Notable deaths of 2016

Notable deaths of 2016

2016-12-15 21:00:22.0

PARIS, Dec 15, 2016 (AFP) - From legendary British singer David Bowie to Cuban leader Fidel Castro and American boxer Muhammad Ali, here are some of the notable figures who died in 2016.

- January -

- 5: PIERRE BOULEZ, 90, French conductor-composer.

- 7: ANDRE COURREGES, 92 French fashion designer known for his 1960s futuristic styles.

- 10: DAVID BOWIE, 69, legendary British singer and musician who died of cancer two days after his 25th album was released.

- 14: ALAN RICKMAN, 69, British actor who often played villains, such as professor Severus Snape in the Harry Potter series.

- 19: ETTORE SCOLA, 84, Italian director who made "A Special Day" and "We All Loved Each Other So Much"

- February -

- 16: BOUTROS BOUTROS-GHALI, 93, Egyptian diplomat and UN secretary general from 1992 to 1996.

- 17: ANDRZEJ ZULAWSKI, 75, Polish filmmaker who directed "The Third Part of the Night" and "The Devil".

- 19: HARPER LEE, 89, US author of "To Kill a Mockingbird".

- 19: UMBERTO ECO, 84, Italian writer and philosopher who wrote "The Name of the Rose".

- March -

- 6: NANCY REAGAN, 94, US first lady from 1981 to 1989 and a quiet influence on president Ronald Reagan.

- 8: GEORGE MARTIN, 90, British music producer nicknamed "The fifth Beatle".

- 24: JOHAN CRUYFF, 68, Dutch football star who led the powerful Ajax Amsterdam team in the 1970s.

- 26: JIM HARRISON, 78, US writer of novels and poems who explored the natural world in such works as "Legends of the Fall".

- 31: IMRE KERTESZ, 86, Hungarian author and 2002 Nobel laureate, who wrote "Fatelessness".

- 31: ZAHA HADID, 65, British architect of Iraqi origin who won the 2004 Pritzker prize.

- April -

- 21: PRINCE, 57, Groundbreaking US musician whose many hits include "Purple Rain", "Girls & Boys" and "Kiss".

- 24: PAPA WEMBA, 66, Singer and king of Congolese rumba.

- June -

- 3: MUHAMMAD ALI, 74, US boxing legend, triple world heavyweight champion.

- 16: JO COX, 41, British Labour Party MP, killed in the street a week before Britons voted in a referendum to leave the European Union.

- July -

- 2: ELIE WIESEL, 87, US writer, 1986 Nobel Peace Prize laureate and Holocaust survivor.

- 2: MICHAEL CIMINO, 77, US director who made the 1978 film "The Deer Hunter" based on the Vietnam War.

- 4: ABBAS KIAROSTAMI, 76, Iranian film director who won the 1997 Palme d'Or in Cannes for "Taste of Cherry".

- September -

- 2: ISLAM KARIMOV, 78, president of Uzbekistan from independence in 1991.

- 28: SHIMON PERES, 93, A founding father of Israel and a former president who won the 1994 Nobel Peace Prize after signing the Oslo Accords with Yitzhak Rabin and Yasser Arafat.

- October -

- 9: ANDRZEJ WAJDA, 90, Polish film director who won the 1981 Palme d'Or in Cannes for "Man of Iron".

- 13: BHUMIBOL ADULYADEJ, 88, king of Thailand and until his death the world's longest reigning monarch.

- 13: DARIO FO, 90, Italian writer and actor who won the Nobel prize for literature in 1997.

- November -

- 7: LEONARD COHEN, 82, Canadian poet and musician who became an icon of the 1960s counterculture generation with songs like "Suzanne" and "Hallelujah."

- 25: FIDEL CASTRO, 90, the Cuban leader who is said to have survived multiple assassination attempts and survived the administrations of 11 US presidents, from Dwight Eisenhower to Barack Obama.

- December -

- 8: JOHN GLENN, 95, the first US astronaut to orbit the earth.