Famous Deaths on August 12

• 875 Louis II, King of Italy and Emperor of the Carolingian Empire, dies at about 50
• 1158 Anselm of Havelberg, Brandenburg bishop of Havelberg (1129-55), dies at about 58
• 1295 Charles Martel of Anjou, Son of Charles II of Naples, dies of the plague at 23

• 1335 Prince Moriyoshi, 1st Japanese shōgun of the Kenmu Restoration (1333) and monk, dies at 27
• 1410 Vladimir the Bold, Russian prince of Serpukhov, dies at 57
• 1424 Yongle, Emperor of the Ming Empire (1402-24), dies at 64
• 1484 George of Trebizond, Greek philosopher, dies at 91
• 1484 Sixtus IV [Francesco della Rovere], Italian clergyman (Catholic Pope, 1471-84), oversaw building of Sistine Chapel, establishment of Spanish Inquisition, and creation of Vatican library, dies at 70
• 1546 Francisco de Vitoria, Spanish theologian and lawyer, dies
• 1577 Thomas Smith, English diplomat, political theorist and secretary of state under Elizabeth I, dies at 63
• 1588 Alfonso Ferrabosco, Italian composer who brought madrigal music to England, dies at 45
• 1612 Giovanni Gabrieli, Italian composer (Madrigali), dies at about 60
• 1633 Jacopo Peri, Italian composer and singer who wrote the 1st recognized opera “Dafne”, dies at 71
• 1638 Johannes Althusius [Althaut], German lawyer, dies at about 81
• 1648 Ibrahim I, 18th Ottoman Sultan (1640-48), executed by being publicly strangled in front of a window at 32
• 1654 Cornelis Haga, Dutch lawyer and ambassador to Constantinople (1611-39), dies at 76

• 1660 Gilbertus van Zinnik, Flemish architect, dies at about 33
• 1674 Philippe de Champaigne, French painter, dies at 72
• 1675 Karl Rabenhaupt, German-Dutch baron of Sucha and army leader, dies at 73
• 1676 King Philip [Metacomet], leader Wampanoag-indians, shot to death
• 1689 Innocent XI [Benedetto Odescalchi], Italian, Pope (1676-89), dies at 78
• 1715 Nahum Tate, Anglo-Irish poet, playwright and poet laureate, dies at 62 or 63
• 1728 Henricus Zwaardecroon, Dutch Governor-General of Dutch East Indies (1718-25) who introduced coffee crop to Java, dies at 61
• 1750 Rachel Ruysch, Dutch painter (portrait of sovereign Johan von de Pfalz), dies at 86
• 1778 Peregrine Bertie, 3rd Duke of Ancaster and Kesteven, British general and politician (b. 1714)
• 1797 Ignaz Franz Xaver Kürzinger, German violinist, composer, and Kapellmeister, dies at 73
• 1809 Mikhail Kamensky, Russian field marshal, dies at 71
• 1810 Etienne Louis Geoffroy, French pharmacist and entomologist, dies at 84
• 1811 John Francis Edward Acton, French-born English Naval Commander and PM of Naples (remembered for his brutality towards French supporters), dies at 77
• 1812 Jean-Joseph Rodolphe, Alsatian composer, dies at 81
• 1816 Mary Katharine Goddard, American printer and publisher (The Providence Gazette, Maryland Journal), dies at 78 [1]

• 1822 Robert Stewart, 2nd marguess of Londonderry, commits suicide, dies

• 1830 Franz de Paula Roser, Austrian composer and conductor, dies at 50

• 1849 Albert Gallatin, Swiss-American politician and diplomat (4th US Secretary of the Treasury1801-14), dies at 88
• 1857 William Conybeare, English geologist (fossils of plesiosaur dinosaur), dies at 70
• 1860 Princess Juliane of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, later also known as Grand Duchess Anna Feodorovna of Russia, dies at 79
• 1861 Eliphalet Remington, American firearms manufacturer who founded Remington Arms, dies at 67
• 1864 Sakuma Shōzan, Japanese reformer (b. 1811)
• 1865 William Jackson Hooker, English botanist and director (Kew Gardens), dies at 80
• 1877 James Drummond, Scottish historical painter, (b. 1816)
• 1885 Georg Curtius, German classical linguist, dies at 65
• 1885 Helen Hunt Jackson, American author (Ramona), dies at 54
• 1891 James Russell Lowell, American poet, critic and diplomat (Biglow Papers), dies at 72
• 1896 Thomas Chamberlain, officer of the 20th Maine at the Battle of Gettysburg
• 1900 James Edward Keeler, American astronomer (rings of Saturn), dies at 42
• 1900 Wilhelm Steinitz, Austrian World Chess Champion (1866-94), dies at 64
• 1901 Adolf Erik Nordenskiöld, Finnish-Swedish explorer and mineralogist (Vega Expedition), dies at 68
• 1904 William Renshaw, British tennis player and Wimbledon singles (1881-86, 1889 and with twin brother Ernest doubles champion (1884-86, 1888-89), dies of epileptic convulsions at 43
• 1911 Jozef Israels, Dutch landscape painter, dies at 87
• 1911 Petrus H Hugenholtz, Dutch reformist vicar (Levenslicht), dies at 79

• 1918 Anna Held, Polish-born French actress and singer (A Parisian Model), dies of cancer at 46
• 1920 Louisa Lawson, Australian writer, publisher (The Dawn) and suffragist who founded The Dawn Club, dies at 72

• 1934 Hendrik P. Berlage, Dutch architect (Stock exchange Amsterdam), dies at 78
• 1935 Friedrich Schottky, German mathematician (Schottky’s theorem), dies at 84
• 1938 Ludwig Borchardt, German Egyptologist, dies at 74
• 1941 Bobby Peel, English cricket all-rounder (20 Tests, 3 x 50, 101 wickets, BB 7/31; Yorkshire CCC), dies at 84
• 1943 Georges Martin Witkowski, composer, dies at 76
• 1944 Joseph P. Kennedy, Jr., brother of President John F. Kennedy, killed in action in plane explosion over Blythburgh, East Suffolk, England at 29
• 1948 Harry Brearley, English inventor of stainless steel, dies at 77
• 1952 David Bergelson, Yiddish language writer (b. 1884)
• 1955 James B. Sumner, American chemist (Nobel 1946 – discovered that enzymes can be crystallized), dies at 67

• 1958 Augustus Owsley Stanley, American politician (US Senator from Kentucky, 1919-25; Governor of Kentucky, 1915-19; US Representative from Kentucky, 1903-15), dies at 91
• 1959 Max Nonne, German neurologist, dies at 98
• 1959 Mike O’Neill, Irish-American baseball player, dies at 81 (b. 1877)
• 1964 Ian Fleming, English author (James Bond novels), dies at 56
• 1967 (William) “Buster” Bailey, American jazz clarinetist (WC Handy; King Oliver’s Creole Jazz Band; Fletcher Henderson; Noble Sissle; John Kirby), and bandleader, dies of a heart attack at 65
• 1968 Esther Forbes, American novelist (Johnny Tremain), dies at 76
• 1968 Pieter Oud, Dutch politician (Member of Parliament, 1937-33, 1937-38, 1948-63; Mayor of Rotterdam, 1938-41, 1945-52), and co-founder of the Labour Party (PvdA) and the People’s Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD), dies at 81
• 1969 Dick Ryan, American actor (For Heaven’s Sake, Born to be Bad), dies after long illness at 72
• 1970 Glenn Hartranft, American athlete (discus WR 47.89m 1925; Olympic silver shot putt 1924), dies at 68

• 1973 Perry Botkin, American jazz and session guitarist, banjo player, composer, and musical director (Bing Crosby), dies at 66
• 1973 Walter Rudolf Hess, Swiss physiologist, Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, 1949 for mapping parts of the brain that control internal organs, dies of heart failure at 92 [1]
• 1976 Tom Driberg, English journalist, politician and possible spy, dies at 71
• 1979 Ernst Chain, German-British chemist and bacteriologist (Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, 1945 – for his work on penicillin), dies at 73
• 1982 Helvi Leiviskä, Finnish composer, dies at 80

• 1982 Salvador Sánchez, Mexican boxer (WBC, lineal featherweight title 1980-82), dies in a traffic accident at 23
• 1982 Varlam Shalamov, Russian writer (b. 1907)
• 1983 Giff Vivian, New Zealand cricket all-rounder (7 Tests, 1 x 100, HS 100, 17 wickets; Auckland), dies at 70
• 1985 Kyu Sakamoto, Japanese singer (Sukiyaki), and actor, dies in JAL 123 crash at 43
• 1985 Manfred Winkelhock, German race car driver (b. 1951)
• 1985 Marcel Mihalovici, French composer, dies at 86
• 1988 Jean-Michel Basquiat, American artist (Gray, SAMO), dies of a drug overdose at 27
• 1989 Samuel Okwaraji, Nigerian footballer (b. 1964)

• 1990 B. Kliban, American cartoonist known for his drawings of cats, usually with horrible puns (Love to Eat Them Mousies), dies at 55
• 1990 Dorothy Mackaill, British-American actress (Love Affair), dies of kidney failure at 87
• 1990 Piotr Perkowski, Polish composer, dies at 89
• 1990 Sara Seegar [Stone], actor (Mystery of Room 13), dies at 76
• 1991 Irene Campbell, British actress/dancer (Wicker Man, St Justice), dies

• 1992 Mazoon al-Mashani, 2nd wife of Sultan Said bin Taimur and Queen Mother of Oman, dies at about 72
• 1992 Patricia Harmsworth, Lady Rothermere [Bubbles], English socialite and actress, dies at 59
• 1993 Jerome Thor, American actor (Riot in Juvenile Prison), dies of cardiac at 69
• 1994 Gene Cherico, American jazz bassist, dies at 59
• 1994 Manfred Salzgeber, German film distributor and publicist, dies at about 51
• 1995 Frank Cvitanovich, Canadian filmmaker, dies at 68
• 1995 Marty Paich, American jazz pianist, conductor, producer, and arranger (Frank Sinatra, Barbra Streisand, Ella Fitzgerald, Aretha Franklin, Michael Jackson), dies of colon cancer at 70
• 1996 Anthony Parsons, British diplomat and British Ambassador to Iran during Iranian Revolution (1974-79), dies at 73 [1]
• 1996 Victor Ambartsumian, Russian astronomer (Stalin Prize 1946, 50), dies at 87
• 1997 Jack Delano [Jacob Ovcharov], Russian-born American composer and photographer, dies at 83
• 1997 Luther Allison, American blues and session guitarist (Howlin’ Wolf; James Cotton), dies of lung and brain cancer at 57
• 1999 Jean Drapeau, Canadian politician (Mayor of Montreal 1954-57, 1960-86), dies at 83
• 1999 John Rigby Hale, British linguist and historian, dies at 75

• 2000 Patrick Peter Sacco, American composer, dies at 71

• 2004 George Yardley III, American Basketball Hall of Fame forward (6 × NBA All-Star 1955–60; first player to score 2,000 points in a season; Fort Wayne Pistons), dies of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis at 75
• 2004 Godfrey Hounsfield, English electrical engineer and inventor (CT scan, 1979 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine), dies at 84 [1]
• 2004 Peter Woodthorpe, British actor (b. 1931)
• 2005 John Loder, co-founder of the anarcho-punk band CRASS (b. 1946)
• 2005 Lakshman Kadirgamar, Sri Lankan politician (Minister of Foreign Affairs of Sri Lanka), dies at 73
• 2007 Elizabeth Murray, American abstract expressionist painter, and printmaker known for her use of shaped canvases, dies of lung cancer at 66
• 2007 Ian McGeoch, Scottish Vice-Admiral with Royal Navy (submarine HMS Splendid WWII), dies at 93
• 2007 Merv Griffin, American television host and game show creator, dies at 82
• 2007 Mike Wieringo, American comic book artist who worked on “The Flash” and “Spiderman”, dies of an aortic dissection at 44
• 2008 (June) “Christie” Allen, British-Australian pop singer (Goosebumps), dies of pancreatic cancer at 54
• 2008 Donald Erb, American composer known for large orchestral works, dies at 81
• 2009 Les Paul [Polsfuss], American guitarist, (How High The Moon), songwriter and inventor (solid-body electric guitar), dies at 94
• 2009 Lord John Gregson, British Labour politician and Baron, dies from injuries following a fall at 85
• 2010 Guido de Marco, 6th president of Malta, 45th President of the United Nations General Assembly (b. 1931)
• 2010 Isaac Bonewits, American founder of U.S. Druid organization Ar Ndraiocht Fein (b. 1949)
• 2010 Paul Ryan Rudd, American stage and screen actor (Beacon Hill; Johnny, We Hardly Knew Ye), dies at 70
• 2010 Richie Hayward, American drummer (Little Feat), dies of liver cancer at 64
• 2011 Robert Robinson, British radio and television presenter, and game show host (Ask the Family; Call My Bluff), dies at 83
• 2012 Mendelis Bašs, Latvian composer, conductor, and pedagogue, dies at 93
• 2013 Friso, Prince of Orange-Nassau, second son of Queen Beatrix, dies in a coma, a year and a half after being buried in an avalanche, at 44

• 2015 John Scott, English organist and choirmaster, dies at 59
• 2015 Per Hjort Albertsen, Norwegian organist, composer, and educator, dies at 96
• 2015 Stephen Lewis, British stage and screen comic actor, screenwriter and playwright (In The Buses – “Blakey”; Last of the Summer Wine – “Smiler”), dies at 88
• 2020 Bill Yeoman, American College Football Hall of Fame coach (University of Houston 1962-86; record 160–108–8), dies from kidney failure and pneumonia at 92
• 2020 Don Edmunds, American auto racer and car builder (National Sprint Car HOF; built Evel Knievel’s Snake River Canyon Sky cycle), dies at 89
• 2020 Howard Mudd, American football OL (Pro Bowl 1966–68; All-Pro 1967-68; SF 49ers, Chicago Bears) and coach (Super Bowl 2006; OL Indianapolis Colts), dies after a motorcycle accident at 78
• 2020 Marvin Creamer, American mariner, 1st recorded person to sail around the world without navigational instruments, dies at 104
• 2020 Melvin F. Stute, American thoroughbred racehorse trainer (Preakness Stakes 1986, Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies 1986, Breeders’ Cup Sprint 1987), dies at 93
• 2020 Pavol Biroš, Slovak soccer defender (9 caps, Czechoslovakia; Slavia Prague), dies from heart disease at 67
• 2021 Emilio Flores Márquez “Don Millo”, Puerto Rican sugar cane worker and centenarian, (world’s oldest man in 2021), dies at 113 [1]
• 2021 Roger Harring, American College Football Hall of Fame coach (Uni of Wisconsin–La Crosse 1969–99, record 261–75–7), dies at 88
• 2021 Una Stubbs, English actress (Till Death Us Do Part; Sherlock – “Mrs. Hudson”), dies at 84

• 2022 José Luis Pérez-Payá, Spanish soccer forward (2 caps; Atlético Madrid, Real Madrid), dies at 94
• 2022 Ricardo Perdomo, Uruguayan soccer midfielder (6 caps; Club Nacional de Football, Rayo Vallecano, Unión Española) and coach (Miramar Misiones, Plaza Colonia), dies at 62
• 2022 Viacheslav Semenov, Ukrainian soccer midfielder (11 caps USSR; FC Zorya Luhansk, FC Dynamo Kyiv), dies at 74
• 2022 Wolfgang Petersen, German director, screenwriter and producer (Das Boot; Air Force One; The Perfect Storm), dies of pancreatic cancer at 81
• 2023 Atanas Golomeev, Bulgarian basketball center (FIBA EuroBasket Top Scorer 1973 Academic Sofia, 1975 Levski Sofia; FIBA European Selection 1971, 73, 75, 77), dies at 76
• 2023 Jacques Rougerie, French rugby union front rower (1 Test; AS Montferrand), dies at 78
• 2023 Joggie Viljoen, South African rugby union scrum half (6 Tests; Griqualand West RU, Eastern Province RU), dies at 78
• 2024 Ramiro Blacut, Bolivian soccer forward (23 caps; Club Bolívar, Ferro Carril Oeste, Bayern Munich) and manager (Bolivia 1979–81, 2004-05), dies at 80
• 2024 Zdeněk Pololáník, Czech contemporary classical, sacred music, and film score composer, and organist, dies at 88

August 12 Highlights