverged significantly from such approaches. He was best known for withdrawing from the subjective/objective division and re-developing the approach to work in practice. Latour said in 2017 that he is interested in helping to rebuild trust in science and that some of the authority of science needs to be regained. Along with Michel Callon and John Law, Latour is one of the primary developers of actor–network theory (ANT), a constructionist approach influenced by the ethnomethodology of Harold Garfinkel, the generative semiotics of Algirdas Julien Greimas, and (more recently) the sociology of Émile Durkheim's rival Gabriel Tarde.
91
Born 1931-03-02. Domain:Politics. Cause of death:Age
Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev was a Russian and Soviet politician who served as the last leader of the Soviet Union. As the country's head of state from 1988 to 1991, he served as Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet from 1988 to 1989, Chairman of the Supreme Soviet from 1989 to 1990, General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1985 to 1991, and President of the Soviet Union from 1990 until the country's dissolution in 1991. Ideologically, Gorbachev initially adhered to Marxism–Leninism but moved towards social democracy by the early 1990s. Widely considered one of the most significant figures of the second half of the 20th century, Gorbachev remains the subject of controversy. The recipient of a wide range of awards, including the Nobel Peace Prize, he is praised for his role in ending the Cold War, introducing new political and economic freedoms in the Soviet Union, and tolerating both the fall of Marxist–Leninist administrations in eastern and central Europe and the reunification of Germany. Conversely, in Russia he is often derided for facilitating the dissolution of the Soviet Union—an event which weakened Russia's global influence and precipitated an economic collapse in Russia and associated states. For a number of years before his death, Gorbachev suffered from severe diabetes and underwent several surgeries and hospital stays. In November 2016, Gorbachev had a pacemaker installed at the Moscow Central Clinical Hospital. On 29 August 2022, Gorbachev arrived at the Central Clinical Hospital for another hemodialysis, where he died on 30 August at approximately 10:00 p.m. Moscow time. According to his interpreter Pavel Palazhchenko, Gorbachev was psychologically traumatized by the Russia-Ukraine conflict before his death.
95
Born 1926-07-18. Domain:Politics. Cause of death:Age
Bernard Pons was a French politician and medical doctor who was a member of the Union of Democrats for the Republic from 1971 to 1976 and a member of the Rally for the Republic party thereafter. He served as Secretary General of Rally for the Republic, Minister for Transport, and continued as a special advisor to the Union for a Popular Movement until 2008 after his retirement from active politics in 2002. Born Claude Bernard Pons in Béziers, Pons qualified as a doctor and worked as a general practitioner.
75
Born 1946-10-08. Domain:Directing. Cause of death:cancer (blood)
Jean-Jacques Beineix ([bɛnɛks]) was a French film director whose work is generally seen as the best example of what came to be called the cinéma du look. Critic Ginette Vincendeau defined the films made by Beineix and others as "youth-oriented films with high production values...The look of the cinéma du look refers to the films' high investment in non-naturalistic, self-conscious aesthetics, notably intense colours and lighting effects. Their spectacular (studio based) and technically brilliant mise-en-scène is usually put to the service of romantic plots." The cinéma du look included the films of Luc Besson and Léos Carax. Luc Besson, like Beineix, was much maligned by the critical establishment during the 1980s, while Carax was much admired. In late 2006, Beineix published a first volume of his autobiography, Les Chantiers de la gloire (in French only). The title alluded to the French title of Stanley Kubrick's film, Les Sentiers de la gloire (Paths of Glory).
80
Born 1941-01-11. Domain:Performing. Cause of death:Age
Georges Claisse essentially divides his career between France and Germany. He has performed nearly 30 plays, made around 25 films for theaters, and had lead roles in dozens of TV movies and series. After small roles in is Paris Burning? and The Night of the Generals, Michel Deville offered him his first major film role in 1969 with the role of Stéphane in The Bear and the Doll. This followed in the 1970s, among others, We will no longer go to the woods, Raphaël or the Debauché, Let go ... this is a waltz, Les grands moneys. From the 1970s, Claisse was also frequently seen in German film and television productions. In the 1990s, he played alongside Nathalie Baye in The voice, alongside Marie-Christine Barrault in Les Maitresses de mon mari and in the role of the lost husband of Claude Jade, who returned after twenty years, in Porté dispart de Jacques Richard. From 1998, Georges Claisse was in the German television series T.E.A.M. Berlin as Georg Paulsen. In addition to German, he is fluent in English and Italian, allowing him to tour in several co-productions. Sportsman, skier and climber, he has shot numerous mountain films and series such as La Mort d´un Guide, Le Miroir 2000 and Le Fils du Ciel. His last role in front of the camera is that of Marshal Philippe Pétain in the TV movie Laval, the collaborator of Laurent Heynemann broadcast in November 2021.
84
Born 1937-04-05. Domain:Politics. Cause of death:COVID
Colin Luther Powell was an American statesman, diplomat, and four-star general who served as the 65th United States secretary of state from 2001 to 2005. He was the first African-American secretary of state. He served as the 16th United States national security advisor from 1987 to 1989 and as the 12th chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff from 1989 to 1993. Powell, who was being treated for blood cancer, that affects the immune system, died from complications of COVID-19.
76
Born 1944-09-05. Domain:Science (Medical/Bio style). Cause of death:Cancer
Axel Kahn was a French scientist and geneticist. He was the brother of the journalist Jean-François Kahn. He was a member of the French National Consultative Ethics Committee from 1992 to 2004 and worked in gene therapy. He first entered the INSERM with a specialization in biochemistry. He was named in 2002 as a counsellor for biosciences and biotechnologies matters by the European Commission. Head of French laboratories specialized in biomedical sciences between years 1984 and 2007, he was elected President of the Paris Descartes University in December 2007, as the sole candidate. Kahn is known in France for his appearances in the media where he attempts to explain genetics and ethics to the public. As a civil servant, he was the head of the committee in charge of genetically modified crops for Europe.
92
Born 1928-07-30. Domain:Science (Math style). Cause of death:Age
Marion Walter was an internationally-known mathematics educator and Professor Emerita of Mathematics at the University of Oregon in Eugene, Oregon. There is a theorem named after her, called Marion Walter's Theorem or just Marion's Theorem as it is affectionately known.
87
Born 1934-02-15. Domain:Art. Cause of death:Age
Willy Kurant was a Belgian cinematographer. A second-generation cinematographer whose father had shot films for Alfred Hitchcock and Jean Renoir, Kurant began as a documentary cameraman before establishing himself as a director of photography for such filmmakers as Agnès Varda, Jean-Luc Godard, Orson Welles, Alain Robbe-Grillet, Jerzy Skolimowski, Chris Marker and Maurice Pialat. Kurant also collaborated extensively with musician Serge Gainsbourg. Kurant was a member of the French Society of Cinematographers and the American Society of Cinematographers.
90
Born 1930-10-31. Domain:Society. Cause of death:Age
Michael Collins was an American astronaut who flew the Apollo 11 command module Columbia around the Moon in 1969 while his crewmates, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin, made the first crewed landing on the surface. He was also a test pilot and major general in the U.S. Air Force Reserves.
86
Born 1934-11-11. Domain:Performing. Cause of death:Age
John Henry Matthew Reilly was an American film and television actor who appeared on soap operas including General Hospital, Sunset Beach, and Passions.
79
Born 1941-02-10. Domain:Directing. Cause of death:Age
Michael David Apted was a British director, producer, writer and actor. One of the most prolific English film directors of his generation, he is known for directing the Up series (1964–2019), the James Bond film The World Is Not Enough (1999), and the American film Coal Miner's Daughter (1980). The last was nominated for seven Academy Awards, including Best Picture. He also directed Nell (1994), which received three Golden Globe Award nominations and one Academy Award nomination, and the critically-acclaimed films Gorillas in the Mist (1988) and Enigma (2001). On 29 June 2003, he was elected president of the Directors' Guild of America, a position he served until 2009. Apted directed Amazing Grace, which premiered at the closing of the Toronto International Film Festival in 2006. He was appointed a Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George (CMG) in the 2008 Birthday Honours.
85
Born 1935-07-01. Domain:Performing. Cause of death:Age
David Charles Prowse MBE was an English bodybuilder, weightlifter and character actor in British film and television. Worldwide, he was best known for physically portraying Darth Vader in the original Star Wars trilogy (with the character's voice being performed by James Earl Jones); in 2015, he starred in a documentary concerning that role, entitled I Am Your Father. Prior to his role as Vader, Prowse had established himself as a prominent figure in British culture as the first Green Cross Code man, a character used in British road safety advertising aimed at children. He had a role as Frank Alexander's bodyguard, Julian, in the 1971 film A Clockwork Orange, in which he was noticed by the future Star Wars director George Lucas. Prowse suffered from arthritis for much of his life. This led to replacements of both hips and his ankle being fused, as well as several revisionary surgeries on his hip replacements. Prowse's arthritic symptoms first appeared at age 13, but seemingly disappeared when he took up competitive weightlifting. However, they reappeared in 1990. In 2001, Prowse's left arm became paralysed, followed by his right. He was diagnosed with septic arthritis caused by an infection which nearly killed him. The amount of surgery he had was stated to have reduced his height from the 6 feet 6 inches (198 cm) of his younger days. Prowse worked with various arthritis organisations in Britain and was vice-president of the Physically Handicapped and Able-bodied Association. In March 2009, Prowse revealed that he was suffering from prostate cancer. From early 2009 he underwent radiation therapy at the Royal Marsden Hospital in South London. He discovered that he had the cancer following his participation in a charity event in aid of a prostate cancer charity, where a representative of the charity asked whether, as a man over 50, he had had a PSA test. The conversation stayed in his mind, and on a future visit to a general practitioner, he requested the blood test that eventually led to diagnosis. In 2009 he was said to be in remission. In November 2014, the Daily Mirror reported that Prowse had dementia. However, Prowse himself denied this, admitting instead he had problems with his memory, which he put down to age.
92
Born 1928-03-24. Domain:Politics. Cause of death:Age
Christian Poncelet was a conservative French politician. A member of President Nicolas Sarkozy's Union for a Popular Movement (UMP), he was President of the Senate from 1998 to 2008. In addition to being a Senator, he was Mayor of Remiremont (Vosges) and has been the President of the General Council of Vosges.
89
Born 1931-03-07. Domain:Music. Cause of death:Age
Mady Mesplé was a French opera singer, considered the leading high coloratura soprano of her generation in France, and sometimes heralded as the successor to Mado Robin. In the mid-90's, Mesplé began suffering from Parkinson's Disease, leading her to work closely with the "Association France Parkinson" and to write a book, entitled La Voix du corps : Vivre avec la maladie de Parkinson, about her career and the development of her illness.
94
Born 1925-12-27. Domain:Performing. Cause of death:Age
He was a French actor, producer and film director with a career spanning 70 years. He was lauded as one of the greatest French character actors of his generation who played a wide variety of roles and worked with many acclaimed directors. Piccoli died from complications of a stroke.
87
Born 1932-12-05. Domain:Music. Cause of death:Cancer
Better known as Little Richard, he was an American singer, songwriter, and musician. He was an influential figure in popular music and culture for seven decades. Nicknamed "The Innovator, The Originator, and The Architect of Rock and Roll", Penniman's most celebrated work dates from the mid-1950s, when his charismatic showmanship and dynamic music, characterized by frenetic piano playing, pounding back beat and raspy shouted vocals, laid the foundation for rock and roll. Penniman's innovative emotive vocalizations and uptempo rhythmic music also played a key role in the formation of other popular music genres, including soul and funk, respectively. He influenced numerous singers and musicians across musical genres from rock to hip hop; his music helped shape rhythm and blues for generations to come. "Tutti Frutti" (1955), one of Penniman's signature songs, became an instant hit, crossing over to the pop charts in both the United States and overseas in the United Kingdom. Penniman's next hit single, "Long Tall Sally" (1956), hit No. 1 on the Billboard Rhythm and Blues Best-Sellers chart, followed by a rapid succession of fifteen more hit singles in less than three years. His performances during this period resulted in integration between White Americans and African Americans in his audience. In 1962, during a five-year period in which Penniman abandoned rock and roll music for born again Christianity, concert promoter Don Arden persuaded him to tour Europe. During this time, Arden had the Beatles open for Penniman on some tour dates, capitalizing on his popularity. Richard advised the Beatles on how to perform his songs and taught the band's member Paul McCartney his distinctive vocalizations. During his initial heyday in the 1950s rock and roll scene, Penniman was a teetotaler abstaining from alcohol, cigarettes, and drugs. Penniman often fined bandmates for drug and alcohol use during this era. By the mid-1960s, however, Penniman began drinking heavy amounts of alcohol and smoking cigarettes and marijuana. By 1972, he had developed an addiction to cocaine. He later lamented that period, "They should have called me Lil Cocaine, I was sniffing so much of that stuff!" By 1975, he had developed addictions to both heroin and PCP, otherwise known as "angel dust". His drug and alcohol use began to affect his professional career and personal life. "I lost my reasoning", he later recalled. Penniman died at the age of 87 in Tennessee. The cause of death was revealed to be bone cancer.
72
Born 1948-01-20. Domain:Performing. Cause of death:Age
He was an American actor, best known for his role as The Skull, Alejandro Sosa's silent hitman in Scarface. Silva also appeared in films such as 1941, Tequila Sunrise, The Lost World: Jurassic Park, Amistad, Mulholland Drive and A Man Apart. Silva's cause of death was complications from frontotemporal degeneration, a form of dementia.
81
Born 1938-07-09. Domain:Performing. Cause of death:Age
Brian Manion Dennehy was an American actor of stage, television, and film. He won two Tony Awards, an Olivier Award, and a Golden Globe, and received six Primetime Emmy Award nominations. Dennehy had roles in over 180 films and in many television and stage productions. His film roles included First Blood (1982), Gorky Park (1983), Silverado (1985), Cocoon (1985), F/X (1986), Presumed Innocent (1990), Romeo + Juliet (1996), and Knight of Cups (2015). Dennehy won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a Miniseries or Television Film for his role as Willy Loman in the television film Death of a Salesman (2000). According to Variety, Dennehy was "perhaps the foremost living interpreter" of playwright Eugene O'Neill’s works on stage and screen. He had a decades long relationship with Chicago's Goodman Theatre where much of his O'Neill work originated. He also regularly played Canada's Stratford Festival, especially in works by William Shakespeare and Samuel Beckett. He once gave credit for his award-winning performances to the play's authors: "When you walk with giants, you learn how to take bigger steps." Dennehy was inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame in 2010. Dennehy died of cardiac arrest due to sepsis in New Haven, Connecticut.
98
Born 1921-09-05. Domain:Science (Physics style). Cause of death:Age
He was a German geneticist and physicist. He was a professor at the University of Freiburg at the Faculty of Biology. Working in Göttingen, Cologne, Dallas (U.S.) and Freiburg, he was a pioneer of genetics of bacteriophages, writing the standard Classical and Molecular Genetics.
89
Born 1930-03-07. Domain:Art. Cause of death:Age
Tatiana Fabergé was a secretary, a Fabergé scholar and jeweler from Switzerland. Tatiana Fabergé joined CERN—the European Organization for Particle Physics Research—as a secretary when the CERN Theory Group was moved from Copenhagen to Geneva. She retired from CERN in 1995. Fabergé was always interested in the House of Fabergé. After retirement she worked researching the family history and promoting its heritage. In 1974 she launched her own jewelry and product line Tatiana Fabergé which is marketed through her own web site. During her career she created several products under different trademarks, in 2005 Fabergé Ltd purchased from the Tatiana Fabergé SA one of the trademarks, Tatiana Fabergé SA then continued developing products under the Tsars Collection trademark. Since 2007 she was actively involved in giving advice and guidance via the Fabergé Heritage Council, a division of Fabergé Ltd, regarding the relaunch of the brand. She worked closely with the creative team and advised on heritage matters.
68
Born 1951-05-19. Domain:Performing. Cause of death:Cancer
Robert Francis Harper was an American actor, perhaps most well known for his role as Sharkey in Once Upon a Time in America. He also portrayed Charlie Gereson in Creepshow and Bubba 'Si' Weisberger in the CBS sitcom Frank's Place. Other film credits include Wiseguy, Final Analysis, The Insider, Deconstructing Harry, and Molly. He also appeared on Broadway in Once in a Lifetime (directed by Tom Moore), The Inspector General and Arthur Miller's The American Clock. In May 2007, Harper delivered the Commencement Address at University College, Rutgers. He was married to a Dutch woman, Sascha Noorthoorn van der Kruyff, and died in Rotterdam.
77
Born 1942-02-01. Domain:Art. Cause of death:Age
Terence Graham Parry Jones was a Welsh actor, writer, comedian, screenwriter, film director and historian. He was a member of the Monty Python comedy team. In 2016, Jones received a Lifetime Achievement award at the BAFTA Cymru Awards for his outstanding contribution to television and film. After living for several years with a degenerative aphasia, he gradually lost the ability to speak and died on 21 January 2020 from frontotemporal dementia.