Famous People Who Died At 42

Robert F Kennedy, the brother of the 35th US president John F Kennedy, was a politician who served as US Attorney General and as US Senator. He was known as a civil rights and human rights activist and fought against organised crime and the Mafia. He opposed America’s involvement in the Vietnam War. He was assassinated by a 24-year-old Palestinian.

Albert, Prince Consort was the husband of Queen Victoria who earned a reputation for promoting public causes like the abolition of slavery worldwide and educational reform. He also helped develop Britain's constitutional monarchy by guiding his wife during her dealings with Parliament. After his untimely death at age 42, Queen Victoria started wearing black for the remainder of her life. 

Son of Spanish immigrants, Jose Marti spent his childhood in a strife-torn Cuba and attended high school on financial aid. Marti’s poems, essays, and articles were laced with his patriotic vigor to free Cuba from the Spanish rule. He died battling on the field at Dos Ríos.

Anthony van Dyck was a Flemish Baroque artist who started painting at an early age before going on to become the leading court painter in England. Although he is best remembered for painting the aristocracy, van Dyck also painted biblical and mythological subjects. In 1632, Anthony van Dyck received a knighthood from Charles I.

Modest Mussorgsky was a Russian composer best remembered for being part of a renowned 19th-century Russian composers group known as The Five. An innovator of Russian music, Mussorgsky worked towards achieving a Russian musical identity that challenged the already established Western music, which was generally considered conventional at that time.

Guy de Maupassant was a French author who wrote 300 short stories during his illustrious career. Widely regarded as the father of the modern short story, Maupassant's stories are characterized by economy of style and depicted human lives in pessimistic terms,

A Soviet cultural icon, singer Vladimir Vysotsky was known for his social commentary in his songs. In his early years, he quit engineering to study acting. He later ruled the stage as an actor, before stepping into music. He even distributed his recordings after being banned in the country.

Charles V of France reigned as the king of France from 1364 until his death in 1380. Charles V was highly successful during the Hundred Years' War as his armies recovered almost all the territories held by the English. His reign also witnessed the construction of many significant buildings, including the Château du Louvre, Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, and the Bastille.

Saadat Hasan Manto was a Pakistani playwright, writer, and author. Best remembered for his 22 collections of short stories, Manto was renowned for writing about the bitter truths of society. Not surprisingly, he was tried for obscenity on six occasions but was never convicted. Considered one of the 20th century's finest Urdu-language writers, Manto is the subject of two movies.

F. W. Murnau was a German film director best remembered for directing the 1922 silent horror film Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror, which is widely regarded as a masterpiece of German Expressionist cinema. He also made Hollywood films like Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans, which is often counted among the best movies ever made by critics and film directors.

Jorge Negrete was a Mexican actor and singer. One of the most popular actors of his generation, Negrete helped create the charro film genre. He is credited with co-founding the Mexican Actors Association, where he served as one of its most important leaders. Such is his popularity that fans still pay tribute on his death anniversary by visiting his tomb.

Maharana Sangram Singh I, better known as Rana Sanga, is remembered in history as a fierce Rajput king of the Sisodia dynasty. He controlled modern-day Rajasthan, Gujarat, and MP, with Chittor as his capital. In his struggle for power, he had lost one arm and one eye, and was crippled for life.

Hugo Wolf was an Austrian composer best remembered for his art songs. Although he produced extraordinary musical pieces, his work was constantly affected by depression before he suffered a mental collapse in the late-1890s. Hugo Wolf is credited with producing some of the best-known lieders, a type of German song.

Karl Schwarzschild was a German astronomer and physicist. He is remembered for his contributions to the general theory of relativity; Schwarzschild came up with the first exact solution to the Albert Einstein field equations. He also contributed immensely to the theory of black holes.

Francisco Solano López was a Paraguayan politician who served as the president of Paraguay from 1862 to 1870. Before becoming a leader, López played an important role in the Platine Wars where he fought against Juan Manuel de Rosas, serving in the Paraguayan Army. A controversial figure, Solano López is sometimes held responsible for the outbreak of the Paraguayan War. 

Aeronautical designer R. J. Mitchell joined Supermarine at age 21 and worked for them throughout his life. Remembered for designing sea planes, he was also the man behind the fighter aircraft Spitfire, which was used extensively during World War II. The film The First of the Few chronicled his life.

K. L. Saigal, the first superstar of Hindi cinema, was revered and idolised for his singing and acting styles. He gained-attention starring and singing in the Hindi film Puran Bhagat. He then starred in several films, most notably in the Hindi film Devdas. He was the first non-Bengali who was given consent by Rabindranath Tagore to sing the latter’s songs.  

Nigerian general Johnson Aguiyi-Ironsi was named Johnny Ironside after facing an angry mob of Congolese people during the Congo Crisis and releasing hostages from Katangese rebels. He reigned as Nigeria’s 1st military head of state. He was eventually assassinated by a few Northern Nigerian officers.

Filmmaker and producer Paul Bern was the man behind the launch of American sex symbol Jean Harlow. He, unfortunately, died of a gunshot wound only 2 months after his marriage to Bern, which gave rise to numerous theories, one of them being suicide. The handwritten suicide not found was not conclusive.

Arguably the most popular Jamaican reggae singer of his time, Dennis Brown popularized what is now known as lovers rock. The Grammy-nominated singer started singing at age 9 and later soared to fame with tracks such as Africa. He had a lifelong struggle with drugs and of a lung collapse.

Kōji Wada was a Japanese pop singer best remembered for performing several theme songs for the popular anime television series, Digimon. He had contributed songs to six Digimon anime series, including his most famous single Butter-Fly. Kōji Wada went on to perform internationally before succumbing to cancer in 2016 at the age of 42.

Ancient Byzantine emperor Justinian II was the son of Constantine IV and an efficient ruler, though he was also known for his cruel ways and means. He was also known as Rhinotmetos, or the slit-nosed, after his nose was cut off during a revolt in 695, following which he was banished from the kingdom.

Honoré Gabriel Riqueti, comte de Mirabeau was the son of renowned economist Victor Riqueti. A bout of small pox disfigured his face permanently but that didn’t stop him from rising as a leader of the French Revolution. However, posthumously, he was proved to be a royalist.

Jackie Mittoo was a Jamaican-Canadian songwriter, keyboardist, and musical director. He is best remembered for his association with the Studio One record label where he worked as a musical director. Jackie Mittoo is also remembered as one of the most important members of the popular ska band, The Skatalites.