Deaths in 1978
| Contents | ||
|---|---|---|
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January – February – March – April – May – June – July – August – September – October – November – December | ||
| ← 1977 | 1978 | 1979→ |
The following is a list of notable deaths in 1978. Entries for each day are listed alphabetically by surname. A typical entry lists information in the following sequence:
- Name, age, country of citizenship at birth, subsequent country of citizenship (if applicable), reason for notability, cause of death (if known), and reference.
Deaths in 1978
[edit]January
[edit]
- January 2 – Cyril King, Governor of the United States Virgin Islands (b. 1921)
- January 6 – Burt Munro, New Zealand motorcycle racer (b. 1899)
- January 13 – Hubert Humphrey, 38th Vice President of the United States (b. 1911)
- January 14
- Harold Abrahams, British athlete (b. 1899)[1]
- Kurt Gödel, Austrian-born American logician, mathematician, and philosopher (b. 1906)[2]
- January 18 – John Lyng, Norwegian politician, prime minister (b. 1905)[3]
- January 20 – Dit Clapper, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1907)
- January 22 – Herbert Sutcliffe, English cricketer (b. 1894)
- January 23
- Terry Kath, American rock musician (Chicago) (b. 1946)
- Jack Oakie, American actor (b. 1903)
- January 26 – Leo Genn, English actor and barrister (b. 1905)
- January 27 – Oscar Homolka, Austrian actor (b. 1898)[4]
- January 28 – Nadezhda Fedutenko, Soviet red army officer (b. 1915)[5]
- January 29 – Tim McCoy, American actor (b. 1891)
- January 30 – Marie-Louise Damien, French actress (b. 1889)
February
[edit]
- February 9 – Warren King, American cartoonist (b. 1916)[6]
- February 10 – Redento Maria Gauci, Maltese Carmelite bishop (b. 1920)
- February 11
- James B. Conant, American chemist and diplomat (b. 1893)
- Harry Martinson, Swedish writer, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1904)[7]
- February 15
- Ilka Chase, American actress (b. 1905)[8]
- Tadeusz Chyliński, Polish aircraft designer and constructor (b. 1911)[9]
- February 17 – Artemiy Artsikhovsky, Soviet archaeologist and historian (b. 1902)
- February 18 – Maggie McNamara, American actress (b. 1928)
- February 19 – Pankaj Mullick, Indian composer and singer (b. 1905)
- February 20 – Vitorino Nemesio, Portuguese poet and author (b. 1901)[10]
- February 24 – Alma Thomas, African-American painter (b. 1891)
- February 28 – Philip Ahn, Korean-American actor (b. 1905)
March
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- March 1 – Paul Scott, English writer (b. 1920)
- March 11 – Claude François, French entertainer (b. 1939)
- March 13 – John Cazale, American actor (b. 1935)
- March 17
- Eddie Aikau, American lifeguard and surfer (b. 1946)
- Giacomo Violardo, Italian Roman Catholic cardinal (b. 1898)
- March 18 – Peggy Wood, American actress (b. 1892)[11]
- March 19 – Gaston Julia, French mathematician (b. 1893)
- March 21 – Cearbhall Ó Dálaigh, Irish barrister, judge and 5th President of Ireland (b. 1911)
- March 22 – Isidro Ayora, 22nd President of Ecuador (b. 1879)
- March 24 – André Lallemand, French astronomer (b. 1904)
- March 30 – Syarif Hamid II of Pontianak, Indonesian ruler (b. 1913)[12]
- March 31
- Astrid Allwyn, American actress (b. 1905)
- Charles Best, Canadian medical scientist (b. 1899)[13]
April
[edit]
- April 8 – Lon L. Fuller, American legal philosopher (b. 1902)
- April 9 – Vivian McGrath, Australian tennis player (b. 1916)
- April 13 – Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti, Nigerian suffragist and women's rights activist (b. 1900)
- April 16
- Lucius D. Clay, American military governor of Germany after World War II (b. 1898)
- Marie Ahnighito Peary, American writer and philanthropist; daughter of Robert Peary (b. 1893)
- Philibert Tsiranana, Malagasy leader and politician, 1st President of Madagascar (b. 1912)
- April 21 – Sandy Denny, British singer-songwriter (b. 1947)
- April 22 – Will Geer, American actor (b. 1902)
- April 27 – John Doeg, American tennis player (b. 1908)
- April 28
- Mohammed Daoud Khan, 5th Prime Minister of Afghanistan and 1st President of Afghanistan (b. 1909)[14]
- Makhosini Dlamini, 1st Prime Minister of Swaziland (b. 1914)[15]
May
[edit]
- May 1 – Aram Khachaturian, Soviet-Armenian composer and conductor (b. 1903)
- May 6 – Ethelda Bleibtrey, American Olympic swimmer (b. 1902)
- May 8 – Duncan Grant, Scottish painter (b. 1885)
- May 9 – Aldo Moro, Italian Christian Democratic politician and statesman, 38th Prime Minister of Italy (assassinated) (b. 1916)
- May 13 – Alby Roberts, New Zealand cricketer (b. 1909)
- May 15 – Sir Robert Menzies, 12th Prime Minister of Australia (b. 1894)
- May 16 – William Steinberg, German-American conductor (b. 1899)
- May 17 – Armin T. Wegner, German human rights activist (b. 1886)
- May 18 – Selwyn Lloyd, Baron Selwyn-Lloyd, English politician (b. 1904)
- May 20
- Ernest Cadine, French weightlifter, Olympic champion (1920) (b. 1893)[16]
- P. S. Subrahmanya Sastri, Indian Sanskrit scholar (b. 1890)[17]
- May 22
- Joseph Colombo, American gangster (b. 1923)
- Aubrey Fitch, American admiral (b. 1883)[18]
- May 26
- Tamara Karsavina, Soviet ballerina (b. 1885)
- Jorge Icaza Coronel, Ecuadorean novelist (b. 1906)
- May 31
- József Bozsik, Hungarian footballer (b. 1925)
- José Gonzalvo, Spanish footballer and manager (b. 1920)
June
[edit]
- June 2 – Santiago Bernabéu, Spanish footballer, player and president of Real Madrid C.F. (b. 1895)
- June 4 – Jorge de Sena, Portuguese novelist and poet (b. 1919)
- June 5 – Joseph Montoya, American politician (b. 1915)[19]
- June 7 – Ronald George Wreyford Norrish, British chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1897)
- June 12 – Guo Moruo, Chinese archaeologist, historian, poet, politician, and writer (b. 1892)
- June 17 – Robert B. Williams, American actor (b. 1904)
- June 20 – Mark Robson, Canadian film director (b. 1913)
- June 21 – Luther Youngdahl, American politician, Governor of Minnesota, and district judge (b. 1896)
- June 22
- Tom Gorman, Australian rugby league footballer (b. 1901)[20]
- Jens Otto Krag, Danish politician, 18th Prime Minister of Denmark (b. 1914)[21]
- June 24 – Ahmad al-Ghashmi, 4th President of the Yemen Arab Republic (b. 1935)
- June 27 – Josette Day, French actress (b. 1914)
- June 28 – Clifford Dupont, 1st President of Rhodesia (b. 1905)
- June 29 – Bob Crane, American actor, drummer, radio host, and disc jockey (b. 1928)
July
[edit]
- July 1 – Kurt Student, Luftwaffe general and commander of the German airborne forces during World War II. (b. 1890)
- July 3 – James Daly, American actor (b. 1918)
- July 6 – Pietro Montana, Italian-born American sculptor, painter and teacher (b. 1890)[22]
- July 7 – Francisco Mendes, Guinea-Bissau politician, 1st Prime Minister of Guinea-Bissau (b. 1939)
- July 9 – Prince Nicholas of Romania (b. 1903)[23]
- July 10
- Abd ar-Razzaq an-Naif, 31st Prime Minister of Iraq (b. 1934)
- Joe Davis, English snooker and billiards player (b. 1901)[24]
- July 14 – Gaston Ragueneau, French athlete (b. 1881)
- July 16 – Howard Estabrook, American actor (b. 1884)
- July 17 – Thayer David, American actor (b. 1927)
- July 21 – Susana Calandrelli, Argentine writer (b. 1901)[25]
- July 27 – Willem van Otterloo, Dutch conductor, cellist and composer (b. 1907)
- July 30 – Umberto Nobile, Italian aviator and explorer (b. 1885)[26]
- July 31 – Prince Rostislav Alexandrovich of Russia (b. 1902)
August
[edit]
- August 2 – Carlos Chávez, Mexican composer (b. 1899)[27]
- August 6
- Pope Paul VI (b. 1897)
- Edward Durell Stone, American architect (b. 1902)
- August 9 – James Gould Cozzens, American writer (b. 1903)[28]
- August 19 – Emilio Núñez Portuondo, Cuban diplomat and politician, 13th Prime Minister of Cuba (b. 1898)
- August 22
- Jomo Kenyatta, Kenyan activist, politician and statesman, 1st Prime Minister of Kenya and 1st President of Kenya (b. c.1897)
- Ignazio Silone, Italian writer and politician (b. 1900)[29]
- August 24 – Louis Prima, American singer and actor (b. 1910)
- August 25 – George E. Jonas, American philanthropist (b. 1897)
- August 26
- Charles Boyer, French actor (b. 1899)
- José Manuel Moreno, Argentine football player (b. 1916)
- August 28
- Kofi Abrefa Busia, Ghanese nationalist leader, 2nd Prime Minister of Ghana (b. 1913)
- Bruce Catton, American Civil War historian, Pulitzer Prize winner (b. 1899)[30]
- Robert Shaw, British actor (b. 1927)[31]
- August 30 – Geertruida Wijsmuller-Meijer, Dutch war hero, resistance fighter and humanitarian (b. 1896)[32]
September
[edit]
- September 3 – Karin Molander, Swedish actress (b. 1889)
- September 4 – Leonora Cohen, British suffragette and trade unionist (b. 1873)
- September 6 – Adolf Dassler, German founder of Adidas (b. 1900)
- September 7 – Keith Moon, English rock drummer (The Who) (b. 1946)
- September 8 – Ricardo Zamora, Spanish footballer (b. 1901)
- September 9
- Hugh MacDiarmid, Scottish poet (b. 1892)
- Jack L. Warner, Canadian-American film producer (b. 1892)
- September 11
- Valerian Gracias, Indian Roman Catholic archbishop and cardinal (b. 1900)
- Georgi Markov, Bulgarian playwright and writer (b. 1929)
- Ronnie Peterson, Swedish Formula One driver (b. 1944)
- Curtis Shake, American jurist (b. 1887)[33]
- September 12 – Frank Ferguson, American actor (b. 1899)
- September 17 – Willy Messerschmitt, German aircraft designer and manufacturer (b. 1898)
- September 21 – Peter Vogel, German film actor (b. 1937)
- September 24
- Lyman Bostock, American baseball player (b. 1950)
- Hasso von Manteuffel, German army general (b. 1897)
- Manne Siegbahn, Swedish physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1886)[34]
- September 27
- Sergei Aslamazyan, Soviet composer (b. 1897)
- Dumitru Dămăceanu, Romanian general and politician (b. 1896)[35]
- September 28 – Pope John Paul I (b. 1912)
- September 30 – Edgar Bergen, American actor and ventriloquist (b. 1903)
October
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- October 1 – Alfredo Obviar, Filipino Roman Catholic bishop and Servant of God (b. 1889)[36]
- October 4 – Roy L. Dennis, American teenager who had craniodiaphyseal dysplasia (b. 1961)
- October 8 –
- Karl Swenson, American actor (b. 1908)
- Jim Gilliam, American baseball player (b. 1928)
- October 9 – Jacques Brel, Belgian singer (b. 1929)
- October 10
- Ralph Metcalfe, American Olympic athlete (b. 1910)
- Hermes Lima, prime minister and foreign minister of Brazil (b. 1902)
- October 11 – Ruthven Todd, Scottish poet, artist, and novelist (b. 1914)
- October 12 – Nancy Spungen, American groupie and girlfriend of Sid Vicious (b. 1958)
- October 15 – W. Eugene Smith, American photojournalist (b. 1918)
- October 16 – Dan Dailey, American actor (b. 1915)
- October 17 – Giovanni Gronchi, 3rd president of Italy (b. 1887)[37]
- October 19 – Gig Young, American actor (b. 1913)
- October 20 – Gunnar Nilsson, Swedish Formula One driver (b. 1948)
- October 21 – Anastas Mikoyan, Russian revolutionary and Soviet statesman (b. 1895)
- October 23 – Maybelle Carter, American country musician (b. 1909)[38]
- October 28 – Geoffrey Unsworth, British cinematographer (b. 1914)
November
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- November 8 – Norman Rockwell, American artist (b. 1894)
- November 9 – Thérèse Tréfouël, French chemist known for research on sulfonamides (b. 1892)
- November 10 –
- Theo Lingen, German actor (b. 1903)
- Christine Olson, American businesswoman and politician[39] (b. 1892)
- November 15 – Margaret Mead, American anthropologist (b. 1901)
- November 18
- November 20 – Giorgio de Chirico, Italian painter (b. 1888)
- November 24 – Warren Weaver, American scientist and mathematician (b. 1894)
- November 27 – George Moscone, American politician and then-mayor of San Francisco (b. 1929)
- November 27 – Harvey Milk, American politician and activist (b. 1930)
December
[edit]
- December 3 – William Grant Still, American composer (b. 1895)
- December 4 - Goodie Reeve, British-born Australian radio host and musician (b. 1897)
- December 7 – Alexander Wetmore, American ornithologist and avian palaeontologist (b. 1886)
- December 8 – Golda Meir, Israeli teacher, politician and stateswoman, 4th Prime Minister of Israel (b. 1898)[40]
- December 10
- Emilio Portes Gil, Acting president of Mexico, (1928–1930) (b. 1890)[41]
- Ed Wood, American filmmaker, actor and author (b. 1924)
- December 11
- Vincent du Vigneaud, American biochemist (b. 1901)
- Raúl Lastiri, 39th president of Argentina (b. 1915)[42]
- December 12 – Fay Compton, English actress (b. 1894)
- December 14 – Salvador de Madariaga, Spanish diplomat, writer, historian, and pacifist (b. 1886)
- December 15 – Chill Wills, American actor (b. 1902)
- December 16 – Blanche Calloway, American jazz singer (b. 1902)[43]
- December 17
- Don Ellis, American jazz trumpeter, drummer, composer, and bandleader (b. 1934)
- Josef Frings, German cardinal, Archbishop of Cologne (b. 1887)[44]
- December 27
- Houari Boumédiènne, 2nd President of Algeria (b. 1932)
- Chris Bell, American musician (b. 1951)
- December 31 – Nicolau dos Reis Lobato, East Timorese politician, acting President of East Timor (b. 1946)
References
[edit]- ↑ "Harold Abrahams". Olympedia. OlyMADMen. Retrieved 18 August 2024.
- ↑ Kurt Gödel; S. Feferman (1986). Kurt Gödel: Collected Works: Volume I: Publications 1929-1936. OUP USA. p. 15.
- ↑ John Lyng Prime Minister 1963
- ↑ Oscar Homolka Austrian actor
- ↑ Nadezhda Fedutenko
- ↑ Warren King (3 January 1916 - 9 February 1978, USA) United States
- ↑ "Harry Martinson – Facts". NobelPrize.org. Nobel Prize Outreach AB. 2022. Archived from the original on March 18, 2022. Retrieved 10 March 2022.
- ↑ "Ilka Chase, Act'ress and Author, 72, is Dead in Mexico". The New York Times. 16 February 1978.
- ↑ Tadeusz Chyliński (in Polish)
- ↑ Vitorino Nemésio Portuguese author
- ↑ Wood, Peggy (1892–1978)
- ↑ Sultan Hamid II: Pahlawan Intelektual Perancang Garuda Pancasila (in Indonesian)
- ↑ Charles H. Best American physiologist
- ↑ Mohammad Daud Khan prime minister of Afghanistan
- ↑ Eswatini - heads of government
- ↑ ERNEST CADINE
- ↑ P.S. Subrahmanya Sastri, the man who first translated ancient Tamil text ‘Tolkapiyam’ to English
- ↑ "Aubrey Fitch (FFG-34)". NHHC.
- ↑ MONTOYA, Joseph Manuel
- ↑ Tom Gorman
- ↑ Current Biography Yearbook. H. W. Wilson Company. 1979. p. 471. Archived from the original on December 7, 2023. Retrieved April 15, 2021.
- ↑ Pietro Montana, at 88, A Painter and Sculptor
- ↑ "Principele Regent Nicolae". Casa Majestății Sale. Retrieved 2025-08-02.
- ↑ Joe Davis British billiards and snooker player
- ↑ Artista Calandrelli, Susana (in Spanish)
- ↑ "Umberto Nobile | Italian explorer | Britannica". www.britannica.com. Retrieved 11 March 2023.
- ↑ Carlos Chávez Mexican composer and conductor
- ↑ James Gould Cozzens American author
- ↑ Ignazio Silone Italian author
- ↑ Bruce Catton American historian and journalist
- ↑ British Dramatists Since World War II: M-Z. Gale Research Company. 1982. p. 470.
- ↑ Wijsmuller-Meijer, Geertruida
- ↑ Curtis Grover Shake
- ↑ "The Nobel Prize in Physics 1924". NobelPrize.org. Retrieved 11 March 2023.
- ↑ Dămăceanu, I. Dumitru
- ↑ Lipa’s Future Saint: Bishop Alfredo Ma. Aranda Obviar
- ↑ Giovanni Gronchi president of Italy
- ↑ Maybelle Carter American musician
- ↑ "Obituary for Christine Olson". Argus-Leader. 1978-11-11. p. 20. Retrieved 2026-08-07 – via Newspapers.com.
- ↑ "Golda Meir". Britannica Presents 100 Women Trailblazers. 16 February 2019. Retrieved 29 July 2021.
- ↑ "EMILIO PORTES GIL" (in Spanish). residencia de la Republica de Mexico. Archived from the original on May 30, 2019. Retrieved May 29, 2019.
- ↑ Rául Lastiri president of Argentina
- ↑ About - Blanche Calloway
- ↑ "German Resistance Memorial Center - Biographie". www.gdw-berlin.de. Retrieved 11 March 2023.