2023 Deaths: Part 1

2023 Blog Deaths: Part 1

January

1^st: Martin Davis, 94, American mathematician (Davis–Putnam algorithm).

1^st: Kadri Mälk, 64, Estonian visual artist and jewelry designer.

1^st: Art McNally, 97, American Hall of Fame football official, director of officiating for the NFL (1968–1991).

1^st: Bohdan Rebryk, 84, Ukrainian political prisoner and politician, MP (1990–1994).

1^st: Fred White, 67, American Hall of Fame drummer (Earth, Wind & Fire).

1^st: Zhu Zushou, 77, Chinese diplomat, ambassador to Hungary (2003–2007) and the Netherlands (2001–2003), COVID-19.

2^nd: Viktor Fainberg, 91, Russian philologist and Soviet Dissident, participant of the 1968 Red Square Demonstration.

3^rd: Seble Desta, 91, Ethiopian Princess.

3^rd: James Lowenstein, 95, American diplomat, ambassador to Luxembourg (1977–1981).

3^rd: Abdelsalam Majali, 97, Jordanian physician and politician, prime minister (1993–1995, 1997–1998).

4^th: Arthur Duncan, 97, American tap dancer (The Lawrence Welk Show, The Betty White Show).

4^th: Casey Hayden, 85, American civil rights activist.

4^th: Volodymyr Radchenko, 74, Ukrainian politician and intelligence officer, vice prime minister (2007), minister of internal affairs (1994–1995) and twice head of the SBU.

5^th: Albert Rachkov, 95, Russian diplomat and politician, second secretary of the Communist Party of Turkmenistan (1980–1986).

6^th: Benjamin Bederson, 101, American physicist (Manhattan Project).

6^th: Shen Lyu-shun, 73, Taiwanese diplomat, representative to the United States (2014–2016) and the United Kingdom (2011–2014).

7^th: Marcelle Engelen Faber, 99, French resistance fighter -  the last surviving member of the Équipe Pur Sang.

7^th: Mohammad Hosseini, 39, Iranian dissident, execution by hanging.

7^th: Mohammad Mehdi Karami, 22, Iranian dissident, execution by hanging.

7^th: Adam Rich, 54, American actor (Eight Is Enough, Dungeons & Dragons, The Devil and Max Devlin).

8^th: Sietse Bosgra, 87, Dutch political activist.

8^th: Wu Tao, 82, Chinese diplomat, ambassador to Portugal (1992–1994), Russia (1998–2001) and Australia (2001–2003), COVID-19.

9^th: Melinda Dillon, 83, American actress (Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Absence of Malice, A Christmas Story).

9^th: Adolfo Kaminsky, 97, Argentine-born French forger and resistant specializing in the forgery of identity documents, and photographer that saved the lives of more than 14,000 Jews.

10^th: Constantine II, 82, Greek monarch and sailor, king (1964–1973) and Olympic champion (1960), stroke.

10^th: István Deák, 96, Hungarian-born American historian, member of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences.

11^th: Carole Cook, 98, American actress (The Lucy Show, The Incredible Mr. Limpet, Sixteen Candles), heart failure.

11^th: Charles Kimbrough, 86, American actor (Murphy Brown, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, The Wedding Planner).

11^th: Rafiq Nishonov, 96, Uzbek politician, chairman of the Soviet Nationalities (1989–1991) and first secretary of the Communist Party (1988–1989).

11^th: Murtaza Rakhimov, 88, Russian politician, president of Bashkortostan (1993–2010).

12^th: Harold Brown, 98, American Air Force officer (Tuskegee Airmen).

12^th: Frene Ginwala, 90, South African politician and academic administrator, speaker of the National Assembly (1994–2004), chancellor of the UKZN (2005–2007), complications from a stroke.

12^th: Lisa Marie Presley, 54, American singer-songwriter ("Lights Out", "You Ain't Seen Nothin' Yet"), cardiac arrest.

13^th: Robbie Knievel, 60, American daredevil and stuntman, pancreatic cancer.

14^th: Inna Churikova, 79, Russian actress (Jack Frost, The Very Same Munchhausen, Walking the Streets of Moscow).

15^th: Mukarram Jah, 89, Indian royal, titular Nizam of Hyderabad (since 1967).

15^th: Mursal Nabizada, 32, Afghan politician, member of the National Assembly (2019–2021), shot.

16^th: Gina Lollobrigida, 95, Italian actress (Bread, Love and Dreams, Come September, The Hunchback of Notre Dame).

17^th: Maria Dworzecka, 81, Polish-American physicist and Holocaust Survivor.

17^th: Robert Simmonds, 96, Canadian police officer, commissioner of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (1977–1987).

18^th: David Crosby, 81, American Hall of Fame singer (The Byrds, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young) and songwriter ("Guinnevere"), complications from COVID-19.

18^th: Roslyn Pope, 84, American civil rights activist and writer (An Appeal for Human Rights).

18^th: Zigi Shipper, 93, Polish Holocaust Survivor (Lodz Ghetto and Auschwitz.)

18^th: Denys Monastyrsky, 42, politician, minister of internal affairs (since 2021) and MP (2019–2021), helicopter crash.

23^rd: Álvaro Colom, 71, Guatemalan engineer, businessman and politician, president (2008–2012), cancer and pulmonary emphysema.

23^rd: Jozef Dravecký, 75, Slovak diplomat, the ambassador of Slovakia to Bulgaria (1993–1998), the Baltic States (2000 – 2005) and the Holy See (2007–2013).

24^th: Zaza Aleksidze, 87, Georgian historian and linguist.

24^th: Lance Kerwin, 62, American actor (James at 15, The Loneliest Runner, Salem's Lot).

25^th: Wolfgang Altenburg, 94, German general, inspector general of the Bundeswehr (1983–1986) and chairman of the NATO Military Committee (1986–1989).

25^th: Franciszek Jamroż, 79, Polish trade unionist and politician, mayor of Gdańsk (1991–1994).

26^th: Cindy Williams, 75, American actress (Laverne & Shirley, American Graffiti, The Conversation).

26^th: Eduard Lobau, 34, Belarusian political activist, shot.

26^th: Vo Van Ai, 87, Vietnamese poet, journalist and human-rights activist.

28^th: Jacques Bloch, 98, French resistance fighter.

28^th: Lisa Loring, 64, American actress (The Addams Family, Blood Frenzy, As the World Turns), stroke.

29^th: Dmytro Pavlychko, 93, Ukrainian poet, translator and diplomat, ambassador to Slovakia (1995–1998) and Poland (1999–2002).

30^th: Charles Silverstein, 87, American writer (The Joy of Gay Sex), therapist and gay activist.

 

February

2^nd: Linda Matar, 97, Lebanese women's rights activist.

2^nd: Solomon Perel, 97, German-born Israeli author and motivational speaker (Europa Europa), Holocaust Survivor.

2^nd: Richard Woolcott, 95, Australian diplomat, author and commentator, permanent representative to the United Nations (1982–1988).

3^rd: Hiroshi Mizuta, 103, Japanese economist and historian, member of the Japan Academy.

3^rd: Naďa Urbánková, 83, Czech singer and actress (Closely Watched Trains, Larks on a String, Seclusion Near a Forest), complications from cancer and COVID-19.

3^rd: Shevah Weiss, 87, Polish-born Israeli politician, member (1981–1999) and speaker (1992–1996) of the Knesset, Holocaust Survivor, Israeli Ambassador to Poland 2001-2003.

4^th: Jürgen Flimm, 81, German theater director and manager (Salzburg Festival, Berlin State Opera).

4^th: Sherif Ismail, 67, Egyptian politician, prime minister (2015–2018).

5^th: Pervez Musharraf, 79, Pakistani politician and military officer, president (2001–2008), minister of defence (1999–2002) and chief of Army staff (1998–2007), cardiac amyloidosis.

6^th: David Harris, 76, American journalist and anti-war activist.

6^th: Zilan Tigris, 50, Turkish-Armenian singer, killed in an earthquake.

6^th: Lubomír Štrougal, 98, Czech politician, prime minister of Czechoslovakia (1970–1988).

7^th: Daniel Defert, 85, French sociologist and AIDS activist, founder of AIDES.

8^th: Wolfgang Schallenberg, 92, Austrian diplomat, ambassador to India (1974–1978), Spain (1979–1981), and France (1988–1992), and the Secretary General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (1992–1996).

8^th: Ivan Silayev, 92, Russian politician, prime minister of the Soviet Union (1991), chairman of the council of ministers (1990–1991) and minister of aviation industry (1981–1985).

8^th: Oscar Lawton Wilkerson, 96, American pilot (Tuskegee Airmen) and radio personality.

9^th: Princess Marie Gabrielle, 97, Luxembourgish royal.

10^th: Hans Modrow, 95, German politician, chairman of the Council of Ministers of East Germany (1989–1990), MEP (1999–2004) and MP (1990–1994), stroke.

10^th: René-Samuel Sirat, 92, French rabbi, chief rabbi of France (1981–1988).

10^th: Sergey Tereshchenko, 71, Kazakh politician, prime minister (1991–1994).

11^th: Robert Hébras, 97, French massacre survivor (Oradour-sur-Glane).

11^th: Simas Kudirka, 92, Lithuanian sailor (The Defection of Simas Kudirka).

13^th: José María Gil-Robles, 87, Spanish politician, president of the European Parliament (1997–1999).

15^th: Raquel Welch, 82, American actress (One Million Years B.C., The Three Musketeers, Fantastic Voyage), complications from Alzheimer's disease.

17^th: James A. Joseph, 87, American diplomat, ambassador to South Africa (1996–1999).

17^th: George T. Miller, 79, Scottish-born Australian film director (The Man from Snowy River, The NeverEnding Story II: The Next Chapter, Zeus and Roxanne), heart attack.

18^th: Barbara Bosson, 83, American actress (Hill Street Blues, The Last Starfighter, Murder One).

19^th: Richard Belzer, 78, American actor (Homicide: Life on the Street, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, The Flash), comedian, and author.

21^st: Zandra Flemister, 71, American diplomat. She joined the Secret Service in 1974, becoming the first African American woman to serve as an agent.

21^st: Simone Segouin, 97, French Resistance fighter, in the Francs-tireurs et partisans group.

22^nd: Bruno Mahlow, 85, German diplomat for East Germany.

24^th: Sir Bernard Ingham, 90, British journalist and civil servant, Downing Street press secretary (1979–1990).

25^th: Traute, Princess of Lippe, 98, German princess.

25^th: Richard Trefry, 98, American army lieutenant general, inspector general of the U.S. Army (1977–1983).

27^th: Gérard Latortue, 88, Haitian politician, prime minister (2004–2006) and foreign minister (1988), fall.

27^th: Filipp Sidorsky, 85, Russian diplomat, ambassador to Uzbekistan (1992–1997) and to Bosnia and Herzegovina (1998–2000).

28^th: Brian J. Donnelly, 76, American politician and diplomat, member of the U.S. House of Representatives (1979–1993) and ambassador to Trinidad and Tobago (1994–1997).

 

March

1^st: Ted Donaldson, 89, American actor (A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, Adventures of Rusty, Father Knows Best), complications from a fall.

2^nd: Theodore Kanamine, 93, American brigadier general, cancer.

3^rd: Tom Sizemore, 61, American actor (Black Hawk Down, Saving Private Ryan, Heat), complications from a brain aneurysm.

4^th: Jean-Michel Rosenfeld, 88, French Holocaust survivor and politician.

4^th: Judith Heumann, 75, American disability rights activist.

6^th: Ken Money, 88, Canadian astronaut, scientist, and Olympic high jumper (1956).

6^th: Traute Lafrenz, 103, German-American resistance fighter (White Rose).

8^th: Chaim Topol, 87, Israeli actor (Fiddler on the Roof, Flash Gordon, For Your Eyes Only), complications from Alzheimer's disease.

8^th: Dolores Klaich, 86, American author and activist, assisted suicide.

9^th: Robert Blake, 89, American actor (Baretta, In Cold Blood, Lost Highway), Emmy winner (1975), heart disease.

11^th: John Jakes, 90, American author (North and South, The Kent Family Chronicles).

12^th: Susan Cunliffe-Lister, Baroness Masham of Ilton, 87, British politician, member of the House of Lords (since 1970) and Paralympic champion (1960, 1964).

12^th: Anatoly Dryukov, 86, Russian diplomat, ambassador to Singapore (1987–1990), India (1991–1996), and Armenia (1998–2005).

14^th: Valery Loshchinin, 82, Russian diplomat, ambassador to Belarus (1996–1999).

14^th: Sergei Grigoryants, 81, Russian human rights activist and Soviet dissident.

19^th: Marisol Malaret, 73, Puerto Rican television host, model, and beauty queen (Miss Universe 1970).

19^th: Jean-Jacques Favier, 73, German-born French astronaut (STS-78).

20^th: Vasily Reshetnikov, 103, Russian pilot and World War II veteran, Hero of the Soviet Union.

22^nd: Ben Shelly, 75, American politician, president of the Navajo Nation (2011–2015).

22^nd: Rivka Basman Ben-Hayim, 98, Lithuanian-born Israeli Yiddish poet, Holocaust Survivor.

25^th: Emil Boček, 100, Czech military officer and WWII Royal Air Force pilot.

26^th: Emahoy Tsegué-Maryam Guèbrou, 99, Ethiopian nun, pianist and composer.

27^th: Howie Kane, 81, American pop singer (Jay and the Americans).

29^th: Vadim Oyun, 79, Russian politician, member of the Soviet of Nationalities (1984–1989).

 

April

1^st: Dario Campeotto, 84, Danish singer (Eurovision Song Contest 1961), actor (Peters baby, Han, hun, Dirch og Dario), and entertainer, cancer.

1^st: Klaus Teuber, 70, German board game designer (Catan, Drunter und Drüber, Hoity Toity).

1^st: Trần Quang Khôi, 93, South Vietnamese military officer.

2^nd: Judy Farrell, 84, American actress (M*A*S*H, Fame) and television writer (Port Charles), complications from a stroke.

4^th: Bob Lee, 43, American tech executive, founder of Cash App, stabbed.

4^th: Marian Marzyński, 85, Polish-American Holocaust Survivor and documentary filmmaker.

4^th: Billy Waugh, 93, American Special Forces army soldier.

5^th: Leon Levine, 85, American businessman, founder of Family Dollar.

5^th: Rokeya Afzal Rahman, 82, Bangladeshi women's rights activist.

6^th: Juanjo Ferreiro Suárez, 79, Spanish union leader and politician, member of the Parliament of Catalonia (1980–1984) and City Council of Barcelona (1983–1995).

7^th: Larisa Bergen, 73, Kazakhstani volleyball player, Olympic silver medallist (1976).

7^th: Ben Ferencz, 103, Hungarian-American lawyer (Einsatzgruppen trial).

7^th: Lasse Wellander, 70, Swedish guitarist (ABBA).

8^th: Judith Miller, 71, British antiques expert and broadcaster (Antiques Roadshow).

8^th: Isi Yanouka, Israeli diplomat, ambassador to Ivory Coast (2013–2016) and Cameroon (since 2016).

11^th: Dana Němcová, 89, Czech psychologist and dissident (Charter 77, Committee for the Defense of the Unjustly Prosecuted).

12^th: Ivo Babuška, 97, Czech-American mathematician (Babuška–Lax–Milgram theorem, Ladyzhenskaya–Babuška–Brezzi condition).

12^th: Bryn Parry, 66, British cartoonist and charity worker, co-founder of Help for Heroes, pancreatic cancer.

13^th: Josef Schütz, 102, Lithuanian-born German Nazi concentration camp guard (Sachsenhausen).

18^th: Albert del Rosario, 83, Filipino diplomat, secretary of foreign affairs (2011–2016) and ambassador to the United States (2001–2006).

21^st: Ken Potts, 102, American World War II veteran, survivor of the attack on the USS Arizona.

22^nd: Len Goodman, 78, English ballroom dancer, television presenter, and coach (Strictly Come Dancing, Dancing with the Stars), bone cancer.

22^nd: Barry Humphries, 89, Australian comedian (Dame Edna Everage) and actor (Bedazzled, Finding Nemo), complications from hip surgery.

22^nd: Rambahadur Limbu, 83, Nepali soldier, recipient of the Victoria Cross, heart and kidney failure.

25^th: Harry Belafonte, 96, American Hall of Fame musician ("The Banana Boat Song", "Jump in the Line"), actor (Odds Against Tomorrow), and civil rights activist, heart failure.

25^th: Pamela Turnure, 85, American press secretary (Jacqueline Kennedy), lung cancer.

25^th: Paul van Vliet, 87, Dutch comedian and UNICEF goodwill ambassador.

27^th: Jerry Springer, 79, British-born American television host (The Jerry Springer Show, America's Got Talent) and politician, mayor of Cincinnati (1977–1978), pancreatic cancer.

 

May

1^st: Gordon Lightfoot, 84, Canadian Hall of Fame singer-songwriter ("Sundown", "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald", "If You Could Read My Mind").

1^st: Eileen Saki, 79, Japanese-American actress (M*A*S*H, Splash, Policewomen), cancer.

2^nd: Heidy Forster, 92, Swiss-German actress (Hinter den sieben Gleisen, The Roaring Fifties, The Foster Boy).

2^nd: Arun Manilal Gandhi, 89, Indian-American author and political activist.

3^rd: Nikica Valentić, 72, Croatian politician, prime minister (1993–1995).

5^th: Valeriy Baranov, 66, Ukrainian politician, MP (2007–2012), governor of Zaporizhzhia Oblast (2014).

5^th: Samuel T. Durrance, 79, American astronaut (STS-35, STS-67), complications from a fall.

5^th: Christopher William Long, 85, British diplomat, ambassador to Switzerland (1988–1992), Egypt (1992–1995) and Hungary (1995–1998).

6^th: Petruška Šustrová, 75, Czech dissident (Charter 77), journalist, and translator.

7^th: Soňa Červená, 97, Czech operatic mezzo-soprano (Oper Frankfurt, San Francisco Opera).

7^th: Seán Keane, 76, Irish fiddler (The Chieftains).

9^th: Sir Richard Lawson, 95, British general, commander-in-chief of AFNORTH (1982–1986).

9^th: Moon Fun Chin, 110, Taiwanese-American supercentenarian, last surviving CNAC pilot.

9^th: Terje Rafdal, 58, Norwegian Paralympic wheelchair curler (2014).

9^th: Arman Soldin, 32, Bosnian-born French journalist (Agence France-Presse), Russian rocket explosion.

9^th: Günter Wewel, 88, German operatic bass (Dortmund Opera) and television presenter.

11^th: Joe A. Garcia, 70, American indigenous political activist and musician, president of the National Congress of American Indians (2006–2009).

13^th: Tayeb Belaiz, 74, Algerian jurist, minister of justice (2004–2012).

13^th: Jürgen Trumpf, 91, German diplomat and politician, secretary-general of the European Council (1994–1999).

14^th: Garðar Cortes, 82, Icelandic operatic tenor singer and opera director, founder of The Icelandic Opera.

14^th: Regīna Razuma, 71, Latvian actress (The Arrows of Robin Hood, Aquanauts, Unfinished Supper).

17^th: Ivan Dubský , 96, Czech philosopher, dissident (Charter 77) and academic.

17^th: Dvora Kedar, 98, Israeli actress (Lemon Popsicle, Going Steady, Operation Thunderbolt).

17^th: Marge Summit, 87, American LGBT rights activist.

18^th: Helmut Berger, 78, Austrian actor (Ludwig, The Damned, The Godfather Part III).

21^st: Alma Adamkienė, 96, Lithuanian philologist and philanthropist, first lady (1998–2003, 2004–2009), stroke.

21^st: Ed Ames, 95, American singer ("My Cup Runneth Over", "Time, Time") and actor (Daniel Boone).

21^st: C. Donald Bateman, 91, Canadian electrical engineer, inventor of the ground proximity warning system.

21^st: Jonty Driver, 83, South African anti-apartheid activist.

21^st: C. Boyden Gray, 80, American lawyer and diplomat, White House counsel (1989–1993), ambassador to the EU (2006–2007) and special envoy for Eurasian energy (2008–2009), heart failure.

21^st: Ray Stevenson, 58, Northern Irish actor (Rome, Thor, Punisher: War Zone).

22^nd: Antoni Flores Ardiaca, 60, Spanish engineer and politician, member of the Parliament of Catalonia (since 2021).

22^nd: Rick Hoyt, 61, American Disabled marathon participant (Team Hoyt) who participated in 257 Triathlons, 6 Ironmen and 72 Marathons including 32 Boston Marathons.

22^nd: James Lewis, 63, American singer (Trans-Siberian Orchestra), cancer.

22^nd: Wim Udenhout, 85, Surinamese politician, prime minister (1984–1986).

24^th: Tina Turner, 83, American-born Swiss Hall of Fame singer ("River Deep – Mountain High", "What's Love Got to Do with It") and actress (Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome), eight-time Grammy winner.

24^th: George Maharis, 94, American actor (Route 66, Exodus) and singer ("Teach Me Tonight").

27^th: Uali Elamanov, 70, Kazakh military officer, commander of the Air Assault Forces (2001–2004).

27^th: Héctor Lacognata, 60, Paraguayan diplomat and politician, minister of foreign affairs (2009–2011).

27^th: Mordechai Rechtman, 97, German-born Israeli bassoonist (Israel Philharmonic Orchestra), conductor and teacher (Tel Aviv University)/

28^th: Mele Siuʻilikutapu, 75, Tongan royal and politician, first female MP (1975–1978).

28^th: Harald zur Hausen, 87, German virologist, Nobel Prize recipient (2008).

29^th: Thomas Buergenthal, 89, Czechoslovak-born American international lawyer, law school dean, and judge of the International Court of Justice (2000–2010).

29^th: Jacob Turkel, 88, Israeli jurist, justice of the Supreme Court (1995–2005).

30^th: John Beasley, 79, American actor (Rudy, Everwood, The General's Daughter).

30^th: Amaro González de Mesa, 98, Spanish diplomat, ambassador to Costa Rica (1959–1962).

31^st: Patrick Ndlovu, 85, South African actor (Cry, the Beloved Country, Danger Zone, Zulu Love Letter).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Lists_of_deaths_in_2023