Died on Monday, 9th February – Famous Deaths

09/02/2025

Tom Robbins, American writer (born 1932)

Thomas Eugene Robbins was an American novelist. His most notable works are "seriocomedies". Robbins had lived in La Conner, Washington, since 1970, where he wrote nine of his books. His 1976 novel Even Cowgirls Get the Blues was adapted into the 1993 film version by Gus Van Sant. His last work, published in 2014, was Tibetan Peach Pie, a self-declared "un-memoir".

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09/02/2022

Johnny Raper, Australian rugby league player and coach (born 1939)

John William Raper was an Australian professional rugby league footballer and coach. Nicknamed "Chook", he was a lock-forward who earned a then-record of 33 Test caps in the Australia national team between 1959 and 1968. He also played six World Cup games between 1960 and 1968. Raper captained Australia on eight occasions from 1967 to 68 and played in eight consecutive NSWRFL first-grade grand final victories for the St. George Dragons club. He was named as one of the nation's finest footballers of the 20th century.

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09/02/2021

Chick Corea, American jazz composer (born 1941)

Armando Anthony "Chick" Corea was an American jazz pianist, composer, bandleader, and occasional percussionist. His compositions "Spain", "500 Miles High", "La Fiesta", "Armando's Rhumba", and "Windows" are considered jazz standards.

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09/02/2018

Reg E. Cathey, American actor of stage, film, and television (born 1958)

Reginald Eurias Cathey was an American character actor. He was best known for various roles on the children's math show Square One Television, as well as Norman Wilson in The Wire, Martin Querns in Oz, Freddy Hayes in House of Cards. The latter garnered him three consecutive Emmy Award nominations for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series, including a win in 2015.

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Jóhann Jóhannsson, Icelandic composer (born 1969)

Jóhann Gunnar Jóhannsson was an Icelandic composer who wrote music for a wide array of media including theatre, dance, television, and film. His work is stylised by its blending of traditional orchestration with contemporary electronic elements.

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John Gavin, American actor and United States ambassador to Mexico (born 1931)

John Gavin was an American actor and diplomat who was the president of the Screen Actors Guild (1971–1973), and the United States Ambassador to Mexico (1981–1986). Among the films he appeared in were A Time to Love and a Time to Die (1958), Imitation of Life (1959), Spartacus (1960), Psycho (1960), Midnight Lace (1960) and Thoroughly Modern Millie (1967), playing leading roles for producer Ross Hunter.

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09/02/2017

André Salvat, French Army colonel (born 1920)

André Salvat was a colonel in the French Army. He was a veteran of World War II, the First Indochina War and the Algerian War. He was made a Companion of the Liberation for his World War II service.

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09/02/2016

Sushil Koirala, Nepalese politician, 37th Prime Minister of Nepal (born 1939)

Sushil Prasad Koirala was a Nepalese politician and the Prime Minister of Nepal from 11 February 2014 to 10 October 2015. He was also President of the Nepali Congress from 2010 to 2016, having earlier served in various capacities in the party.

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Zdravko Tolimir, Bosnian Serb military commander (born 1948)

Zdravko Tolimir was a Bosnian Serb military commander and war criminal, convicted of genocide, conspiracy to commit genocide, extermination, murder, persecution on ethnic grounds and forced transfer. Tolimir was a commander of the Army of Republika Srpska during the Bosnian War. He was Assistant Commander of Intelligence and Security for the Bosnian Serb army and reported directly to the commander, General Ratko Mladić.

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09/02/2015

Liu Han, Chinese businessman and philanthropist (born 1965)

Liu Han was a Chinese billionaire businessman, the former chairman of the conglomerate Hanlong Group, with interests in power generation and mining. His assets were officially valued at 40 billion yuan. He was convicted of murder, running a mafia-style gang, and many other charges, and executed in February 2015.

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Ed Sabol, American film producer, co-founded NFL Films (born 1916)

Edwin Milton Sabol was an American filmmaker and the founder of NFL Films. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2011 as a contributor due to his works with NFL Films.

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09/02/2014

Gabriel Axel, Danish actor, director, and producer (born 1918)

Axel Gabriel Erik Mørch better known as Gabriel Axel was a Danish film director, actor, writer and producer, best known for Babette's Feast (1987), which he wrote and directed.

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Hal Herring, American football player and coach (born 1924)

Harold Moreland Herring was an American professional football player and coach. He played college football at Auburn University and professionally as a center and linebacker for the Buffalo Bills in the All-America Football Conference (AAFC) and the Cleveland Browns in the National Football League (NFL). He later was a defensive coach at Auburn and for the NFL's Atlanta Falcons and San Diego Chargers.

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Logan Scott-Bowden, English general (born 1920)

Major General Logan Scott-Bowden, was a British army officer. A Royal Engineers officer during World War II, he was the first commander of the Ulster Defence Regiment. Retiring as a major general in 1974, he served as the colonel-commandant of the Royal Engineers from 1975 to 1980.

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09/02/2013

Richard Artschwager, American painter, illustrator, and sculptor (born 1923)

Richard Ernst Artschwager was an American painter, illustrator and sculptor. His work has associations with Pop Art, Conceptual art and Minimalism.

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Keiko Fukuda, Japanese-American martial artist and trainer (born 1913)

Keiko Fukuda was a Japanese-American martial artist. She was the highest-ranked female judoka in history, holding the rank of 9th dan from the Kodokan (2006), and 10th dan from USA Judo and from the United States Judo Federation (USJF), and was the last surviving student of Kanō Jigorō, founder of judo. She was a renowned pioneer of women's judo, and in 1972 together with her senpai Masako Noritomi (1913–1982) was one of the first two women promoted to 6th dan. In 2006, the Kodokan promoted Fukuda to 9th dan, making her the first woman to hold this rank from any recognized judo organization. She is also the first and, so far, only woman to have been promoted to 10th dan in judo, which occurred in 2011. After completing her formal education in Japan, Fukuda visited the United States to teach in the 1950s and 1960s, and eventually settled there. She continued to teach her art in the San Francisco Bay Area until her death in 2013.

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Jimmy Smyth, Irish hurler (born 1931)

James Smyth was an Irish hurler who played as a full-forward for the Clare senior team.

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09/02/2012

O. P. Dutta, Indian director, producer, and screenwriter (born 1922)

Om Prakash Dutta was an Indian filmmaker and writer. He began his career in 1948, by directing the film, Pyar Ki Jeet, which stars actress-singer, Suraiya. The film catapulted her to 'Super Star' status. He directed nine films until 1959, after which he got into writing dialogues, scripts and stories for films. He wrote most of the films for his son, film director J. P. Dutta, notably Border and LOC Kargil. In 2001, he won the International Indian Film Academy Award and the Filmfare Award for the film Refugee. In 2006, he won a Lifetime Achievement Award from Filmfare. Dutta died from pneumonia in Mumbai on 9 February 2012. He was 90.

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John Hick, English philosopher and academic (born 1922)

John Harwood Hick was an English philosopher of religion and theologian who taught in the United States for the larger part of his career. In philosophical theology he made contributions in the areas of theodicy, eschatology and Christology, and in the philosophy of religion he contributed to the areas of epistemology of religion and religious pluralism.

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Joe Moretti, Scottish-South African guitarist and songwriter (born 1938)

Joseph Edward Moretti was a Scottish guitarist and songwriter, renowned for his work on seminal UK rock and roll records such as Vince Taylor's "Brand New Cadillac" and Johnny Kidd & the Pirates' "Shakin' All Over", and later for his work as a session musician. He also worked with Gene Vincent, Vince Eager, Lesley Duncan, Nero and the Gladiators, Ronnie Jones and The Nightimers, Eddie Calvert, Johnny Duncan's Bluegrass Boys, Tom Jones, Colin Hicks & The Cabin Boys, Chris Farlowe, and Madeline Bell.

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09/02/2011

Miltiadis Evert, Greek lawyer and politician, 69th Mayor of Athens (born 1939)

Miltiadis Evert was a Greek politician, a member of Parliament, government minister, and ex-chairman of the New Democracy party.

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09/02/2010

Walter Frederick Morrison, American businessman, invented the Frisbee (born 1920)

Walter Frederick Morrison was an American inventor and entrepreneur, who invented the Frisbee.

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09/02/2009

Orlando "Cachaíto" López, Cuban bassist and composer (born 1933)

Candelario Orlando López Vergara, better known as Cachaíto, was a Cuban bassist and composer, who gained international fame after his involvement in the Buena Vista Social Club recordings. He was nicknamed Cachaíto after his uncle, the famous bassist and innovator of mambo music Israel "Cachao" López. His father and Cachao's older brother was Orestes López, also a famous bassist/multi-instrumentalist and composer.

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09/02/2008

Christopher Hyatt, American occultist and author (born 1943)

Christopher Hyatt, born Alan Ronald Miller, was an American psychologist, occultist, and writer. He was founder and president of New Falcon Publications, an independent publisher specializing in psychedelic and occult literature; Hyatt's press published work by several well-known champions of consciousness expansion, including Israel Regardie, Timothy Leary, Robert Anton Wilson, and Antero Alli.

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Carm Lino Spiteri, Maltese architect and politician (born 1932)

Carm Lino Spiteri, also known by his nickname Iċ-Ċumpaqq, was a Maltese architect and politician. He was a member of the House of Representatives with the Nationalist Party between 1971 and 1987, and again between 1992 and 1996.

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Jazeh Tabatabai, Iranian painter, poet, and sculptor (born 1931)

Jazeh Tabatabai was an Iranian avant-garde painter, poet, and sculptor. He was the founder and director of the Iran Modern Art Gallery in Tehran, Iran. Tabatabai's fame is mostly due to his creative figures and metal sculptures which he assembled with parts from old machinery and cars.

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09/02/2007

Hank Bauer, American baseball player and manager (born 1922)

Henry Albert Bauer was an American right fielder and manager in Major League Baseball. He played with the New York Yankees (1948–1959) and Kansas City Athletics (1960–1961); he batted and threw right-handed. He served as the manager of the Athletics in both Kansas City (1961–62) and in Oakland (1969), as well as the Baltimore Orioles (1964–68), guiding the Orioles to the World Series title in 1966. A four-game sweep over the heavily favored Los Angeles Dodgers, it was the first world championship in the franchise's history.

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Ian Richardson, Scottish actor (born 1934)

Ian William Richardson CBE was a Scottish actor. He was best known for his portrayal of Conservative politician Francis Urquhart in the BBC's House of Cards (1990–1995) television trilogy, as well as the pivotal spy Bill Haydon in Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (1979). His other notable screen work included a portrayal of Sherlock Holmes in two films, as well as significant roles in Brazil, M. Butterfly, and Dark City.

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09/02/2006

Freddie Laker, English pilot and businessman, founded Laker Airways (born 1922)

Sir Frederick Alfred Laker was an English airline entrepreneur, best known for founding Laker Airways in 1966, which went bankrupt in 1982. Known as Freddie Laker, he was one of the first airline owners to adopt the "low cost / no-frills" airline business model that has since proven to be successful worldwide when employed by companies such as Ryanair, Southwest Airlines, easyJet, Norwegian Air, and AirAsia.

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09/02/2005

Robert Kearns, American engineer, invented the intermittent windscreen wiper (born 1927)

Robert William Kearns was an American mechanical engineer, educator, and inventor who invented the most common intermittent windshield wiper systems used on most automobiles from 1969 to the present. His first patent for the invention was filed on December 1, 1964, after a few previous designs by other inventors had failed to gain any traction in manufacturing.

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09/02/2004

Claude Ryan, Canadian journalist and politician (born 1925)

Claude Ryan was a Canadian journalist and politician. He was the director of the newspaper Le Devoir from 1964 to 1978, leader of the Quebec Liberal Party from 1978 to 1982, National Assembly of Quebec member for Argenteuil from 1979 to 1994 and Minister of Education from 1985 to 1989.

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09/02/2003

Masatoshi Gündüz Ikeda, Japanese-Turkish mathematician and academic (born 1926)

Masatoşi Gündüz İkeda, was a Japanese-born Turkish mathematician known for his contributions to the field of algebraic number theory.

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09/02/2002

Isabelle Holland, Swiss-American author (born 1920)

Isabelle Christian Holland was an American author of fiction for children and adults. She wrote gothic novels, adult mysteries, romantic thrillers and many books for children and young adults.

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Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon (born 1930)

Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon, was the younger daughter of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother, and the only sibling of Queen Elizabeth II. Born when her parents were the Duke and Duchess of York, she became second in line to the British throne after her father's accession in 1936, though her place in the succession declined as her sister's children and grandchildren were born.

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09/02/2001

Herbert A. Simon, American political scientist, economist, and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1916)

Herbert Alexander Simon was an American scholar whose work influenced the fields of computer science, economics, and cognitive psychology. His primary research interest was decision-making within organizations and he is best known for the theories of "bounded rationality" and "satisficing". He and Allen Newell received the ACM Turing Award in 1975, and he received the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences in 1978.

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09/02/1998

Maurice Schumann, French journalist and politician, French Minister of Foreign Affairs (born 1911)

Maurice Schumann was a French politician, journalist, writer, and hero of the Second World War who served as Minister of Foreign Affairs under Georges Pompidou from 22 June 1969 to 15 March 1973. Schumann was a member of the Christian democratic Popular Republican Movement.

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09/02/1995

J. William Fulbright, American lawyer and politician (born 1905)

James William Fulbright was an American politician, academic, and statesman who represented Arkansas in the United States Senate from 1945 until his resignation in 1974. As of 2023, Fulbright is the longest-serving chairman in the history of the United States Senate Committee on Foreign Relations. A member of the Democratic Party, he is best known for his strong multilateralist positions on international issues, opposition to American involvement in the Vietnam War, and the creation of the international fellowship program bearing his name, the Fulbright Program.

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Kalevi Keihänen, Finnish entrepreneur (born 1924)

Åke Kalevi Keihänen was a Finnish travel agency entrepreneur, director of Keihäsmatkat and a groundbreaking figure in Finnish tourism. Keihänen became known for his extravagant behaviour, long hair and unique style of dress – in advertisement photography, he wore a chinchilla fur coat with only a pair of swimming trunks underneath. The coat was said to have cost him 120,000 markka. Keihänen was said to have copied his style of dress from the Danish travel agency entrepreneur Simon Spies.

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David Wayne, American actor (born 1914)

David Wayne was an American actor and singer, with a stage and screen career spanning over 50 years. He was a recipient of two Tony Awards, Best Featured Actor in a Musical for Finian's Rainbow and Best Actor in a Play for The Teahouse of the August Moon, with a third nomination for The Happy Time.

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09/02/1994

Howard Martin Temin, American geneticist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1934)

Howard Martin Temin was an American geneticist and virologist. He discovered reverse transcriptase in the 1970s at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, for which he shared the 1975 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine with Renato Dulbecco and David Baltimore.

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09/02/1989

Osamu Tezuka, Japanese illustrator, animator, and producer (born 1928)

Osamu Tezuka was a Japanese manga artist, cartoonist and animator. Considered to be among the greatest and most influential cartoonists of all time, his prolific output, pioneering techniques and innovative redefinitions of genres earned him such titles as "the Father of Manga" , "the Godfather of Manga" and "the god of Manga" . Additionally, he is often considered the Japanese equivalent to Walt Disney, who served as a major inspiration during Tezuka's formative years. Though this phrase praises the quality of his early manga works for children and animations, it also blurs the significant influence of his later, more literary, gekiga works.

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09/02/1984

Yuri Andropov, Russian lawyer and politician (born 1914)

Yuri Vladimirovich Andropov was a Soviet politician who served as the General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from late 1982 until his death in 1984. He previously served as the Chairman of the KGB from 1967 until 1982.

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09/02/1981

M. C. Chagla, Indian jurist and politician, Indian Minister of External Affairs (born 1900)

Mahommedali Currim Chagla was an Indian jurist, diplomat, and Cabinet Minister who served as Chief Justice of the Bombay High Court from 1947 to 1958.

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Bill Haley, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (born 1925)

William John Clifton Haley was an American rock and roll musician. He is credited by many with first popularizing this form of music in the early 1950s with his group Bill Haley & His Comets and million-selling hits such as "Rock Around the Clock", "See You Later, Alligator", "Shake, Rattle and Roll", "Rocket 88", "Skinny Minnie", and "Razzle Dazzle". Haley has sold over 60 million records worldwide. In 1987, he was posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

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09/02/1980

Tom Macdonald, Welsh journalist and author (born 1900)

Tom Macdonald was a Welsh journalist and novelist, whose most significant publication was his highly evocative account of growing up in the north of Cardiganshire in the years before the Great War, which was published in 1975 as The White Lanes of Summer.

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09/02/1979

Allen Tate, American poet and academic (born 1899)

John Orley Allen Tate, known professionally as Allen Tate, was an American poet, essayist, social commentator, and poet laureate from 1943 to 1944. Among his best known works are the poems "Ode to the Confederate Dead" (1928) and "The Mediterranean" (1933), and his only novel The Fathers (1938). He is associated with New Criticism, the Fugitives and the Southern Agrarians.

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09/02/1978

Costante Girardengo, Italian cyclist and coach (born 1893)

Costante Girardengo was an Italian professional road bicycle racer, considered by many to be one of the finest riders in the history of the sport. He was the first rider to be declared a "Campionissimo" or "champion of champions" by the Italian media and fans. At the height of his career, in the 1920s, he was said to be more popular than Mussolini and it was decreed that all express trains should stop in his home town Novi Ligure, an honour only normally awarded to heads of state.

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09/02/1977

Sergey Ilyushin, Russian engineer and businessman, founded the Ilyushin Design Bureau (born 1894)

Sergey Vladimirovich Ilyushin was a Soviet aircraft designer who founded the Ilyushin aircraft design bureau. He designed the Il-2 Shturmovik, which made its maiden flight in 1939. It is the most produced warplane, and remains the second most-produced aircraft in history, with some 36,000+ built, behind the US Cessna 172.

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09/02/1976

Percy Faith, Canadian composer and conductor (born 1908)

Percy Faith was a Canadian-American bandleader, orchestrator, composer and conductor, known for his lush arrangements of instrumental ballads and Christmas standards. He is often credited with popularizing the "easy listening" or "mood music" format. He became a staple of American popular music in the 1950s and continued well into the 1960s. Although his professional orchestra-leading career began at the height of the swing era, he refined and rethought orchestration techniques, including use of large string sections, to soften and fill out the brass-dominated popular music of the 1940s.

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09/02/1969

George "Gabby" Hayes, American actor and singer (born 1885)

George Francis "Gabby" Hayes was an American actor. He began as something of a leading man and a character player, but he was best known for his numerous appearances in B-Western film series as the bewhiskered, cantankerous, but ever-loyal and brave comic sidekick of the cowboy stars William Boyd, Roy Rogers and John Wayne.

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09/02/1966

Sophie Tucker, Russian-born American singer (born 1884)

Sophie Tucker was a Russian-American singer, comedian, actress, and radio personality. Known for her powerful delivery of comical and risqué songs, she was one of the most popular entertainers in the U.S. during the first half of the 20th century. She was known by the nickname "the Last of the Red-Hot Mamas".

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09/02/1965

Khan Bahadur Ahsanullah, Bangladeshi theologian and educator (born 1874)

Khan Bahadur Ahsanullah was an educator, litterateur, Islamic theologist and social reformer of pre-partition India.

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09/02/1960

Alexandre Benois, Russian painter and critic (born 1870)

Alexandre (Alexander) Nikolayevich Benois was a Russian artist, art critic, historian, preservationist and founding member of Mir iskusstva, an art movement and magazine. As a designer for the Ballets Russes under Sergei Diaghilev, Benois exerted what is considered a seminal influence on the modern ballet and stage design.

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Ernő Dohnányi, Hungarian pianist, composer, and conductor (born 1877)

Ernst von Dohnányi was a Hungarian composer, pianist and conductor. He used the German form of his name on most published compositions.

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09/02/1957

Miklós Horthy, Hungarian admiral and politician, Regent of Hungary (born 1868)

Miklós Horthy de Nagybánya was a Hungarian admiral and statesman who was the regent of the Kingdom of Hungary during the interwar period and most of World War II, from 1 March 1920 to 15 October 1944.

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09/02/1951

Eddy Duchin, American pianist, bandleader, and actor (born 1910)

Edwin Frank Duchin, commonly known as Eddy Duchin or alternatively Eddie Duchin, was an American popular music pianist and bandleader during the 1930s and 1940s.

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09/02/1950

Ted Theodore, Australian politician, 20th Premier of Queensland (born 1884)

Edward Granville Theodore was an Australian politician who served as Premier of Queensland from 1919 to 1925, as leader of the state Labor Party. He later entered federal politics, serving as Treasurer in the Scullin Labor government.

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09/02/1945

Ella D. Barrier, American educator (born 1852)

Ella D. Barrier was an American educator and clubwoman. Her younger sister was Fannie Barrier Williams.

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09/02/1942

Lauri Kristian Relander, Finnish politician, 2nd President of Finland (born 1883)

Lauri Kristian Relander was the president of Finland (1925–1931). A prominent member of the Agrarian League, he served as a member of Parliament, and as Speaker, before his election as president.

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09/02/1935

Bob Diry, Austrian-born wrestler and boxer (born 1884)

Robert "Bob" Diry was an Austrian middleweight world champion 1908 in wrestling. In 1910, he trained in Jiu-Jitsu under T.Tobari of the Tenshin-Shin-Yo-ryu and Kodokan Judo at the Vienna Athletics Club which helped him win a lightweight wrestling title. After his migration to America he tried boxing, making him versed in all 3 areas common to modern MMA. He was defeated by George Ashe (boxer) in 1913 in a knockout. Bob would continue wrestling in the US and coached at the New York Athletics club around the years of 1930.

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09/02/1932

Junnosuke Inoue, Japanese businessman and banker (born 1869)

Junnosuke Inoue was a Japanese financier and statesman of the Taisho and Showa eras. He was the 9th and 11th Governor of the Bank of Japan (BOJ), and Minister of Finance in 1923-1924 and 1929-1931. He was assassinated during the League of Blood Incident in 1932.

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A.K. Golam Jilani, Bangladeshi soldier and activist (born 1904)

A. K. Golam Jilani was a Bengali revolutionary of the Indian independence movement from the Nawabganj Upazila, Dhaka in present-day Bangladesh.

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09/02/1930

Richard With, Norwegian captain and businessman, founded Hurtigruten (born 1846)

Richard Bernhard With was a Norwegian ship captain, businessman, and politician for the Liberal Left Party. He is known as the founder of the shipping companies Vesteraalens Dampskibsselskab and Hurtigruten.

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09/02/1928

William Gillies, Australian politician, 21st Premier of Queensland (born 1868)

William Neal Gillies was an Australian Labor politician in Queensland who served as premier of Queensland from February to October 1925.

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09/02/1906

Paul Laurence Dunbar, American author, poet, and playwright (born 1872)

Paul Laurence Dunbar was an American poet, novelist, and short story writer of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Born in Dayton, Ohio, to parents who had been enslaved in Kentucky before the American Civil War, Dunbar began writing stories and verse when he was a child. He published his first poems at the age of 16 in a Dayton newspaper, and served as president of his high school's literary society.

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09/02/1903

Charles Gavan Duffy, Irish-Australian politician, 8th Premier of Victoria (born 1816)

Sir Charles Gavan Duffy, KCMG, PC, was an Irish poet, politician and journalist, Young Irelander and tenant-rights activist. After emigrating to Australia in 1856 he entered the politics of Victoria on a platform of land reform, and in 1871–1872 served as the colony's 8th Premier.

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09/02/1891

Johan Jongkind, Dutch painter (born 1819)

Johan Barthold Jongkind was a Dutch painter and printmaker. He painted marine landscapes in a free manner and is regarded as a forerunner of impressionism.

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09/02/1881

Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Russian novelist, short story writer, essayist, and philosopher (born 1821)

Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky was a Russian philosopher, novelist, short story writer, essayist and journalist. He is regarded as one of the greatest novelists in both Russian and world literature, and many of his works are considered highly influential masterpieces. Dostoevsky's literary works explore the human condition in the troubled political, social and spiritual atmospheres of 19th-century Russia, and engage with a variety of philosophical and religious themes. His most acclaimed novels include Crime and Punishment (1866), The Idiot (1869), Demons (1872), The Adolescent (1875) and The Brothers Karamazov (1880). His Notes from Underground, a novella published in 1864, is considered one of the first works of existentialist literature.

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09/02/1874

Jules Michelet, French historian, philosopher, and academic (born 1798)

Jules Michelet was a French historian and writer, best known for his multi-volume work Histoire de France, which chronicles the history of France from its earliest origins to the French Revolution. Michelet was influenced by Giambattista Vico, particularly by his emphasis on the role of ordinary people and their customs in shaping historical narratives, which contrasted with the traditional focus on political and military elites. Michelet also drew inspiration from Vico's concept of the corsi e ricorsi—the cyclical nature of history—in which societies rise and fall in a recurring pattern.

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09/02/1857

Dionysios Solomos, Greek poet and translator (born 1798)

Dionysios Solomos was a Greek poet from Zakynthos, who is considered to be Greece's national poet. He is best known for writing the Hymn to Liberty, which was set to music by Nikolaos Mantzaros and became the Greek and Cypriot national anthem in 1865 and 1966 respectively. He was the central figure of the Heptanese School of poetry. He is considered the national poet of Greece, not only because he wrote the national anthem, but also because he contributed to the preservation of earlier poetic tradition and highlighted its usefulness to modern literature. Other notable poems include Ὁ Κρητικός, Ἐλεύθεροι Πολιορκημένοι. A characteristic of his work is that no poem except the Hymn to Liberty was completed, and almost nothing was published during his lifetime.

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09/02/1803

Jean François de Saint-Lambert, French soldier, poet, and philosopher (born 1716)

Jean François de Saint-Lambert was a French poet, philosopher and military officer.

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09/02/1777

Seth Pomeroy, American general and gunsmith (born 1706)

Seth Pomeroy was an American gunsmith and soldier from Northampton, Massachusetts. His military service included the French and Indian War and the early stages of the American Revolutionary War. He fought as a private soldier in the Battle of Bunker Hill, but was later appointed a major general in the Massachusetts militia.

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09/02/1709

François Louis, Prince of Conti (born 1664)

François Louis de Bourbon, le Grand Conti, was Prince de Conti, succeeding his brother, Louis Armand de Bourbon, in 1685. Until this date, he used the title of Prince of La Roche-sur-Yon. He was proclaimed as the King of Poland in 1697. He is the most famous member of the Conti family, a cadet branch of the Princes of Condé. As a member of the reigning House of Bourbon, he was a prince du sang.

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09/02/1675

Gerrit Dou, Dutch painter (born 1613)

Gerrit Dou, also known as Gerard Douw or Dow, was a Dutch Golden Age painter, whose small, highly polished paintings are typical of the Leiden fijnschilders. He specialised in genre scenes and is noted for his trompe-l'œil "niche" paintings and candlelit night-scenes with strong chiaroscuro. He was a student of Rembrandt.

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09/02/1670

Frederick III of Denmark (born 1609)

Frederick III was King of Denmark and Norway from 1648 until his death in 1670. He also governed under the name Frederik II as diocesan administrator of the Prince-Bishopric of Verden, and the Prince-Archbishopric of Bremen (1635–45).

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09/02/1619

Lucilio Vanini, Italian physician and philosopher (born 1585)

Lucilio Vanini, who, in his works, styled himself Giulio Cesare Vanini, was an Italian philosopher, physician and free-thinker, who was one of the first significant representatives of intellectual libertinism. He was among the first modern thinkers who viewed the universe as an entity governed by natural laws. He was also an early literate proponent of biological evolution, maintaining that humans and other apes have common ancestors. He was executed in Toulouse.

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09/02/1600

John Frederick, Duke of Pomerania (born 1542)

John Frederick was Duke of Pomerania from 1560 to 1600, and Bishop of Cammin (Kamień) from 1556 to 1574. Elected bishop in 1556 and heir of the duchy in 1560, he remained under the tutelage of his great-uncle Barnim XI until he took on his offices in 1567.

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09/02/1588

Álvaro de Bazán, 1st Marquis of Santa Cruz, Spanish admiral (born 1526)

Álvaro de Bazán y Guzmán, 1st Marquis of Santa Cruz, was a Spanish admiral and nobleman. He took part, among others, in the seizure of the rock of Vélez de la Gomera (1564), the relief to the besieged during the sieges of Oran (1563) and Malta (1565), the Battle of Lepanto (1571), the conquest of Tunis (1573), the incorporation of Portugal to the Spanish monarchy (1580), and the conquest of Terceira (1582).

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09/02/1555

John Hooper, English bishop and martyr (born 1495)

John Roy Hooper was an English churchman, Anglican Bishop of Gloucester, later of Worcester and Gloucester, a Protestant reformer and a Protestant martyr. A proponent of the English Reformation, he was executed for heresy by burning during the reign of Queen Mary I.

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Rowland Taylor, English priest and martyr (born 1510)

Rowland Taylor was an English Protestant martyr during the Marian Persecutions.

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09/02/1450

Agnès Sorel, French mistress of Charles VII of France (born 1421)

Agnès Sorel, known by the sobriquet Dame de beauté, was a favourite and chief mistress of King Charles VII of France, by whom she bore four daughters. She is considered the first officially recognized royal mistress of a French king. She was the subject of several contemporary paintings and works of art, including Jean Fouquet's Virgin and Child Surrounded by Angels.

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09/02/1407

William I, margrave of Meissen (born 1343)

William I, the One-Eyed was Margrave of Meissen. His nickname is related to the legend that Saint Benno appeared to him because of his disputes with the Church in a dream and he had an eye gouged out.

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09/02/1251

Matthias II, duke of Lorraine

Matthias II was Duke of Lorraine from 1220 to his death. He was the son of Duke Frederick II and Agnes of Bar and succeeded his brother, Theobald I.

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09/02/1199

Minamoto no Yoritomo, Japanese shōgun (born 1147)

Minamoto no Yoritomo was a Japanese samurai, daimyo and the founder and the first shogun of the Kamakura shogunate, ruling from 1192 until 1199, also the first shogun in the history of Japan to hold de-facto power over Japan. He was married to Hōjō Masako, who acted as regent (shikken) after his death. The early 11th-century text Mutsu Waki 陸奥話記 says Yoritomo is an incarnation of the god of the north Bishamonten.

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09/02/1135

Tai Zong, Chinese emperor (born 1075)

Emperor Taizong of Jin, personal name Wuqimai, sinicised name Wanyan Sheng, was the second emperor of the Jurchen-led Jin dynasty of China. His era name was "Tianhui" (天會). During his reign, the Jin dynasty conquered the Khitan-led Liao dynasty. He then led the Jin in their campaigns against the Song dynasty, captured the Northern Song capital in 1127 and went on to rule most of northern China. After his death, he was posthumously honoured with the temple name Taizong by his successor, Emperor Xizong.

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09/02/1014

Yang Yanzhao, Chinese general

Yang Yanzhao, named Yang Yanlang (楊延朗) before 1012, was a military general in ancient China's Northern Song dynasty. For over two decades he defended Song's northern border against the Khitan-ruled Liao dynasty, helping Song thwart Liao's repeated invasion attempts between 999 and 1004.

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09/02/1011

Bernard I, Duke of Saxony

Bernard I was the Duke of Saxony between 973 and 1011, the second of the Billung dynasty, a son of Duke Herman and Oda. He extended his father's power considerably.

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09/02/0978

Luitgarde, duchess consort of Normandy

Luitgarde of Vermandois was a noblewoman from the Herbertian dynasty who lived in West Francia. She was a countess consort of Rouen and Normandy by her first marriage, and a countess consort of Blois and Chartres by her second. She was a daughter of Herbert II of Vermandois, and Adele, daughter of Robert I of France. She first married William I of Normandy before 940. As a widow, following his death in 942, she married Theobald I of Blois in 943 or 944.

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09/02/0967

Sayf al-Dawla, emir of Aleppo (born 916)

ʿAlī ibn ʾAbū'l-Hayjāʾ ʿAbdallāh ibn Ḥamdān ibn Ḥamdūn ibn al-Ḥārith al-Taghlibī, more commonly known simply by his honorific of Sayf al-Dawla, was the founder of the Emirate of Aleppo, encompassing most of northern Syria and parts of the western Jazira.

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09/02/0966

Ono no Michikaze, Japanese calligrapher (born 894)

Ono no Michikaze or Ono no Tōfū was a prominent shodōka during the Heian period (794–1185). One of the so-called Sanseki 三跡, along with Fujiwara no Sukemasa and Fujiwara no Yukinari, Michikaze is considered the founder of Japanese-style calligraphy or wayōshodō (和様書道). He is popularly extolled in Japan as the "reincarnation of Wang Xizhi".

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