Notable Deaths on April 26

Q: Who died on April 26?

Notable people who died on April 26 include: Emperor Xiaowen of Northern Wei (born 467), Richarius, Mu'awiya I, Pope Stephen II (born 715), Chen Jingxuan.

Q: What is Mariam A. Aleem known for?

Mariam A. Aleem, Egyptian graphic designer and academic (born 1930)

2010 — Mariam A. Aleem

Egyptian graphic designer and academic (born 1930)

April 26 has seen 91 notable figures pass away throughout recorded history — from 499 – 2023. Below are the most significant names who died on this date.

By thisDay.info Editorial Team · April 26 — Wikipedia

Notable Deaths 91 people 499 – 2023

Did you know

In 1968 she became an assistant professor, heading the Printmaking Department

Did you know

Aleem became a full professor in 1975 and led the Design Department from 1985 to 1990

Did you know

She received her Bachelor of Arts from the Faculty of Fine Arts Cairo in 1954 and her Master of Fine Arts in graphic printing 1957 from the University of Southern California

Did you know

Beginning in 1958, Aleem taught printmaking at the Faculty of Fine Arts in Alexandria

Did you know

Aleem was an Egyptian artist and art professor specializing in printed design

Emperor Xiaowen of Northern Wei (born 467)

Emperor Xiaowen of Northern Wei ( 魏孝文帝), personal name Tuoba Hong (拓跋宏), later Yuan Hong (元宏), was an emperor of China's Northern Wei dynasty, reigning from September 20, 471 to April 26, 499.

499

Richarius

Frankish monk and saint (born 560)

Richarius of Celles was a Frankish hermit, monk, and the founder of two monasteries. He is venerated as a saint in the Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Churches.

645

Mu'awiya I

Umayyad caliph (born 602)

Mu'awiya I was the founder and first caliph of the Umayyad Caliphate, ruling from 661 until his death. He became caliph less than thirty years after the death of the Islamic prophet Muhammad and immediately after the…

680

Pope Stephen II (born 715)

Year 757 (DCCLVII) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Julian calendar. The denomination 757 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent…

757

Chen Jingxuan

general of the Tang Dynasty

Chen Jingxuan (陳敬瑄) was a general of the Tang dynasty of China, who came to control Xichuan Circuit (西川), headquartered in modern Chengdu, Sichuan by virtue of his being an older brother of the eunuch Tian Lingzi, who…

893

Adalbero I

bishop of Metz

Adalbero I was the bishop of Metz from 929 till 954.

962

Emperor Go-Shirakawa of Japan (born 1127)

Emperor Go-Shirakawa was the 77th emperor of Japan, according to the traditional order of succession. His de jure reign spanned the years from 1155 through 1158, though arguably he effectively maintained imperial power…

1192

Simon Islip

Archbishop of Canterbury

Simon Islip was an English prelate. He served as Archbishop of Canterbury between 1349 and 1366.

1366

Chŏng Mong-ju

Korean civil minister, diplomat and scholar (born 1338)

Chŏng Mongju, also known by his art name P'oŭn (포은), was a Korean statesman, diplomat, philosopher, poet, calligrapher and reformist of the Goryeo period. He was a major figure of opposition to the transition from the…

1392

Robert Campin

Flemish painter (born 1378)

Robert Campin now usually identified with the Master of Flémalle, was a master painter who, along with Jan van Eyck, initiated the development of early Netherlandish painting, a key development in the early Northern…

1444

Giuliano de' Medici

Italian ruler (born 1453)

Giuliano de' Medici was the second son of Piero de' Medici and Lucrezia Tornabuoni. As co-ruler of the Florentine Republic, with his brother Lorenzo the Magnificent, he complemented his brother's image as the "patron of…

1478

Ashikaga Yoshihisa

Japanese shōgun (born 1465)

Ashikaga Yoshihisa was the 9th shōgun of the Ashikaga shogunate who reigned from 1473 to 1489 during the Muromachi period of Japan. Yoshihisa was the son of the eighth shōgun Ashikaga Yoshimasa with his wife Hino…

1489

Jean Fernel

French physician (born 1497)

Jean François Fernel was a French physician who introduced the term "physiology" to describe the study of the body's function. He was the first person to describe the spinal canal. The lunar crater Fernelius is named…

1558

Magnus Gabriel De la Gardie

Swedish statesman and military man (born 1622)

Count Magnus Gabriel De la Gardie was a Swedish statesman and military man. He became a member of the Swedish Privy Council in 1647 and came to be the holder of three of the five offices counted as the Great Officers of…

1686

John Somers

1st Baron Somers, English jurist and politician, Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain (born 1651)

John Somers, 1st Baron Somers, was an English jurist and Whig statesman. Somers first came to national attention in the trial of the Seven Bishops where he was on their defence counsel. He published tracts on political…

1716

Nano Nagle

Irish nun and educator, founded the Presentation Sisters (born 1718)

Honora "Nano" Nagle was an Irish Catholic religious sister who served as a pioneer of Catholic education in Ireland despite legal prohibitions. She founded the Sisters of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary,…

1784

Petr Ivanovich Panin

Russian general (born 1721)

Count Pyotr (Petr) Ivanovich Panin was a Russian soldier who later served as a general-in-chief in the Imperial Russian Army.

1789

Bernhard Schott

German music publisher (born 1748)

Bernhard Peter Schott was a German clarinetist and music publisher. He founded the predecessor of Schott Music, a major German music publishing company which continues to this day.

1809

John Wilkes Booth

American actor, assassin of Abraham Lincoln (born 1838)

John Wilkes Booth was an American stage actor who assassinated United States president Abraham Lincoln at Ford's Theatre in Washington, D.C., on April 14, 1865. A member of the prominent 19th-century Booth theatrical…

1865

Ludwig Freiherr von und zu der Tann-Rathsamhausen

German general (born 1815)

Ludwig Samson Heinrich Arthur Freiherr von und zu der Tann-Rathsamhausen was a Bavarian general.

1881

Eric Stenbock

Estonian-English author and poet (born 1860)

Graf Eric Stanislaus Stenbock was a Baltic Swedish poet and writer of macabre fantastic fiction.

1895

Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson

Norwegian-French author, poet, and playwright, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1832)

Bjørnstjerne Martinius Bjørnson was a Norwegian writer who received the 1903 Nobel Prize in Literature "as a tribute to his noble, magnificent and versatile poetry, which has always been distinguished by both the…

1910

John Bunny

American actor (born 1863)

John Bunny was an American actor. Bunny began his career as a stage actor, but transitioned to a film career after joining Vitagraph Studios around 1910. At Vitagraph, Bunny made over 150 short films – many of them…

1915

Ida Hunt Udall

American diarist (born 1858)

Ida Frances Hunt Udall was an American diarist, homesteader, and teacher in territorial Utah and Arizona. A lifelong member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Udall participated in the church's…

1915

Mário de Sá-Carneiro

Portuguese poet and writer (born 1890)

Mário de Sá-Carneiro was a Portuguese poet and writer. He is one of the best known authors of the Geração de Orpheu, and is usually considered their greatest poet, after Fernando Pessoa.

1916

Srinivasa Ramanujan

Indian mathematician and theorist (born 1887)

Srinivasa Ramanujan Iyengar was an Indian mathematician who worked during the early 20th century. He made substantial contributions to mathematical analysis, number theory, infinite series, and continued fractions,…

1920

William Lockwood

English cricketer (born 1868)

William Henry Lockwood was an English Test cricketer, best known as a fast bowler and the unpredictable, occasionally devastating counterpart to the amazingly hard-working Tom Richardson for Surrey in the early County…

1932

Arturs Alberings

Latvian politician, former Prime Minister of Latvia (born 1876)

Arturs Alberings was the 6th Prime Minister of Latvia. He held office from 7 May 1926 to 18 December 1926.

1934

Konstantin Vaginov

Russian poet and novelist (born 1899)

Konstantin Konstantinovich Vaginov was a Russian poet and novelist.

1934

Carl Bosch

German chemist and engineer, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1874)

Carl Bosch was a German chemist and engineer and Nobel Laureate in Chemistry. He was a pioneer in the field of high-pressure industrial chemistry and founder of IG Farben, at one point the world's largest chemical…

1940

Violette Morris

French footballer, shot putter, and discus thrower (born 1893)

Violette Morris was a French athlete and Nazi collaborator who won two gold and one silver medal at the Women's World Games in 1921–1922. She was later banned from competing for violating "moral standards". She was…

1944

Sigmund Rascher

German physician and SS member, conductor of human experiments in the concentration camps (born 1909)

Sigmund Rascher was a German Schutzstaffel (SS) doctor. He conducted deadly experiments on humans pertaining to high altitude, freezing and blood coagulation under the patronage of Reichsführer-SS Heinrich Himmler, to…

1945

Pavlo Skoropadskyi

German-Ukrainian general and politician, Hetman of Ukraine (born 1871)

Pavlo Petrovych Skoropadsky was a Ukrainian aristocrat, military leader and statesman who served as the hetman of the Ukrainian State throughout 1918 following a coup d'état on 29 April, of the same year. However, he…

1945

James Larkin White

American miner, explorer, and park ranger (born 1882)

James Larkin White was a cowboy, guano miner, cave explorer, and park ranger for the National Park Service. He is best remembered as the discoverer, early promoter and explorer of what is known today as Carlsbad Caverns…

1946

George Murray Hulbert

American lawyer, judge, and politician (born 1881)

George Murray Hulbert was an American lawyer, jurist, and politician who was a United States representative from New York and a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District…

1950

Arnold Sommerfeld

German physicist and academic (born 1868)

Arnold Johannes Wilhelm Sommerfeld was a German theoretical physicist who pioneered developments in both atomic and quantum physics, and also educated and mentored many students for the new era of theoretical physics.

1951

Edward Arnold

American actor (born 1890)

Günther Edward Arnold Schneider was an American actor of the stage and screen.

1956

Gichin Funakoshi

Japanese martial artist, founded Shotokan (born 1868)

Gichin Funakoshi was the founder of Shotokan karate. He is known as a "father of modern karate". Following the teachings of Anko Itosu and Anko Asato, he was one of the Okinawan karate masters who introduced karate to…

1957

E. J. Pratt

Canadian poet and author (born 1882)

Edwin John Dove Pratt, who published as E. J. Pratt, was a Canadian poet. Originally from Newfoundland, Pratt lived most of his life in Toronto, Ontario. A three-time winner of the country's Governor General's Award for…

1964

John Heartfield

German illustrator and photographer (born 1891)

John Heartfield was a German visual artist who pioneered the use of art as a political weapon. Some of his most famous photomontages were anti-Nazi and anti-fascist statements. Heartfield also created book jackets for…

1968

Morihei Ueshiba

Japanese martial artist, founded aikido (born 1883)

Morihei Ueshiba was a Japanese martial artist and founder of the martial art of aikido. He is often referred to as "the founder" Kaiso (開祖) or Ōsensei (大先生/翁先生), "Great Teacher".

1969

Erik Bergman

Swedish minister and author (born 1886)

Erik Henrik Fredrik Bergman was a Swedish parish minister of the Lutheran Church and the father of diplomat Dag Bergman, novelist Margareta Bergman, and film director Ingmar Bergman.

1970

Gypsy Rose Lee

American actress, striptease dancer, and writer (born 1911)

Gypsy Rose Lee was an American burlesque entertainer, stripper, actress, author, playwright and vedette, famous for her striptease act. Her 1957 memoir, Gypsy: A Memoir, was adapted into the 1959 stage musical Gypsy.

1970

Irene Ryan

American actress and philanthropist (born 1902)

Irene Ryan was an American actress and comedienne who found success in vaudeville, radio, film, television, and Broadway. She is most widely known for her portrayal of Daisy May "Granny" Moses, mother-in-law of Buddy…

1973

Sidney Franklin

American bullfighter (born 1903)

Sidney Franklin was the first American to become a successful matador, the most senior level of bullfighter.

1976

Sid James

South African-English actor (born 1913)

Sidney James was a South African–British actor and comedian whose career encompassed radio, television, stage and screen. Noted for his distinctive laugh, he was best known for numerous roles in the Carry On film series.

1976

Armstrong Sperry

American author and illustrator (born 1897)

Armstrong Wells Sperry was an American writer and illustrator of children's literature. His books include historical fiction and biography, often set on sailing ships, and stories of boys from Polynesia, Asia and…

1976

Cicely Courtneidge

Australian-born British actress, comedian and singer (born 1893)

Dame Esmerelda Cicely Courtneidge was an Australian-born British actress, comedian and singer. The daughter of the producer and playwright Robert Courtneidge, she was appearing in his productions in the West End by the…

1980

Jim Davis

American actor (born 1909)

Jim Davis was an American actor, best known for his roles in television Westerns. In his later career, he became famous as Jock Ewing in the CBS primetime soap opera Dallas, a role he continued until he was too ill from…

1981

Count Basie

American pianist, composer, and bandleader (born 1904)

William James "Count" Basie was an American jazz pianist, organist, bandleader, and composer. In 1935, he formed the Count Basie Orchestra, and in 1936 took them to Chicago for a long engagement and their first…

1984

Broderick Crawford

American actor (born 1911)

William Broderick Crawford was an American actor. Known for his "bulldog face and barking voice", he was initially a character actor often cast tough-guy or slob roles, but gained widespread acclaim for his portrayal of…

1986

Bessie Love

American actress (born 1898)

Bessie Love was an American-British actress who achieved prominence playing innocent, young girls and wholesome leading ladies in silent and early sound films. Her acting career spanned nearly seven decades—from silent…

1986

Dechko Uzunov

Bulgarian painter (born 1899)

Dechko Uzunov was a Bulgarian painter. He was born in Kazanluk and died in Sofia at the age of 87. His work was part of the painting event in the art competition at the 1936 Summer Olympics.

1986

Shankar

Indian composer and conductor (born 1922)

Shankar–Jaikishan, consisting of Shankar Singh Ram Singh Raghuvanshi and Jaikishan Dayabhai Panchal, also known as S-J, were an Indian composer duo of the Hindi film industry, who worked together from 1949 to 1971. They…

1987

John Silkin

English lawyer and politician, Shadow Leader of the House of Commons (born 1923)

John Ernest Silkin was a British Labour politician and solicitor.

1987

Lucille Ball

American model, actress, comedian, and producer (born 1911)

Lucille Désirée Ball was an American comedian, actress, producer, and studio executive. She was recognized by Time in 2020 as one of the most influential women of the 20th century for her work in all four of these…

1989

Leo Arnaud

French-American composer and conductor (born 1904)

Noël Léon Marius Arnaud, known professionally as Leo Arnaud, was a French American arranger, composer, and trombonist. He composed "Bugler's Dream", which is used as the theme by television networks presenting the…

1991

Carmine Coppola

American composer and conductor (born 1910)

Carmine Valentino Coppola was an American composer, flutist, pianist, and songwriter who contributed original music to the films The Godfather, The Godfather Part II, Apocalypse Now, The Outsiders, The Black Stallion,…

1991

A. B. Guthrie

Jr., American novelist and historian, (born 1901)

Alfred Bertram "Bud" Guthrie Jr. was an American novelist, screenwriter, historian, and literary historian known for writing western stories. His novel The Way West won the 1950 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, and his…

1991

Richard Hatfield

Canadian lawyer and politician, 26th Premier of New Brunswick (born 1931)

Richard Bennett Hatfield was a Canadian politician who served as the premier of New Brunswick from 1970 to 1987. He was the longest-serving premier in New Brunswick history.

1991

Masutatsu Ōyama

Japanese martial artist, founded Kyokushin kaikan (born 1923)

Masutatsu Ōyama, commonly known outside Japan as Mas Oyama, was a Korean-Japanese karateka. He was the founder of Kyokushin Karate, considered the first and most influential style of full contact karate.

1994

Stirling Silliphant

American screenwriter and producer (born 1918)

Stirling Dale Silliphant was an American screenwriter and producer. He is best remembered for his screenplay for In the Heat of the Night, for which he won an Academy Award in 1967, and for creating the television…

1996

Adrian Borland

English singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer (born 1957)

Adrian Kelvin Borland was an English singer, songwriter, guitarist and record producer, best known as the frontman of post-punk band the Sound.

1999

Jill Dando

English journalist and television personality (born 1961)

Jill Wendy Dando was an English journalist, television presenter and newsreader. She spent most of her career at the BBC and was the corporation's Personality of the Year in 1997. At the time of her death, her…

1999

Rosemary Brown

Jamaican-Canadian academic and politician (born 1930)

Rosemary Brown was a Canadian politician, social worker, and human rights advocate. As a member of the British Columbia Legislative Assembly from 1972 to 1986, she was the first black woman elected to a legislature in…

2003

Yun Hyon-seok

South Korean poet and author (born 1984)

Yun Hyon-seok was a South Korean LGBT poet, writer, and activist. He wrote under the pen names Yuk Wu-dang and Seolheon, and was also known by his nickname Midong or Donghwa.

2003

Edward Max Nicholson

Irish environmentalist, co-founded the World Wide Fund for Nature (born 1904)

Edward Max Nicholson was a pioneering environmentalist, ornithologist and internationalist, and a founder of the World Wildlife Fund.

2003

Hubert Selby

Jr., American author, poet, and screenwriter (born 1928)

Hubert "Cubby" Selby Jr. was an American novelist. Two of his books, Last Exit to Brooklyn (1964) and Requiem for a Dream (1978), were adapted into films, both of which he appeared in.

2004

Mason Adams

American actor (born 1919)

Mason Adams was an American actor. From the late 1940s until the early 1970s, he was heard in numerous radio programs and voiceovers for countless television commercials, the latter of which he resumed in the 1980s and…

2005

Elisabeth Domitien

Prime Minister of the Central African Republic (born 1925)

Elisabeth Domitien served as the prime minister of the Central African Republic from 1975 to 1976. She was the first and to date only woman to hold the position, and was the first woman to serve as prime minister of a…

2005

Maria Schell

Austrian-Swiss actress (born 1926)

Maria Margarethe Anna Schell was an Austrian-Swiss actress. She was one of the leading stars of German cinema in the 1950s and 1960s. In 1954, she was awarded the Cannes Best Actress Award for her performance in Helmut…

2005

Augusto Roa Bastos

Paraguayan journalist, author, and academic (born 1917)

Augusto Roa Bastos was a Paraguayan novelist and short story writer. As a teenager he fought in the Chaco War between Paraguay and Bolivia, and he later worked as a journalist, screenwriter and professor. He is best…

2005

Jack Valenti

American businessman, created the MPAA film rating system (born 1921)

Jack Joseph Valenti was an American political advisor and lobbyist who served as a Special Assistant to U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson. He was also the longtime president of the Motion Picture Association of America.…

2007

Árpád Orbán

Hungarian footballer (born 1938)

Árpád Orbán was a Hungarian Olympic champion football player.

2008

Hans Holzer

Austrian-American paranormal investigator and author (born 1920)

Hans Holzer was an American writer and parapsychologist. He wrote more than 120 books on supernatural and occult subjects for the popular market as well as several plays, musicals, films, and documentaries, and hosted a…

2009

Urs Felber

Swiss engineer and businessman (born 1942)

Urs Felber, a pioneer of furniture design, was the CEO of Vitra USA. Felber was also the board director for several companies including Swissflex and was chairman and principal shareholder for the furniture company…

2010

Phoebe Snow

American singer-songwriter and guitarist (born 1950)

Phoebe Snow was an American roots music singer-songwriter and guitarist, known for her hit 1974 and 1975 songs "Poetry Man" and "Harpo's Blues", and her credited guest vocals on Paul Simon’s "Gone at Last". She was…

2011

Terence Spinks

English boxer and trainer (born 1938)

Terence George Spinks MBE was an English boxer, who won the gold medal in the flyweight division at the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne, Australia. In the final he defeated Mircea Dobrescu of Romania on points. He was…

2012

Jacqueline Brookes

American actress and educator (born 1930)

Jacqueline Victoire Brookes was an American film, television, and stage actress, best known for her work both off-Broadway and on Broadway.

2013

George Jones

American singer-songwriter and guitarist (born 1931)

George Glenn Jones was an American country musician, singer, and songwriter. He achieved international fame for a long list of hit records, and is well known for his distinctive voice and phrasing. For the last two…

2013

Earl Silverman

Canadian men's rights advocate (born 1948)

Earl Silverman was a Canadian domestic abuse survivor, activist and men's rights advocate who founded the Men's Alternative Safe House (MASH), the only privately funded domestic abuse shelter for men in Canada, and the…

2013

Gerald Guralnik

American physicist and academic (born 1936)

Gerald Stanford "Gerry" Guralnik was the Chancellor’s Professor of Physics at Brown University. In 1964, he co-discovered the Higgs mechanism and Higgs boson with C. R. Hagen and Tom Kibble (GHK). As part of Physical…

2014

Paul Robeson

Jr., American historian and author (born 1927)

Paul Leroy Robeson Jr. was an American author, archivist and historian.

2014

DJ Rashad

American electronic musician, producer and DJ (born 1979)

Rashad Hanif Harden, known as DJ Rashad, was a Chicago-based electronic musician, producer and DJ known as a pioneer in the footwork genre and founder of the Teklife crew. He released his debut studio album Double Cup…

2014

Jayne Meadows

American actress (born 1919)

Jayne Meadows was an American stage, film and television actress, as well as an author and lecturer. She was nominated for three Emmy Awards during her career and was the wife of original Tonight Show host Steve Allen.…

2015

Marcel Pronovost

Canadian ice hockey player and coach (born 1930)

Joseph René Marcel Pronovost was a Canadian professional ice hockey player and coach. He played in 1,206 games over 20 National Hockey League (NHL) seasons for the Detroit Red Wings and Toronto Maple Leafs between 1950…

2015

Harry Wu

Chinese human rights activist (born 1937)

Harry Wu was a Chinese-American human rights activist. Wu spent 19 years in Chinese labor camps, and he became a resident and citizen of the United States. In 1992, he founded the Laogai Research Foundation.

2016

Jonathan Demme

American filmmaker, producer and screenwriter (born 1944)

Robert Jonathan Demme was an American filmmaker. His career of directing, producing, and screenwriting spanned more than 30 years and 70 feature films, documentaries, and television productions. In addition to being an…

2017

Klaus Schulze

German composer and musician (born 1947)

Klaus Schulze was a German electronic music pioneer, composer and musician. He also used the alias Richard Wahnfried and was a member of the Krautrock bands Tangerine Dream, Ash Ra Tempel, and the Cosmic Jokers before…

2022

Jerry Apodaca

American politician, 24th Governor of New Mexico (born 1934)

Jerry Apodaca was an American politician of the Democratic Party who served as the 24th governor of New Mexico from 1975 to 1979 and chair of the president's council on physical fitness and sports from 1978 to 1980.

2023

April 26 in the Blog

Chernobyl Disaster — April 26, 1986

28 lives lost instantly: in 1986, Ukraine's Chernobyl disaster caused widespread radioactive contamination, ending in a massive cleanup effort.

Read the full story

Notable deaths

Who died on April 26?

Mariam A. Aleem — Egyptian artist (1930–2010)

FeaturedMariam A. Aleem

Death year2010

Known forAleem was an Egyptian artist and art professor specializing in printed design

Deaths on this date91 (499 – 2023)

Explore April 26

Jump between the main pages for this date to compare events, people, and the daily quiz.

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Also on April 26 in History

2025

A car ramming attack at a Lapu-Lapu Day festival kills 11 people and injures at least 30 in Vancouver, Canada. Wikipedia →

2015

Nursultan Nazarbayev is re-elected President of Kazakhstan with 97.7% of the vote, one of the biggest vote shares in Kazakhstan's history. Wikipedia →

2015

Peaceful protesters install the first anti-monument in Mexico, Antimonumento +43, as a call for justice and remembrance to commemorate the 2014 Iguala mass kidnapping, later inspiring similar memorials elsewhere in the country and Latin America. Wikipedia →

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2010 — Mariam A. Aleem

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