Famous People Who Died At 41

The former professional basketball player, Kobe Bryant, was drafted into NBA immediately after his school and went on to become one of the most successful basketball players of his generation. During his career of two decades, the Los Angeles Lakers player created numerous new records. He authored a book and one of his poems even inspired an animated short film.

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.

Amelia Earhart became the first female pilot to complete a solo trans-Atlantic flight, in 1932. A champion for equal rights, Amelia later wrote best-selling memoirs and contributed to the women pilot’s group The Ninety-Nines. In 1937, Amelia disappeared while flying over the Pacific Ocean and was later declared dead.

Portuguese explorer, Ferdinand Magellan, is remembered for organizing the Spanish expedition to the East Indies from 1519 to 1522. A skilled sailor and naval officer, he was in service of the Portuguese crown in Asia. He was killed during the Battle of Mactan. The Pacific Ocean was often called the Sea of Magellan in his honor until the 18th century.

Louis XIII of France reigned as the King of France between 1610 and 1643. He is best remembered for saving the kingdom from the mismanagement of his mother Marie de' Medici, who was exiled by a 16-year-old Louis XIII. He is also credited with popularizing wigs among men, which had not been fashionable since antiquity.

Widely regarded as one of the most influential and important monarchs of the Zulu Kingdom, Shaka reigned as the king of the Zulu Kingdom from 1816 to 1828. Through a series of influential and wide-reaching reforms, Shaka was able to re-organize the Zulu military into a formidable force. His life and work inspired the 1986 South African TV series, Shaka Zulu.

Titus was the ruler of the Roman Empire from 79 to 81 CE. Before ascending the throne, he played a crucial role as a military commander, working alongside his father Vespasian during the First Jewish-Roman War. After becoming the emperor, Titus oversaw the completion of the Colosseum. His life and work are depicted in literature, paintings, and visual arts.

Engelbert Dollfuss was an Austrian politician best remembered for his service as Chancellor of Austria from 1932 to 1934. In 1933, Dollfuss assumed dictatorial powers after dissolving the parliament. He then went on to ban the Austrian Nazi Party and strengthened his own political organization, The Fatherland Front. Engelbert Dollfuss was assassinated by Nazi agents in 1934.

Jean-François Champollion was a French orientalist, philologist, and scholar. A founding figure of Egyptology, Champollion is credited with deciphering the Egyptian hieroglyphs, which paved the way for several research and studies in the field of Egyptology. Not surprisingly, Champollion is often referred to as the Founder and Father of Egyptology.  

Alessandro Pavolini was an Italian politician and journalist. A qualified lawyer, he supported Benito Mussolini's fascist movement during World War II. He was notorious for his cruelty against the opponents of fascism. He eventually became the president of the Fascist Confederation of Professionals and Artists. He was finally executed by the partisans in 1945.  

Wallace Carothers was an American inventor and chemist. He worked for DuPont where he was the leader of organic chemistry. Carothers, who played a major role at the DuPont Experimental Station, is credited with inventing nylon. Despite his success, Carothers was unhappy with his life and committed suicide at the age of 41; he was troubled by bouts of depression.

A laborer’s son, George Washington Williams had been a Union Army soldier during the American Civil War, when he was barely 14. He had then been a Baptist minister, a politician, a lecturer, a lawyer, and a journalist, but is best remembered for being the first to write about Black history.

Endre Ady was a Hungarian poet and journalist. Widely regarded as the 20th century's greatest Hungarian poet, Ady is credited with introducing a new, modern style of poetry, breaking away from the folksy style of Sándor Petőfi, which was widely followed by Hungarian poets at that time. In 1947, a postage stamp featuring Ady's likeness was issued by Hungary. 

Gonçalves Dias was a Brazilian lawyer, poet, playwright, ethnographer, and linguist. A major figure of Brazilian Romanticism, he is credited with having composed Canção do exílio, often considered the best known poem of Brazilian literature. He was posthumously awarded the title of national poet of Brazil and is the patron of the 15th chair of the Brazilian Academy of Letters. 

Author, poet and dramatist Hugo Ball was also a harsh social critic and a staunch pacifist. Known for his works like Critique of German Intelligence and The Flight from Time, he left Germany during WWI to settle down in neutral Switzerland, eventually becoming famous as the founder of the Dada movement and a pioneer in the development of sound poetry.

Adalbert of Prague was a Bohemian Christian saint and missionary who served as the Bishop of Prague. He also served as a missionary to the Poles, Hungarians, and Prussians. Adalbert was martyred for his attempt to convert the Baltic Prussians to Christianity. Today, he is known as the patron saint of the Duchy of Prussia, Poland, and the Czech Republic.

Stefan Stambolov was a Bulgarian journalist, revolutionary, politician, and poet who served as the Prime Minister of Bulgaria from 1 September 1887 to 31 May 1894. Counted among the most popular and prominent founders of modern Bulgaria, Stambolov played a key role during the Balkan Wars; he helped initiate the cultural and economic progress in Bulgaria.

Romanian revolutionary leader and a national hero, Tudor Vladimirescu led the Wallachian uprising of 1821. Initially part of the Greek Friendly Brotherhood, to overturn the Turkish rule in the Balkans, he later formed his own Wallachian revolt. He was eventually executed on the orders of Greek nationalist politician Alexander Ypsilantis.

French comedian, filmmaker, and screenwriter of the silent-film era, Gabriel Leuvielle, better known as Max Linder, is remembered as the world’s first movie star. He is known to have influenced Charlie Chaplin. He also created his iconic character Max, beginning with The Skater's Debut, and played it in several comedies later.

Brazilian author Afonso Henriques de Lima Barreto was one of the greatest figures of pre-modernism and also a talented journalist. Best known for his iconic novel Triste Fim de Policarpo Quaresma, he was a master of satire. He later suffered from serious bouts of mental illness.

Charles XI of Sweden reigned as the king of Sweden from 1660 to 1697. He is credited with correcting Sweden's economic, political, and financial situation, which was largely neglected at that time. Widely regarded as the greatest king in Swedish history, Charles XI is credited with shaping Sweden through major reforms.

British military officer Orde Wingate is remembered for forming a band of British, Gurkha, and Burmese guerrilla warriors, known as Chindits, which fought valiantly against the Japanese forces in Burma during World War II. He was killed in a plane crash in Manipur at age 41.

A 3-time World Champion, Mika Myllylä was a legendary Finnish cross-country skier who also had 6 Olympic medals in his kitty, including a gold. He also held a record 23 Finnish cross-country titles. His career was plagued by doping scandals, and he ultimately died in an accident in his apartment.