Famous People Who Died Today

Soviet sniper Lyudmila Pavlichenko belonged to the Red Army during World War II and is believed to have killed over 300 people. Also known as Lady Death, she was awarded the Order of Lenin and was made a Hero of the Soviet Union. She later became a Soviet Navy researcher.

Lise Meitner was an Austrian-Swedish physicist best remembered for her contributions that led to the discoveries of nuclear fission and the element protactinium. Nicknamed the German Marie Curie by Albert Einstein, Lise Meitner became the second woman in the world to receive a doctorate in physics in 1905. In 1997, chemical element 109 meitnerium was named in her honor.

Xavier Cugat was a Spanish musician and bandleader. He studied classical violin as a child and began working in silent films to support his family. He grew up to become a successful musician and played a leading role in the spread of Latin music. Besides music, he was also a cartoonist and a restaurateur. He was married five times. 

Ernest Everett Just was an African-American biologist and academic. He is credited with recognizing the fundamental role of the cell surface in the development of organisms. As a black boy growing up in the late 19th century, he had to face enormous challenges before he could establish himself in his career. He co-founded the Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc.  

Vytautas, also called Vytautas the Great, was the Grand Duke of Lithuania. Vytautas consolidated the possessions of his country and aided in building a national consciousness. Revered as a national hero, Vytautas was considered a significant figure during the 19th century Lithuanian National Revival. The Vytautas Magnus University founded in 1922 during the Polish–Lithuanian War was named after him.  

Initially a stenographer, Romanian-born American opera singer Reba Fiersohn, better known as Alma Gluck, started her music career after her marriage and soon found success with her performances at the Metropolitan Opera. She scripted history by scoring the first million-selling phonograph record and also co-founded the American Woman's Association.

Michael Servetus was a Spanish physician, Renaissance humanist, cartographer, and theologian. In 1553, he published a book titled Christianismi Restitutio in which he described the function of pulmonary circulation, becoming the first European to describe it accurately. A polymath, Michael Servetus was well-versed in many fields, such as mathematics, geography, meteorology, astronomy, human anatomy, pharmacology, medicine, poetry, jurisprudence, and translation.

Vladimir Bukovsky was a Russian-born British writer and human rights activist. An important member of the Soviet dissident movement, Bukovsky spent 12 years in prisons, psychiatric prison-hospitals, and labor camps of the Soviet Union. A neurophysiologist, Bukovsky is celebrated for his efforts to expose Soviet Union's political abuse of psychiatry. In 2001, he was awarded the Truman-Reagan Medal of Freedom.

Chiefly known for his works on the diagnosis and understanding of schizophrenia, German psychiatrist Kurt Schneider published many papers on the subject, creating a list of the psychotic symptoms, today known as Schneiderian First-Rank Symptoms, to differentiate it from other forms of mental disorder. He also made significant contributions to personality disorders, coining term like endogenous depression and reactive depression.

Charlotte Perriand was a French architect and designer known for her unique approach of correlating “the art of dwelling with the art of living.” She was interested in designing from a young age and received her training at the École de L'Union Centrale des Arts Décoratifs. She worked with prominent Swiss-French architect Le Corbusier for several years. 

Japanese painter Itō Jakuchū of the mid-Edo period is best-recognised for his paintings that traditionally featured Japanese subjects, especially his detailed and lifelike paintings of chickens and other birds. A reputed artist of the Kyoto art community, Jakuchū received several personal commissions as well as commissions for painting panels or screens for different Buddhist temples and Shinto shrines in Japan.

Lope de Aguirre was a Spanish conquistador who lived and worked in South America. Dubbed the Madman, Aguirre is best remembered for his final expedition in search of Omagua and a mythical golden Kingdom known as El Dorado. Lope de Aguirre was killed during his last expedition down the Amazon River. Over the years, he has been antagonized in arts.

Best known for penning Down Second Avenue, which is regarded as a South African classic, Es'kia Mphahlele was initially a teacher whose term was terminated due to his opposition of the Bantu Education Act. He later held multiple academic posts in Europe, Africa, and the US.

Cell biologist and MIT professor Susan Lindquist is best remembered for her research on protein folding and its impact on diseases. The Harvard alumna had also taught at the University of Chicago for 23 years. She was also the first female director of the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research.

After earning a law degree, André de Toth decided to become an actor and was prominent in the Budapest theater scene before becoming a filmmaker. His eyepatch once led him to be interrogated in Egypt by people who thought he was an Israeli military leader. His best-known works include House of Wax.

French painter Jean Hélion began his artistic career as an abstract painter but later switched to figurative painting. An architect, he began painting in his spare time and soon co-founded an association of abstract painters, Abstraction-Création. He fought for the French army in World War II and also penned a memoir in captivity.

Jan Niemiec was a Polish-born Ukrainian prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. Apart from serving as the Titular Bishop of Decoriana, Jan Niemiec also served as the Auxiliary bishop of the Diocese of Kamyanets-Podilskyi from 2006 until his death in 2020.