Famous People Who Died In 1928

Discover the most famous people died who died in the year 1928. This list includes people like Thomas Hardy, Lala Lajpat Rai, Arnold Rothstein, Emmeline Pankhurst, Roald Amundsen and many more. This list of celebrities is loosely sorted by popularity. People featured on this list, include artists, political leaders, models and sculptors who died in 1928. This list includes people from United Kingdom, United States, Germany and many more countries.
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 1 
Thomas Hardy
(Novelist & Poet)
Thomas Hardy
7
Listed In: Writers
Birthdate: June 2, 1840
Sun Sign: Gemini
Birthplace: Stinsford, Dorset, England
Died: January 11
Victorian novelist and poet Thomas Hardy exhibited strong influences of Romanticism in his works. He wrote classic novels such as Far from the Madding Crowd, The Mayor of Casterbridge, and Tess of the d'Urbervilles. He mostly showed his characters struggling against social conditions and ending up in tragic situations.
 2 
Emmeline Pankhurst
(English Political Activist Who Organised the UK Suffragette Movement)
Emmeline Pankhurst
22
Listed In: Activists
Birthdate: July 15, 1858
Sun Sign: Cancer
Birthplace: Moss Side, Manchester, United Kingdom
Died: June 14
Emmeline Pankhurst was a British political activist best remembered for helping women earn the right to vote in elections by organizing the UK suffragette movement. For playing a major role in achieving women's suffrage in the UK, Pankhurst was named in Time magazine's 100 Most Important People of the 20th Century list in 1999.
 3 
Roald Amundsen
(Norwegian Explorer Who was the First to Reach the South Pole)
Roald Amundsen
45
Listed In: Miscellaneous
Birthdate: July 16, 1872
Sun Sign: Cancer
Birthplace: Borge, Norway
Died: June 18

Roald Amundsen was a Norwegian explorer. Specialized in exploring the polar regions, Amundsen was an important figure of the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration, an era in the exploration of Antarctica. He disappeared in 1928 when he was involved in a rescue mission in the Arctic. Owing to his significant achievements in polar exploration, several places are named after him.

 4 
Lewis Howard Latimer
4
Birthdate: September 4, 1848
Sun Sign: Virgo
Birthplace: Chelsea, Massachusetts, United States
Died: December 11
Lewis Howard Latimer was born to former slaves and went on to become a skilled patent draftsman. He had worked with Alexander Graham Bell on the patent of his telephone, and with the Edison Electric Light Company. He had also invented a modification of the process of making carbon filaments. 
 5 
Maria Feodorovna
(Former Empress Consort of Russia)
Maria Feodorovna
3
Birthdate: November 26, 1847
Sun Sign: Sagittarius
Birthplace: Yellow Palace, Copenhagen, Denmark
Died: October 13

Maria Feodorovna was a Danish princess who married Emperor Alexander III and became Empress of Russia. She was the second daughter of King Christian IX of Denmark and Louise of Hesse-Kassel. She grew up to be a beautiful and charming woman. She was married to Alexander Alexandrovich, the son of Emperor Alexander II and his first wife Maria Alexandrovna. 

 6 
Lala Lajpat Rai
(Indian Author, Freedom Fighter, Politician and One of the Three Members of the ‘Lal Bal Pal’ Trimurti)
Lala Lajpat Rai
10
Listed In: Activists
Birthdate: January 28, 1865
Sun Sign: Aquarius
Birthplace: Punjab, India
Died: November 17

Lala Lajpat Rai was an Indian politician who played a major role in the Indian Independence movement. He is credited with inspiring many young men, including Bhagat Singh and Chandrasekhar Azad, to join the freedom struggle through journalistic writings and activism. He was popularly known as Punjab Kesari

Charles Rennie Mackintosh
3
Listed In: Architects
Birthdate: June 7, 1868
Sun Sign: Gemini
Birthplace: Townhead, Glasgow, United Kingdom
Died: December 10

Charles Rennie Mackintosh was a Scottish architect, designer, and artist. He was married to fellow artist Margaret Macdonald, and they both were influential on the European design movements Art Nouveau and Secessionism. Mackintosh is considered one of the most important figures of Modern Style (British Art Nouveau style). In his later years, he worked largely as a watercolorist. 

 8 
Leos Janacek
(One of the Most Important Czech Composers of the 20th Century)
Leos Janacek
2
Listed In: Musicians
Birthdate: July 3, 1854
Sun Sign: Cancer
Birthplace: Hukvaldy, Czechia
Died: August 12

Leos Janacek was a Czech composer, musical theorist, folklorist, and teacher. He is credited to have created an original, modern musical style inspired by Moravian and other Slavic folk music. He was deeply influenced by folklore and by the works of his contemporary and friend,  Antonín Dvořák. The Janáček Philharmonic Orchestra is named in his honor. 

 9 
Hendrik Lorentz
(Dutch Physicist and Winner of the 1902 Nobel Prize in Physics)
Hendrik Lorentz
2
Listed In: Scientists
Birthdate: July 18, 1853
Sun Sign: Cancer
Birthplace: Arnhem, Netherlands
Died: February 4

Nobel Prize-winning Dutch physicist Hendrik Lorentz, a major figure of the Second Dutch Golden Age, is remembered for his discovery of the Zeeman effect, along with his former student Pieter Zeeman, who shared the Nobel with Lorentz. His research on electromagnetic radiation prepared ground for Einstein’s special theory of relativity.

 10 
Loie Fuller
(Actor, Lighting designer, Choreographer, Artist, Dancer, Stage actor, Model)
Loie Fuller
0
Listed In: Dancers
Birthdate: January 15, 1862
Sun Sign: Capricorn
Birthplace: Illinois
Died: January 1
 11 
H. H. Asquith
(Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1908 to 1916)
H. H. Asquith
5
Listed In: Leaders
Birthdate: September 1, 1852
Sun Sign: Virgo
Birthplace: Morley, England
Died: February 1

H. H. Asquith was an English politician and statesman best remembered for serving as the prime minister of the UK from 1908 to 1916. He was the last PM to command a majority government from the Liberal Party. Great Britain entered the First World War under his prime ministership, a move which is often criticized by modern-day critics and scholars.

 12 
Édouard-Henri Avril
(French Painter, Commercial Artist and Illustrator of Erotic Literature)
Édouard-Henri Avril
4
Birthdate: May 21, 1849
Sun Sign: Gemini
Birthplace: Algiers, French Algeria
Died: July 28

Before he revolutionized 19th-century erotica as Paul Avril, Édouard-Henri Avril was a soldier. An injury sustained in the Franco-Prussian War cut short his military life, and he was pushed into Paris sex salons to study art. His most notable works, such as the illustrations for Fanny Hill, were largely banned.

 13 
Alexander Bogdanov
(Physician)
Alexander Bogdanov
0
Birthdate: August 22, 1873
Sun Sign: Leo
Birthplace: Sokolka, Poland
Died: April 7

Alexander Bogdanov was a Russian physician, science fiction writer, philosopher, and Bolshevik revolutionary. Bogdanov is credited with inventing Tektology, which is widely considered a forerunner of systems theory. A multi-talented personality, Alexander Bogdanov was also a renowned economist and culture theorist.

 14 
Ellen Terry
(Actress)
Ellen Terry
1
Birthdate: February 27, 1847
Sun Sign: Pisces
Birthplace: Coventry, United Kingdom
Died: July 21
 15 
Rupert Cambridge, Viscount Trematon
(Queen Victoria's great grand son)
Rupert Cambridge, Viscount Trematon
2
Listed In: Miscellaneous
Birthdate: April 24, 1907
Sun Sign: Taurus
Birthplace: Esher, Surrey, England, United Kingdom
Died: April 15
 16 
Anita Berber
(German Dancer, Actress, and Writer)
Anita Berber
0
Listed In: Dancers
Birthdate: June 10, 1899
Sun Sign: Gemini
Birthplace: Leipzig, Germany
Died: November 10

Anita Berber was a German dancer, writer, and actress. Berber's addiction to drugs and her choice of clothing in public events, which challenged social taboos at that time, overshadowed her professional achievements. In addition to her personal life, Anita Berber also achieved notoriety as a dancer; some of her performances featured total nudity. She died of tuberculosis at age 29.

 17 
Crystal Eastman
(Lawyer)
Crystal Eastman
0
Listed In: Lawyers & Judges
Birthdate: June 25, 1881
Sun Sign: Cancer
Birthplace: Marlborough, Massachusetts, United States
Died: July 8
 18 
Reinhard Scheer
(Admiral)
Reinhard Scheer
0
Listed In: Leaders
Birthdate: September 30, 1863
Sun Sign: Libra
Birthplace: Obernkirchen, Germany
Died: November 26
 19 
Luigi Cadorna
(Italian Military General Known for His Failure during World War I)
Luigi Cadorna
0
Listed In: Leaders
Birthdate: September 4, 1850
Sun Sign: Virgo
Birthplace: Verbania, Italy
Died: December 21

Italian military general Luigi Cadorna served as the Chief of Staff of the Italian Army during World War I, though he is remembered for his inefficiency and bad decisions. He was later moved to the Allied military council at Versailles, and in spite of his failure, was eventually named a Field Marshal.

 20 
George Washington Goethals
(Former 1st Governor of Panama Canal Zone (1914 - 1917))
George Washington Goethals
0
Listed In: Engineers
Birthdate: June 29, 1858
Sun Sign: Cancer
Birthplace: Brooklyn, New York, United States
Died: January 21

George Washington Goethals was an American civil engineer and US-Army General remembered for his role as an overseer of the construction of the Panama Canal. He also served as the first Governor of the Panama Canal Zone from 1914 to 1917. Goethals has been honored with several tributes, including the Society of American Military Engineers' establishment of the Goethals Medal.

 21 
Italo Svevo
(Best Known for His Classic Modernist Novel 'La Coscienza Di Zeno')
Italo Svevo
1
Listed In: Writers
Birthdate: December 19, 1861
Sun Sign: Sagittarius
Birthplace: Trieste, Italy
Died: September 13

Italo Svevo was an Italian writer, playwright, novelist, short story writer, and businessman. Svevo was regarded as a pioneer of psychological fiction. He is remembered for his work La coscienza di Zeno, which is considered his magnum opus. Svevo is widely regarded as an important writer of the 20th century whose works had an influence on later generations of writers.

 22 
Vicente Blasco Ibáñez
(Bestselling Spanish Novelist Known for His Novel ‘Blood and Sand')
Vicente Blasco Ibáñez
1
Listed In: Writers
Birthdate: January 29, 1867
Sun Sign: Aquarius
Birthplace: Valencia, Spain
Died: January 28

Best known for his war novels, such as The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, Vicente Blasco Ibáñez was a prominent member of the Spanish Generation of ’98 movement. Though he had been elected to the parliament, he later went into self-exile. Many of his novels were later adapted into films.

 23 
Mauritz Stiller
(Film Director)
Mauritz Stiller
2
Birthdate: July 17, 1883
Sun Sign: Cancer
Birthplace: Helsinki, Finland
Died: November 18
 24 
Alfred Loewenstein
(Banker whose wealth worth around £12 million in the 1920s)
Alfred Loewenstein
0
Listed In: Business People
Birthdate: March 11, 1877
Sun Sign: Pisces
Birthplace: Brussels, Belgium
Died: July 4
 25 
Bill Haywood
(Activist)
Bill Haywood
1
Listed In: Activists
Birthdate: February 4, 1869
Sun Sign: Aquarius
Birthplace: Salt Lake City, Utah Territory, United States
Died: May 18
 26 
Enrico Cecchetti
(Ballet Dancer)
Enrico Cecchetti
3
Listed In: Dancers
Birthdate: June 21, 1850
Sun Sign: Gemini
Birthplace: Rome, Italy
Died: November 13
 27 
Stjepan Radić
(Croatian Politician and Croatian People's Peasant Party Founder Who Was Assassinated in the Parliament)
Stjepan Radić
2
Listed In: Leaders
Birthdate: June 11, 1871
Sun Sign: Gemini
Birthplace: Desno Trebarjevo, Croatia
Died: August 8

Croatian politician Stjepan Radić, who founded the Croatian People's Peasant Party, is remembered for his pioneering work in uniting the peasant community of Croatia into a prominent political entity. He supported Croatian autonomy. He died of a fatal wound after being shot in the parliament by rival politician Puniša Račić.

 28 
Frank Dicksee
(Painter, Illustrator)
Frank Dicksee
0
Birthdate: November 27, 1853
Sun Sign: Sagittarius
Birthplace: London
Died: October 17
 29 
Narayana Guru
(Spiritual Leader, Social Reformer)
Narayana Guru
10
Listed In: Leaders
Birthdate: August 20, 1856
Sun Sign: Leo
Birthplace: Chempazhanthy, Thiruvananthapuram, India
Died: September 20

Born in Travancore in India, Narayana Guru was the son of a teacher and studied in a gurukula. He grew up to lead a social reform movement against the caste system that he saw in erstwhile Kerala. He believed in the motto One Caste, One Religion, One God for All.

 30 
Clarence W. Barron
(Publisher)
Clarence W. Barron
0
Birthdate: July 2, 1855
Sun Sign: Cancer
Birthplace: Boston, Massachusetts, United States
Died: October 2
 31 
Jan Toorop
(Painter, Graphic artist, Decorative arts)
Jan Toorop
0
Birthdate: December 20, 1858
Sun Sign: Sagittarius
Birthplace: Purworejo
Died: March 3
 32 
Li Yuanhong
(Former President of the Republic of China)
Li Yuanhong
0
Listed In: Leaders
Birthdate: October 19, 1864
Sun Sign: Libra
Birthplace: Wuhan, China
Died: June 3

Li Yuanhong was a Chinese politician who held the office of the President of China for a year each on two different occasions. A respected politician, Li Yuanhong played a critical role in avoiding China's participation in the First World War. He then resigned from his post in 1917, only to be elected again as president of China in 1922. 

 33 
Edmund Gosse
(British Poet, Author and Critic)
Edmund Gosse
1
Birthdate: September 21, 1849
Sun Sign: Virgo
Birthplace: London, England
Died: May 16

Edmund Gosse was an English author, poet, and critic. His book Father and Son inspired the popular TV play Where Adam Stood as well as Peter Carey's novel Oscar and Lucinda. Gosse also helped promote the works of Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen in England. He is also credited with helping James Joyce and W. B. Yeats establish themselves as writers.

 34 
Nora Bayes
(Singer)
Nora Bayes
0
Listed In: Singers
Birthdate: October 3, 1880
Sun Sign: Libra
Birthplace: Chicago, Illinois, United States
Died: March 19
 35 
Robert Lansing
(United States Secretary of State)
Robert Lansing
1
Listed In: Miscellaneous
Birthdate: October 17, 1864
Sun Sign: Libra
Birthplace: Watertown, New York, United States
Died: October 30
 36 
Johan Ludvig Heiberg
(Philologist)
Johan Ludvig Heiberg
0
Birthdate: November 27, 1854
Sun Sign: Sagittarius
Birthplace: Denmark
Died: January 4

Johan Ludvig Heiberg was a Danish historian and philologist. Heiberg is best remembered for discovering previously unknown texts in the famous Archimedes Palimpsest. In 1912, Johan Ludvig Heiberg was honored with the Prix Binoux by the French Academy of Sciences.

 37 
Ina Coolbrith
(Poet)
Ina Coolbrith
1
Listed In: Writers
Birthdate: March 10, 1841
Sun Sign: Pisces
Birthplace: Nauvoo, Illinois, United States
Died: February 29
 38 
Giovanni Giolitti
(Prime Minister of Italy from 1920 to 1921)
Giovanni Giolitti
0
Listed In: Leaders
Birthdate: October 27, 1842
Sun Sign: Scorpio
Birthplace: Mondovì, Italy
Died: July 17

Five-time prime minister of Italy, Giovanni Giolitti was a trained lawyer and had also served the civil services. Though he helped his country prosper significantly, he was often criticized for his ways and means, especially for giolittismo, a technique associated with violence during elections, which he resorted to.

 39 
Theodore William Richards
(The First American Scientist to Receive the Nobel Prize in Chemistry)
Theodore William Richards
0
Listed In: Scientists
Birthdate: January 31, 1868
Sun Sign: Aquarius
Birthplace: Germantown, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Died: April 2

Theodore William Richards was an American chemist. In 1914, he became the first scientist from the US to be honored with the Nobel Prize in Chemistry. Also an inventor, Richards is credited with inventing the nephelometer as well as the adiabatic calorimeter. Over the course of his career, Theodore William Richards won several prestigious awards, including the Willard Gibbs Award.

 40 
Eddie Foy Sr.
(Actor)
Eddie Foy Sr.
0
Birthdate: March 9, 1856
Sun Sign: Pisces
Birthplace: New York City, New York, United States
Died: February 16
 41 
Elinor Wylie
(Poet)
Elinor Wylie
0
Listed In: Writers
Birthdate: September 7, 1885
Sun Sign: Virgo
Birthplace: Somerville, New Jersey, United States
Died: December 16
 42 
Pavel Axelrod
(Russian Marxist Revolutionary and One of the Founders of the 'Russian Social Democratic Party')
Pavel Axelrod
0
Listed In: Leaders
Birthdate: August 25, 1850
Sun Sign: Virgo
Birthplace: Pochep, Russia
Died: April 16

Marxist revolutionary leader Pavel Axelrod was closely associated with the Russian Social-Democratic Workers’ Party and the Mensheviks. He was married to the daughter of satirist Isaac Kaminer. He went against the Bolshevik Revolution during World War I. He was exiled to Berlin in his final years and died there eventually.

 43 
Wilhelm Wien
(Nobel Laureate in Physics)
Wilhelm Wien
0
Listed In: Scientists
Birthdate: January 13, 1864
Sun Sign: Capricorn
Birthplace: Gaffken near Fischhausen, Province of Prussia
Died: August 30

Wilhelm Wien was a German physicist famous for deducing what became known as Wien's displacement law. He is also credited with formulating an expression for the black-body radiation He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1911 for his work on heat radiation.

 44 
Charlotte Mew
(Poet)
Charlotte Mew
1
Listed In: Writers
Birthdate: November 15, 1869
Sun Sign: Scorpio
Birthplace: London, England
Died: March 24
 45 
Thomas Fortune Ryan
(Magnate)
Thomas Fortune Ryan
0
Listed In: Business People
Birthdate: October 17, 1851
Sun Sign: Libra
Birthplace: Nelson County, Virginia, United States
Died: November 23
 46 
Floyd Bennett
(Aviator)
Floyd Bennett
0
Listed In: Miscellaneous
Birthdate: October 25, 1890
Sun Sign: Scorpio
Birthplace: Warrensburg, New York, United States
Died: April 25
 47 
Thomas Chrowder Chamberlin
(US Geologist and Educator Who Suggested the Planetesimal Hypothesis)
Thomas Chrowder Chamberlin
0
Listed In: Scientists
Birthdate: September 25, 1843
Sun Sign: Libra
Birthplace: Mattoon, Illinois, United States
Died: November 15

US geologist Thomas Chrowder Chamberlin proposed the theory of planetesimal hypothesis. Initially the chief geologist of the Wisconsin Geological Survey, he later joined the US Geological Survey. An educator, too, he was associated with the University of Chicago and the University of Wisconsin, Madison. He was also the founder-editor of The Journal of Geology.

 48 
Otto Nordenskjöld
(Swedish Geologist and Explorer Known for His Expedition to the 'Antarctic')
Otto Nordenskjöld
0
Listed In: Miscellaneous
Birthdate: December 6, 1869
Sun Sign: Sagittarius
Birthplace: Småland, Sweden
Died: June 2

Otto Nordenskjöld was a Swedish and Finnish geologist, polar explorer, and geographer.  He is best remembered for leading the Swedish Antarctic Expedition of 1901–1903, the first Swedish voyage to Antarctica. Otto Nordenskjöld also led mineralogical expeditions to Alaska, Patagonia, and the Klondike area. He also served as a professor at the University of Gothenburg.

 49 
A.B. Frost
(Illustrator)
A.B. Frost
0
Birthdate: January 17, 1851
Sun Sign: Capricorn
Birthplace: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States
Died: June 22
 50 
Douglas Haig, 1st Earl Haig
(British Army Officer Who Commanded the 'British Expeditionary Force' During 'World War I')
Douglas Haig, 1st Earl Haig
3
Listed In: Leaders
Birthdate: June 19, 1861
Sun Sign: Gemini
Birthplace: Edinburgh, Scotland
Died: January 29

Douglas Haig, 1st Earl Haig was a British Army officer best remembered for his service as the commander of the British Expeditionary Force on the Western Front during the First World War. He also commanded forces during the Battle of Arras, the Battle of the Somme, the Third Battle of Ypres, the Hundred Days Offensive, and the German Spring Offensive.