Famous People Who Died In 1954

Regarded as the father of computer science and artificial intelligence, Alan Turing was a distinguished mathematician and logician. During WWII, he successfully broke the challenging German Enigma machine codes thereby reducing the duration of war by a couple of years. The scientist, who was convicted for being gay, has been an inspiration for numerous films, plays and novels.

Mexican painter, Frida Kahlo, was known for her many portraits and self-portraits. Her work is said to have been inspired by the nature, artifacts and popular culture of Mexico. Her work was not much known until the late 1970s, when it was rediscovered by art historians and political activists. By early 1990s, she became a recognized figure in art history.

Henri Matisse was a French artist. Although he was known for his skills as a painter, Matisse was also a renowned sculptor, printmaker, and draughtsman. Along with Picasso, Matisse is regarded as one of the artists who contributed immensely to the revolutionary developments in visual arts. His works also influenced other painters who would adopt a technique called intense colorism.

One of the earliest members of the famous Barrymore family of actors, Lionel Barrymore remains best known for his portrayal of Mr. Potter in the 1946 film It's a Wonderful Life. Unlike many of his descendants, Barrymore also composed music. For his contribution to motion picture and radio, Barrymore was honored with two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Robert Capa was a Hungarian-American photojournalist and war photographer. Regarded as the greatest adventure and combat photographer of all time, Robert Capa is best remembered for covering five major wars, namely Second Sino-Japanese War, Spanish Civil War, World War II, First Indochina War, and the 1948 Arab–Israeli War. In 1947, he was honored with the prestigious Medal of Freedom.

Maurice Tillet was a Russian professional wrestler. A two-time AWA World Heavyweight Champion, Tillet was a very successful and popular wrestler at that time. He even appeared as The Swedish Angel in the 1949 American fantasy film Mighty Joe Young. Maurice Tillet was posthumously inducted into the Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2012.

Colette was a French author who received a nomination for the prestigious Nobel Prize in Literature in 1948. She is remembered for her novella Gigi, which inspired the 1958 movie and the 1973 musical of the same name. Her life and work have inspired several films, including the 2018 biographical drama film Colette, where Keira Knightley played the title role.

Edwin Howard Armstrong was an American inventor and electrical engineer. He is credited with developing the superheterodyne receiver system as well as the frequency modulation (FM) radio. During his illustrious career, Armstrong received several awards including the IEEE Medal of Honor, Franklin Medal, and Edison Medal. He was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame in 1980.

Mary Church Terrell was an African-American suffragist and civil rights activist. She was one of the first women of African-American heritage to earn a college degree. Terrell helped establish the National Association of Colored Women and served as its first president. Mary Church Terrell was made an inductee of the National Women's Hall of Fame in 2020.

Andre Derain is considered a co-founder of Fauvism, along with fellow artist Henri Matisse, who was one of his classmates at the Académie Carriere. He also created theatrical décor for Ballets Russes and woodcut book illustrations for authors such as Antonin Artaud and André Breton.

Claude Cahun was a French sculptor, surrealist photographer, and writer. He is best remembered for his work as a self-portraitist and writer. Apart from his primary career, Claude Cahun also played a major role in the Second World War, serving as a propagandist and resistance worker.

Marguerite Steinheil was a French woman best remembered for having love affairs with prominent men, including President Félix Faure. Interestingly, it is said that Steinheil was involved in a sexual encounter with Félix Faure at the time of his death in 1899. Steinheil achieved notoriety after the incident; her character was portrayed in a TV series titled Paris Police 1900.

Auguste Perret was a French architect who developed the architectural use of reinforced concrete. Perret is credited with designing many important edifices like the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées and Church of Notre-Dame du Raincy. In 1948, Perret was honored with the Royal Gold Medal and he won the AIA Gold Medal in 1952. He also influenced younger architects like Le Corbusier.

Dziga Vertov was a Soviet documentary filmmaker and cinema theorist. His theories and filming practices had a significant impact on the cinéma vérité style of documentary filmmaking. Dziga Vertov's independent and exploratory style of filmmaking inspired and influenced numerous filmmakers including Guy Debord.

James Hilton was an English novelist and screenwriter. Many of his books such as Lost Horizon, Knight Without Armour, We Are Not Alone, The Story of Dr. Wassell, and Rage in Heaven were adapted into films. A well-known screenwriter in Hollywood, James Hilton received the prestigious Academy Award for his work in Mrs. Miniver in 1942.

Ramaswamy Krishnamurthy, better known by his pseudonym Kalki, is remembered for his immense contribution to Tamil literature, which included his short stories, novels, and novellas. His social novel Alai Osai won him a Sahitya Akademi award. He also used the pseudonym Karnatakam to write as a film and music critic.

Though he initially studied chemistry, Seebohm Rowntree soon joined his family cocoa business. He soon introduced employee-friendly policies, such as the 5-day work week and a pension plan, in the company. His pioneering study of working-class homes in York became an iconic sociological treatise on the poor.

Apart from being one of the co-founders of the Communist Party of India, M. N. Roy also established the Mexican Communist Party. Jailed for his political activities, he penned the nine-volume Prison Manuscripts in prison. He later joined the Indian National Congress but quit it soon after.

Auguste Lumière was a French engineer, illusionist, industrialist, and biologist. Alongside his brother Louis Jean Lumière, Auguste is credited with inventing a projection device and animated photographic camera called the cinematograph, which attracted worldwide acclaim. He is also remembered for his innovations in military aircraft and his pioneering work in the use of X-rays.

Jacinto Benavente was one of the foremost Spanish dramatists of the 20th century. The son of a popular pediatrician, he developed an early interest in literature but was expected to pursue a more conventional professional. He began studying law but abandoned it to become a dramatist. He received the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1922. 

Jonas Žemaitis was a Lithuanian political figure who served as a leader of a group of Lithuanian partisans who waged guerrilla warfare against the Soviet Union after the occupation of Lithuania by Soviet. After Lithuania's independence, Jonas Žemaitis was acknowledged as a national hero and was officially recognized as the fourth Lithuanian president in 2009.