Famous People Who Died Today

Ava Gardner was one of the top stars of the 1950s. She was also considered one of the leading Hollywood actresses of her time. In 1999, she was ranked 25th in the greatest female screen legends list issued by The American Film Institute. A truly international figure, a statue of Gardner has been erected in Tossa de Mar, Spain.

Actress and producer, Mary Tyler Moore, was well known for appearing in popular sitcoms in the 1960s and 1970s. She also appeared in a few movies and was nominated for an Academy Award. She advocated for animal rights and diabetes prevention and was the international chairman of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation.

Philip Johnson was an American architect who organized the Modern architecture's first exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art in 1932. A highly influential and respected architect, Johnson was honored with the prestigious AIA Gold Medal in 1978. The following year, he was honored with the first Pritzker Architecture Prize.

Demis Roussos was a Greek singer-songwriter remembered for his work with the band Aphrodite's Child. He also had an illustrious career as a vocal soloist and sold over 60 million albums worldwide. His works have inspired musicians all over the world, including Bollywood music director R. D. Burman, whose song Mehbooba Mehbooba is based on Roussos' Say You Love Me.

Fabian Gottlieb von Bellingshausen was a Russian cartographer, naval officer, and explorer. He is best remembered for his role in Russia's first circumnavigation of the world. Fabian Gottlieb von Bellingshausen also led another circumnavigation that led to the discovery of Antarctica. 

Canadian mathematician Albert W. Tucker is remembered for his contribution to the field of operations research, primarily non-linear programming and game theory. The Princeton alumnus was also associated with Harvard as a research fellow and later taught math at Princeton. John Nash was one of his PhD students.

Nigerian-born novelist Buchi Emecheta OBE, who was based in the UK since 1962, gained critical-acclaim and recognition for her literary works with themes including child-slavery, female independence, motherhood and freedom through education. Notable works of Emecheta include novels like Second Class Citizen, The Bride Price, The Joys of Motherhood and The Slave Girl. The latter won her Jock Campbell Award. 

Romanian historian, journalist, and author Neagu Djuvara had also been a diplomat. His political activities got him exiled, and he remained in Paris for a while and then settled in Niger as a foreign ministry advisor. He also taught at the University of Niamey and, later, at the University of Bucharest.

 Macedonian-Bulgarian writer, teacher and translator Grigor Parlichev is best-known for works like O Armatolos and 1762 leto. O Armatolos, written in Greek, won Parlichev 1st prize at Athens University Poetry Competition (1860). He held several academic positions, was an initiator of Bulgarian Men's High School of Thessaloniki, part of the Bulgarian Renaissance and since the late-1860’s wrote only in Bulgarian. 

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.

German mystic Heinrich Suso was a significant leader of the Friends of God movement. Best known for his work Little Book of Eternal Wisdom, he faced a lot of issues for his support of mystic Meister Eckhart. He apparently practiced austerity by wearing a shirt with 150 nails inside it.

Mamadou Dia was a Senegalese politician best remembered for his service as the Prime Minister of Senegal from 18 May 1957 to 18 December 1962. Dia was forced to resign from his post as Prime Minister and was imprisoned amid allegations that he was preparing to enforce a military coup to depose the then-President Léopold Sédar Senghor.

Shiga Kiyoshi was a Japanese bacteriologist and physician. He is credited for many scientific discoveries, including the discovery of the Shigella dysenteriae microorganism. He also conducted research on diseases such as trypanosomiasis and tuberculosis. Kiyoshi Shiga is also credited with making numerous advancements in immunology and bacteriology.

Best known for creating the special effects in the Godzilla series of films, Japanese special-effects director Eiji Tsuburaya had earned the nickname The Father of Tokusatsu. He later formed his own SFX company, which created the Ultra of superhero TV shows. He also nursed a lifelong love for airplanes.