1758 – Jan Francisci, Slovak composer, dies at 66
1794 – William Jones, British orientalist and jurist, dies at 47
1871 – Sigismond Fortune Francois Thalberg, Austrian composer, dies at 59
1881 – Ludwig von Benedek, Austrian general, dies at 76
1938 – Edmond Rubbens, Belgian minister to Colonies, dies at 44
1952 – Guido Castelnuovo, Italian mathematician, dies at 86
1992 – Olivier Messiaen, French composer (L’Ame en Bourgeon; St Francois d’Assise), dies at 83
1992 – Sol K. Bright, Hawaiian steel-guitar player, singer (Hollywaiians), and songwriter (“Hawaiian Cowboy”), dies at 72
1993 – Hans Sahl, German-American anti-Nazi Jewish writer (Tie Exil im Exil), dies at 90
2015 – Gene Fullmer, American boxer (World Middleweight title 1957; NBA [WBA] World Middleweight title 1959-62), dies at 83
Category: Famous Deaths
Famous Deaths for 26th April 2025
1907 – Joseph Hellmesberger Jr., Austrian composer, violinist, and conductor, dies of kidney failure at 52
1918 – Cecil Coles, Scottish organist and composer (Behind the Lines), killed during WWI by sniper fire while recovering casualties on the Western Front at 29
1944 – Violette Morris, French athlete and spy for Nazi Germany, dies at 51
1965 – Aaron Avshalomov, Russian-Jewish-American composer (Kuan Yin; The Great Wall), conductor (Shanghai Municipal Orchestra, 1943-46), and librarian, dies at 70
1970 – Paul Celan, Romanian-born writer, dies at 49
1976 – Neil McCallum, British-Canadian actor (Pete-Saber of London), dies at 45
1995 – Hugh Morton, Baron Morton of Shuna, Scottish lawyer and judge, dies at 65
1996 – Stirling Silliphant, American screenwriter (In the Heat of the Night, Perry Mason), dies at 78
2004 – Claude “Fiddler” Williams, American jazz violinist and guitarist (Twelve Clouds of Joy; Count Basie), dies at 96
2015 – Marcel Pronovost, Canadian Hockey HOF defenceman (11 x NHL All Star games; Stanley Cup 1950, 52, 54, 55 Detroit RWs, 1967 Toronto MLs), dies at 84
Famous Deaths for 25th April 2025
1725 – Paul de Rapin, French historian known for his “History of England”, dies at 64
1728 – John Woodward, English geologist known for his collection of fossils and physician, dies at 62
1782 – Anne Bonny (née Cormac), Irish Caribbean pirate and lover of Calico Jack, dies at 85 [Note: age and date of death disputed]
1926 – Ellen Key, Swedish author and feminist (Courageous Woman), dies at 76
1951 – Jerzy Fitelberg, Polish composer, dies at 47
1960 – Ilmari Krohn, Finnish composer, dies at 92
1972 – George Sanders, Russian actor (All About Eve-Academy Award 1950), commits suicide at 65
2000 – Neils Viggo Bentzon, Danish pianist and composer (The Tempered Piano), dies at 80
2009 – John J. Marchi, American politician (NY Senate 1957-2006), dies at 87
2021 – Rajan Mishra, Indian classical music vocalist, dies of COVID-19 complications at 69
Famous Deaths for 24th April 2025
1843 – George Macfarren, British playwright, dies at 54
1948 – Jāzeps Vītols, Latvian composer, dies at 84
1962 – Emilio Prados, Spanish poet and editor, part of Generation of ’27, dies at 63
1971 – Lennie Hayton, American pianist, composer, conductor and arranger (Paul Whiteman; Bing Crosby; MGM), dies at of heart attack at 63
1980 – Alenjo Carpentier, Cuban-French writer (Guerra del Tiempo), dies at 75
2005 – Fei Xiaotong, Chinese sociologist (b. 1910)
2005 – Ezer Weizman, President of Israel (b. 1924)
2021 – Sarolta Monspart, Hungarian orienteering competitor (first non-Scandinavian female to win World C’ship 1972; 14 x national titles), dies at 76
2022 – (Wilhelm) “Willi” Resetarits, Austrian singer and human rights activist, dies at 73
2024 – Terry Hill, Australian rugby league utility (9 Tests; NSW 14 games; Manly 126 games), dies from a heart attack at 52
Famous Deaths for 23rd April 2025
1124 – Alexander I, King of Scots (1107-24), dies at 47
1728 – Tomás de Torrejón y Velasco, Spanish organist, composer (La púrpura de la rosa), and maestro de capilla (Catedral de Lima, Peru, 1676-1707), dies at 83
1792 – Karl Friedrich Bahrdt, German theologian and adventurer, dies at 50
1905 – Karel Komzák II, Bohemian-Viennese violinist, and composer of marches and dances (Bad’ner Mad’ln), dies when he falls under train at 54
1945 – Albrecht Haushofer, German geographer, writer and member of the German Resistance to Nazism, shot by Nazi SS troopers at 42
1993 – Daniel Jones, Welsh composer, dies at 80
1999 – Tullio Pandolfini, Italian water polo athlete (Olympic gold, 1948), dies at 84
2011 – Peter Lieberson, American composer, dies of cancer at 64
2018 – Béla Magyari, Hungarian pilot and cosmonaut, dies at 68
2020 – Bernardino Lombao, Spanish handballer (Atlético de Madrid 1967-69), coach (Nat basketball teams) and TV presenter (De Olimpia a Los Ángeles, Objetivo 92), dies at 81
Famous Deaths for 22nd April 2025
296 – Pope Caius, Bishop of Rome (283-296), dies at 51
1253 – Elias van Cortona, Italian vicar general for St. Francis of Assisi, dies at 72 or 73
1616 – Miguel de Cervantes y Saavedra, Spanish author (Don Quixote), dies of likely diabetes at 68
1854 – Nicolás Bravo, Mexican politician and soldier, dies at 67
1984 – Ansel Adams, American landscape photographer and environmentalist (Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1980), dies at 82
1986 – Mircea Eliade, Romanian religious historian (Le Yoga) and author, dies at 79
2003 – Martha Griffiths, U.S. Congresswoman, dies at 91
2005 – (John) Norman Bird, British stage, wireless, and screen character actor (Worzel Gummidge, 1979–81 – “Mr Braithwaite”), dies at 80
2005 – John Marshall, American filmmaker and activist (Ju/’hoan Bushman films), dies at 76
2011 – Moin Akhter, Pakistani actor, dies at 60
Famous Deaths for 21st April 2025
1142 – Peter Abélard, French scholar and lover of Heloise (b. 1079)
1792 – Tiradentes, Brazilian revolutionary and independence fighter (Inconfidência Mineira) considered a national hero, hanged, drawn and quartered in Rio de Janeiro at 45
1825 – Johann Friedrich Pfaff, German mathemattician (b. 1765)
1898 – Louis Théodore Gouvy, French-German composer, dies at 78
1982 – Joe Sawyer [Sauers], Canadian actor (Adventures of Rin Tin Tin – “Sgt. Biff O’Hara”), dies of liver cancer at 75
2004 – Mary McGrory, American journalist and columnist, dies at 85
2010 – Juan Antonio Samaranch, Spanish sports administrator (7th President International Olympic Committee 1980-2001), dies of cardio-respiratory failure at 89
2012 – Charles Colson, Nixon adviser (Watergate), dies from a brain hemorrhage at 80
2014 – U Win Tin, Burmese journalist, co-founder of the National League for Democracy and a political prisoner for 14 years, dies of multiorgan failure at 85
2021 – Håkon Brusveen, Norwegian cross-country skier (Olympic gold 15 km, silver 4 × 10 km relay 1960), dies at 93
Famous Deaths for 20th April 2025
1176 – Richard de Clare, 2nd Earl of Pembroke, English soldier (b. 1130)
1534 – Elizabeth Barton [St Magd of Kent], English nun, prophet and only woman whose head was on a spike on London Bridge, hanged for treason
1632 – Nicolas Antoine, French Protestant theologian who attempted to convert to Judaism, burned at the stake for heresy aged about 30 in Geneva, Switzerland
1820 – James Morris III, American army officer in the American Revolutionary War (Siege of Yorktown), dies at 68
1964 – Eddie Dyer, American baseball player, dies at 64
1970 – Paul Celan [Antschell], German-Romanian poet (Collected Prose), drowns himself at 49
1977 – Wilmer Allison, American tennis player (US Nat C’ship 1935), dies at 72
1999 – Señor Wences, Spanish ventriloquist (his hand acts as a puppet) and comedian, dies at 103
2021 – Tempest Storm [Annie Blanche Banks], American burlesque and film performer, dies at 93
2021 – Leslie McKeown, Scottish pop vocalist (Bay City Rollers – “Saturday Night”), dies at 65
Famous Deaths for 19th April 2025
1608 – Thomas Sackville, 1st Earl of Dorset, English poet and statesman, Lord High Treasurer, dies at 71 or 72
1799 – Pieter Hellendaal, Dutch violinist, organist (Pembroke College and Chapel of Peterhouse, both in Cambridge, England), teacher, and composer (Glees), dies at 78
1932 – Władysław Rzepko, Polish composer, dies at 77
1967 – Konrad Adenauer, Chancellor of West Germany (CDU: 1949-63), dies at 91
1972 – Billy Burke, American golfer (US Open 1931), dies at 69
1979 – Rogers Morton, American politician (Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Maryland), dies at 64
2007 – Helen Walton, wife of Wal-Mart founder Sam Walton (b. 1919)
2010 – Edwin Valero, Venezuelan boxer (undefeated world champion WBA super featherweight 2006-08; WBC lightweight 2009-10), commits suicide at 28
2013 – Mike Denness, English cricket batsman and captain (28 Tests, top score 188), dies from cancer at 72
2019 – Bob Efford, British jazz and session baritone saxophonist and reed player, dies at 91
Famous Deaths for 18th April 2025
1690 – Charles V, Duke of Lorraine and Austrian field marshal, dies at 47
1824 – Edward Jones, Welsh harpist and composer, dies at 72
1861 – August Neithardt, German composer, dies at 67
1917 – Moritz von Bissing, Prussian general, dies at 73
1917 – Vladimir Serbsky, Russian psychiatrist, professor, and writer (The Forensic Psychopathology), dies of renal failure at 59
1947 – Jozef Tiso, Slovak politician (President of the First Slovak Republic), executed for treason for collaborating with Nazi Germany at 59
1983 – Alan Melville, South African cricket batsman (11 Tests, 4 x 100, HS 189; Natal, Oxford University CC, Sussex CCC, Transvaal), dies at 72
2005 – Kenneth Schermerhorn, American conductor (American Ballet), dies at 75
2016 – Brian Asawa, Japanese-American countertenor, dies of liver failure at 49
2024 – Peter Hordern, British Conservative Party politician known for promoting monetarism, dies on his 95th birthday