Famous Deaths on August 30

• 526 Theodoric the Great, King of Ostrogoths (471-526), dies at 71 or 72
• 1181 Alexander III [Orlando Bandinelli], Italian Pope (1159-81), dies
• 1428 Shōkō, 101st Emperor of Japan (1412-28), dies at 27

• 1482 Louis de Bourbon, Prince-Bishop of Liège (Cluppelslagers), assassinated at 44

• 1529 Juan del Encina, Spanish author and composer, dies at 61
• 1580 Emanuel Philibert, Duke of Savoy (1553-80, regained lands of Savoy), dies at 52
• 1619 Shimazu Yoshihiro, Japanese samurai and warlord, dies at 84
• 1666 Benedikt Carpzov Jr., German criminal lawyer and witchcraft theoretician, dies at 71
• 1745 Jean-Baptiste-Maurice Quinault, French composer, dies at 57
• 1751 Christopher Polhem, Swedish scientist who invented early industrial machinery for mining, dies at 89
• 1808 Joseph Anton Bauer, Czech harpsichordist and composer, dies at 83
• 1809 Ignacy Potocki, Polish politician and influential nobleman (co-wrote 3 May Constitution), dies at 59
• 1826 Theodor Zwetler, Austrian composer, dies at 67
• 1844 Francis Baily, English astronomer and describer of “Baily’s Beads” during solar eclipse, dies at 70
• 1855 Feargus O’Connor, Leader of English Chartists, dies at 61
• 1856 Gilbert Abbott à Beckett, English writer of humor, dies of typhoid fever at 45 (b. 1811)
• 1856 John Ross, Scottish naval officer and Artic explorer (he rediscovered Baffin Bay), dies at 79
• 1862 Charles Bernard Desormes, French physicist and chemist who determined the ratio of the specific heats of gases and the composition of carbon monoxide and carbon disulfide, dies at 91
• 1877 Raphael Semmes, American Rear Admiral (Confederate Navy), dies at 67
• 1877 Toru Dutt, Indian first published woman poet (A Sheaf Gleaned in French Fields, In Ancient Ballads and Legends of Hindustan), dies of tuberculosis at 21 [1]
• 1879 John Bell Hood, American Confederate general during the American Civil War (Army of Tennessee), dies of yellow fever at 48
• 1883 Ángela Peralta, Mexican operatic soprano, harpist, pianist, and composer, dies of yellow fever at 38
• 1886 Ferris Jacobs, Jr., American military officer and politician (US Representative from New York 1881-83), dies at 50
• 1896 Alexei Lobanov-Rostovsky, Russian statesman (b. 1824)
• 1903 Vicente Fidel López, Argentine historian (Historia the Chile), dies at 87
• 1904 Kate Fanny Loder, English composer and pianist, dies at 79
• 1906 Hans Auer, Swiss-Austrian architect, dies at 59
• 1908 Alexander P. Stewart, American Lieutenant General (Confederate Army), dies at 86
• 1910 Albert Vandal, French historian (Napoleon), dies at 57
• 1914 Adrian H. Stewart, British lieutenant, dies in battle in Cameroon at 26
• 1914 Alexander Samsonov, Russian general (Russo-Japanese War; WWI), commits suicide after Russian defeat at the Battle of Tannenberg at 54
• 1914 Lucy Lloyd, English-born creator (with Wilhelm Bleek) of archive of Bushman ǀxam and !kun texts, dies at 79 [1]

• 1917 Moisei Uritsky, Russian Bolshevik revolutionary (leader of Petrogradse Cheka), assassinated at 45
• 1919 Jóhann Sigurjónsson, Icelandic writer (Dr Rung), dies at 39
• 1928 Franz Stuck, German painter (The Sin), dies at 65
• 1928 Wilhelm Wien, German physicist (laws of motion, Nobel Prize for Physics 1911), dies at 64
• 1932 Willem Marinus van Rossum, Dutch cardinal and prefect of Propaganda Fide, dies at 77
• 1934 Earnest L. Wolzogen, German writer (That tolle Komtess), dies at 79
• 1935 Henri Barbusse, French novelist (Le feu), dies at 62
• 1938 James Scott, American ragtime pianist and composer (“Frog Legs Rag”; “The Fascinator”), dies at 53 [1]
• 1938 Max Factor, Polish-American make-up artist, inventor and founder of cosmetics manufacturer Max Factor & Company, dies at 60

• 1941 Peder Oluf Pedersen, Danish engineer and physicist, dies at 67
• 1943 Eustáquio van Lieshout, Dutch priest and missionary in Brazil, dies at 52
• 1944 (William) Crickett Smith, American ragtime, and jazz cornetist and trumpeter (James Reese Europe’s Clef Club; Ziegfeld’s Midnight Frolics; Louis Mitchell’s Jazz Kings), and bandleader, dies at 53
• 1944 Morten Nielsen, Danish poet and resistance fighter, dies resisting German occupation at 22
• 1946 Grigory Semyonov, Russian general, leader of the White movement in Transbaikal and commander of the Far Eastern Army during the Russian Civil War, executed by hanging at 55
• 1949 Arthur Fielder, English cricket fast bowler (6 Tests 1903-08), dies at 72
• 1950 Ralph Hancock, Welsh garden designer (Rockefeller Center), dies at 57
• 1952 (Joseph) “Arky” Vaughan, American Baseball HOF shortstop (9 × MLB All-Star; NL batting champion 1935; NL stolen base leader 1943; Pittsburgh Pirates, Brooklyn Dodgers), dies in a boating accident at 40
• 1953 Dimitar Nenov, Bulgarian composer, pianist and architect, dies at 51
• 1956 Anita Donostia [Jose Antonio de Donostia], Spanish composer, musicologist and priest, dies at 70
• 1957 Harold Gatty, Australian aviator, navigator with Wiley Post, dies of a stroke at 54
• 1957 N. S. Krishnan, the “Charlie Chaplin of India”, Tamil film comedian, actor and screenwriter, dies of hepatitis at 48
• 1961 Charles Coburn, American actor (Around the World in 80 Days, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes), dies at 84
• 1963 Axel Stordahl, American arranger (Tommy Dorsey; Frank Sinatra), orchestra leader (Eddie Fisher), and composer (McHales’s Navy theme), dies of cancer at 50
• 1963 Guy Burgess, English-born Soviet spy, dies of acute liver failure at 52
• 1968 William Talman, American actor (Crashout, The Hitch-Hiker, Perry Mason), dies of lung cancer at 53
• 1970 Anna Casati, Italian marchesa, murdered at 41
• 1970 Del Moore, American comedian and actor (Life With Elizabeth; Bachelor Father – “Cal”; Cinderfella), dies of a cerebral hemorrhage at 54
• 1974 Abraham Schierbeek, Dutch biologist (Leeuwenhoek), dies at 87
• 1979 Jean Seberg, American actress (Breathless, Airport), commits suicide at 40
• 1981 Mohammad-Ali Rajai, President of Iran (1981), assassinated by a bomb at 48

• 1982 Leo Pappenheim, Dutch conductor, dies at 86
• 1984 Wesley Lau, American actor (Lt Anderson-Perry Mason), dies at 63
• 1985 “Philly” Joe Jones, American jazz drummer (Miles Davis Quintet), dies of a heart attack at 62
• 1985 Tatiana Proskouriakoff, Russian-American Mayan archaeologist who helped decipher Maya hieroglyphs, dies at 76
• 1985 Taylor Caldwell [Janet Miriam Holland Taylor Caldwell], Anglo-American novelist (Dynasty of Death, Dear and Glorious Physician), dies at 84
• 1986 Ellis Achong, West Indian cricket spin bowler (6 Tests, 8 wickets; Trinidad; 1st of Chinese descent to play a Test match), dies at 82
• 1986 Otto Mortensen, Danish composer and musicologist, dies at 79
• 1987 George Mikes, Hungarian-British writer and humorist (How to Be an Alien), dies at 75
• 1988 Albert F. Frey-Wyssling, Swiss botanist and pioneer of submicroscopic morphology and the discipline of molecular biology, dies at 87
• 1989 Dorothy Schiff, American owner and publisher (NY Post), dies at 86
• 1989 Joe Collins, American baseball first baseman (World Series 1949–53, 56; New York Yankees), dies at 66
• 1989 Joe De Santis, American actor, dies at 80
• 1989 Seymour Krim, American journalist, essayist, and literary critic (b. 1922)
• 1990 Edmund G. Love, American historian and author (A Small Bequest, Subways Are for Sleeping), dies at 78
• 1991 Alan Wheatley, British actor (The Adventures of Robin Hood), dies from a heart attack at 84
• 1991 Hans Koetsier, Dutch sculptor artist (KLM-Schiphol), dies at 61
• 1991 Jean Tinguely, Swiss sculptor artist (moving objects), dies at 66
• 1993 Richard Jordan, American actor (Hunt for Red October, Posse), dies at 55
• 1994 Lindsay Anderson, British director (Thursday’s Children; If …), dies at 71
• 1994 Michael Gribble, American film animator (Mike & Spike Festival), dies of cancer at 42
• 1995 Adam Wiśniewski-Snerg, Polish science fiction author (Robot), dies by suicide at 58 [1] [2]
• 1995 Fischer Black, American economist and one of the authors of the Black–Scholes equation, dies of throat cancer at 57
• 1995 Pattie Menzies, Australian wife of PM Robert Menzies, dies at 96
• 1995 Sterling Morrison, American musician (Velvet Underground), dies at 53
• 1995 Thomas Chalmers, British broadcaster, dies at 82
• 1996 Christine Pascal, French actress and director (Smile, Elsa), commits suicide at 43
• 1996 José Toribio Merino, Chilean admiral (one of the principal leaders of the 1973 Chilean coup d’état), dies at 80
• 1996 Josef Muller-Brockmann ‘Father of Swiss Graphic Design’, Swiss graphic designer and writer, dies at 82 [1]
• 1999 Raymond Poïvet, French cartoonist, dies at 89
• 2000 Willie Maddren, English soccer defender (Middlesborough 293 games) and manager (Middlesborough 1984-86), dies from motor neurone disease at 49
• 2001 Govan Mbeki, South African leader (Head of the ANC, imprisoned with Mandela, father of Thabo Mbeki), dies at 91
• 2001 Ivor Spencer-Thomas, English farmer, entrepreneur and inventor, dies at 94
• 2001 Julie Bishop [Jacqueline Wells], American actress (My Hero, Northern Pursuit, Threat), dies of pneumonia at 87
• 2002 J. Lee Thompson, English film director (b. 1914)

• 2003 Donald Davidson, American philosopher (b. 1917)
• 2004 Fred Lawrence Whipple, American astronomer (dirty-snowball theory), dies at 97
• 2004 Indian Larry [Lawrence Desmedt], American motorcycle builder and stuntman, dies at 55 from head injuries sustained in a motorcycle stunt gone wrong
• 2005 Andor Kovach, Romanian composer (Médée), dies at 90
• 2005 James H. Scheuer, American politician (Rep-D-NY, 1965-73, 75- 93), dies of heart and kidney failure at 85
• 2006 Glenn Ford, Canadian-American actor (Cade’s County, Big Heat, Midway), dies at 90
• 2006 Naguib Mahfouz, Egyptian novelist (Palace Walk, Sugar Street) and first Arabic writer to win a Nobel Prize (1988), dies at 94
• 2006 Robin Cooke, Baron Cooke of Thorndon, New Zealand jurist (President of Court of Appeal, 1986-96), and member of the British House of Lords, dies at 80
• 2007 Augustine Harris, British Bishop of Middlesbrough, dies at 89
• 2007 Charles Vanik, American politician and representative of Ohio (Democratic: 1955-81), dies at 94
• 2007 José Luis de Villalonga, 9th Marquess of Castellbell, Spanish aristocrat, author, and film actor, dies at 87
• 2007 Michael Jackson, British beer and whiskey author and expert, dies at 65
• 2007 Roef Ragas, Dutch actor (Missing Link, Red Rain, Juju, Mykosch), dies at 42
• 2008 Tommy Bolt, American golfer (US Open 1958), dies at 92
• 2008 Walter “Killer” Kowalski, Canadian professional wrestler, dies at 81
• 2010 Alain Corneau, French filmmaker (La Menace), dies of cancer at 67
• 2010 Francisco Varallo, Argentine soccer inside-right (16 caps; Boca Juniors 222 games), dies at 100
• 2012 Chris Lighty, American music executive and manager (Violator), dies of a gunshot wound at 44
• 2013 Lotfollah “Lotfi” Mansouri, Persian opera director (Canadian Opera Company, 1976-88; introduced opera surtitles, 1983; San Francisco Opera, 1988-2001), dies at 84

• 2015 Brad Anderson, American cartoonist (Marmaduke), dies at 91
• 2015 Oliver Sacks, English neurologist and author (Awakenings), dies at 82

• 2016 Joe Sutter, American engineer and head of the Boeing 747 program, dies at 95
• 2016 Věra Čáslavská, Czech gymnast (7 Olympic gold 1964, 68), dies of pancreatic cancer at 74
• 2019 Franco Columbu, Italian bodybuilder, powerlifter, actor and author (Mr. Olympia 1976, 81), dies at 78
• 2019 Hans Rausing, Swedish-British industrial billionaire (Tetra Pak), and philanthropist, dies at 93
• 2019 Valerie Harper, American actress (The Mary Tyler Moore Show; Rhoda), dies of cancer at 80
• 2020 John Thompson Jr., American Basketball HOF coach (Georgetown Uni 1972–99, NCAA Division I tournament 1984) and center (NBA C’ship 1965, 66 Boston Celtics), dies at 78
• 2022 Don Lind, American USN Commander, and pilot, and NASA astronaut (STS-51-B), dies at 92
• 2022 Gheorghe Berceanu, Romanian Greco-Roman wrestler (Olympic gold light-flyweight 1972, silver 1976; World C’ship gold 1969, 72), dies at 72

• 2023 Gennady Sapunov, Russian Greco-Roman wrestler (World C’ship gold lightweight 1963, 65; silver 1966) and coach (Soviet GR wrestling team 1979-90), dies at 84
• 2023 Jack Sonni, American guitarist (Dire Straits, 1985-88), dies at 68
• 2023 Jan Jongbloed, Dutch soccer goalkeeper (24 caps; DWS 353 games, FC Amsterdam, Roda JC, Go Ahead Eagles), dies at 82
• 2023 Mohamed Al Fayed, Egyptian business magnate (Harrods – London; The Ritz Hotel – Paris), dies at 94
• 2024 Fatman Scoop (Isaac Freeman III), American rapper, hip-hop artist (“Be Faithful”), and radio DJ, dies after collapsing on stage at 53
• 2024 Robertas Žulpa, Lithuanian swimmer (Olympic gold USSR 200m breaststroke 1980), dies at 64
• 2024 Shridath Ramphal, Guyanese politician, Foreign Minister of Guyana (1972-75) and Commonwealth Secretary-General (1975-90), dies at 95
• 2024 Tuheitia Pootatau Te Wherowhero VII, New Zealand Maori king (2006-24), dies at 69 [1]

August 30 Highlights