Notable Deaths on December 13

Q: Who died on December 13?

Notable people who died on December 13 include: Childebert I, Du Hongjian, Pepin I of Aquitaine (born 797), Angilbert II, Pope Callixtus II (born 1065).

Q: What is Behçet Necatigil known for?

Behçet Necatigil, Turkish author, poet and translator (born 1916)

1979 — Behçet Necatigil

Turkish author, poet and translator (born 1916)

December 13 has seen 91 notable figures pass away throughout recorded history — from 558 – 2025. Below are the most significant names who died on this date.

By thisDay.info Editorial Team · December 13 — Wikipedia

Notable Deaths 91 people 558 – 2025

Did you know

Behçet Necatigil, Turkish poet, teacher and translator who is often considered to be one of the most important poets of modern Turkish poetry

Did you know

His paternal family originated from Kastamonu, a city in Turkey's Western Black Sea region

Did you know

His father, Mehmet Necati Gönül, was from the Çörekçiler family of Kastamonu

Did you know

His interest in literature is noted to have begun during his middle school years in Kastamonu

Did you know

Throughout his writing life he stood apart from all literary movements, and was known as an independent poet and intellectual

Childebert I

Frankish king (born 496)

Childebert I was a Frankish King of the Merovingian dynasty; as the third of the four sons of Clovis I, he inherited a share of the kingdom of the Franks, which was divided upon their father's death in 511. He was one…

558

Du Hongjian

Chinese politician (born 709)

Du Hongjian, courtesy name Zhisun (之巽), formally Duke Wenxian of Wei (衛文憲公), was a Chinese Buddhist monk and politician during the Tang dynasty who served as a chancellor during the reign of Emperor Daizong. He was…

769

Pepin I of Aquitaine (born 797)

Pepin I or Pepin I of Aquitaine was King of Aquitaine and Duke of Maine.

838

Angilbert II

archbishop of Milan

Angilbert II was the Archbishop of Milan from 27 or 28 June 824 to his death on the 13 December 859. He succeeded Angilbert I.

859

Pope Callixtus II (born 1065)

Pope Callixtus II or Callistus II, born Guy of Burgundy, was the head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from February 1119 to his death in 1124. His pontificate was shaped by the Investiture…

1124

Henry IX

Duke of Bavaria (born 1075)

Henry IX, also known as Henry the Black, was a member of the House of Welf and Duke of Bavaria from 1120 until his death.

1126

Maimonides

Spanish rabbi and philosopher (born 1135)

Moses ben Maimon, commonly known as Maimonides and also referred to by the Hebrew acronym Rambam, was a Sephardic Jewish rabbi who is widely acknowledged as one of the most prolific and influential Torah scholars of the…

1204

Frederick II

Holy Roman Emperor (born 1194)

Frederick II was King of Sicily from 1198, King of Germany from 1212, King of Italy and Holy Roman Emperor from 1220, and King of Jerusalem from 1225 to 1228. He was the son of Emperor Henry VI, of the Hohenstaufen…

1250

Bertold of Regensburg

German preacher

Bertold of Regensburg, also known as Berthold of Ratisbon was a German preacher during the high Middle Ages.

1272

Albert I

Duke of Bavaria (born 1336)

Albert I, Duke of Lower Bavaria was a feudal ruler of the counties of Holland, Hainaut, and Zeeland in the Low Countries. Additionally, he held a portion of the Bavarian province of Straubing, his Bavarian ducal line's…

1404

Donatello

Italian painter and sculptor (born 1386)

Donato di Niccolò di Betto Bardi, known mononymously as Donatello, was an Italian sculptor of the Renaissance period. Born in Florence, he studied classical sculpture and used his knowledge to develop an Early…

1466

Johannes Trithemius

German cryptographer and historian (born 1462)

Johannes Trithemius, born Johann Heidenberg, was a German Benedictine abbot and a polymath who was active in the German Renaissance as a lexicographer, chronicler, cryptographer, and occultist. He is considered the…

1516

Manuel I of Portugal (born 1469)

Manuel I, known as the Fortunate, was King of Portugal from 1495 to 1521. A member of the House of Aviz, Manuel was Duke of Beja and Viseu prior to succeeding his cousin, John II of Portugal, as monarch. Manuel ruled…

1521

Niccolò Fontana Tartaglia

Italian mathematician and engineer (born 1499)

Nicolo, known as Tartaglia, was an Italian mathematician, engineer, a surveyor and a bookkeeper from the then Republic of Venice. He published many books, including the first Italian translations of Archimedes and…

1557

Conrad Gessner

Swiss botanist and physician (born 1516)

Conrad Gessner was a Swiss physician, naturalist, bibliographer, and philologist. Born into a poor family in Zurich, Switzerland, his father and teachers quickly realised his talents and supported him through…

1565

Katarina Stenbock

queen of Gustav I of Sweden (born 1535)

Catherine Stenbock was Queen of Sweden from 1552 to 1560 as the third and last wife of King Gustav I.

1621

Antonio Grassi

Italian Roman Catholic priest(born 1592)

Antonio Grassi, born Vincenzo Grassi, was an Italian Roman Catholic priest and a professed member of the Oratorians. Grassi was known for his humble and pious nature with a strong devotion to the Marian devotions of…

1671

Charles de La Fosse

French painter (born 1640)

Charles de La Fosse was a French painter born in Paris.

1716

Alexander Selkirk

Scottish sailor (born 1676)

Alexander Selkirk was a Scottish privateer and Royal Navy officer who spent four years and four months as a castaway (1704–1709) after being marooned by his captain, initially at his request, on an uninhabited island in…

1721

Anthony Collins

English philosopher and author (born 1676)

Anthony Collins was an English philosopher and essayist, notable for being one of the early proponents of Deism in Great Britain.

1729

Mahmud I

Ottoman sultan (born 1696)

Mahmud I, known as Mahmud the Hunchback, was the sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1730 to 1754. He took over the throne after the quelling of the Patrona Halil rebellion. His reign was marked by wars in Persia and…

1754

Noël Doiron

Canadian Acadia leader (born 1684)

Noël Doiron was a leader of the Acadians, renowned for his leadership during the Deportation of the Acadians. Doiron was deported on a vessel named the Duke William (1758). The Duke William sank, killing many…

1758

Christian Fürchtegott Gellert

German poet and hymn-writer (born 1715)

Christian Fürchtegott Gellert was a German poet, novelist, and popular moralistic writer, one of the forerunners of the golden age of German literature that was ushered in by Lessing.

1769

Pehr Wilhelm Wargentin

Swedish astronomer and demographer (born 1717)

Pehr Wilhelm Wargentin, Swedish astronomer and demographer.

1783

Samuel Johnson

English poet and lexicographer (born 1709)

Samuel Johnson, often called Dr Johnson, was an English writer and polymath who made lasting contributions as a poet, playwright, essayist, moralist, literary critic, sermonist, biographer, editor, and lexicographer.…

1784

Charles-Joseph

7th Prince of Ligne, Belgian-Austrian field marshal (born 1735)

Charles-Joseph Lamoral, 7th Prince de Ligne was a field marshal of the Army of the Holy Roman Empire, inhaber of an infantry regiment, prolific writer, intellectual, and member of the Belgian princely family of Ligne.

1814

Johann Centurius Hoffmannsegg

German botanist and entomologist (born 1766)

Johann Centurius Hoffmann Graf von Hoffmannsegg was a German botanist, entomologist and ornithologist. The standard author abbreviation Hoffmanns. is used to indicate this person as the author when citing a botanical…

1849

Thomas Reade Rootes Cobb

American general, lawyer, and politician (born 1823)

Thomas Reade Rootes Cobb, also known as T. R. R. Cobb, was an American lawyer, author, politician, and Confederate States Army officer, killed in the Battle of Fredericksburg during the American Civil War. He was the…

1862

Christian Friedrich Hebbel

German poet and playwright (born 1813)

Christian Friedrich Hebbel was a German poet and dramatist.

1863

Carl Friedrich Philipp von Martius

German botanist and explorer (born 1794)

Carl Friedrich Philipp von Martius was a German botanist and explorer. Between 1817 and 1820, he travelled 10,000 km through Brazil while collecting botanical specimens. His most important work was a comprehensive flora…

1868

August Šenoa

Croatian author and poet (born 1838)

August Ivan Nepomuk Eduard Šenoa was a Croatian novelist, playwright, poet, and editor. Born to an ethnic German and Slovak family, Šenoa became a key figure in the development of an independent literary tradition in…

1881

Victor de Laprade

French poet and critic (born 1812)

Pierre Martin Victor Richard de Laprade, known as Victor de Laprade, was a French poet and critic.

1883

Georg August Rudolph

German lawyer and politician, 3rd Mayor of Marburg (born 1816)

Georg August Rudolph was a German politician and from 4 December 1856 until 2 August 1884 mayor of Marburg.

1893

Ányos Jedlik

Hungarian physicist and engineer (born 1800)

Ányos István Jedlik was a Hungarian inventor, engineer, physicist, and Benedictine priest. He was also a member of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, and author of several books. He is considered by Hungarians and…

1895

Augustus Le Plongeon

French photographer and historian (born 1825)

Augustus Henry Julian Le Plongeon was a British-American antiquarian and photographer who studied the pre-Columbian ruins of America, particularly those of the Maya civilization on the northern Yucatán Peninsula. While…

1908

Reggie Duff

Australian cricketer (born 1878)

Reginald Alexander Duff was an Australian cricketer who played in 22 Tests between 1902 and 1905.

1911

Woldemar Voigt

German physicist and academic (born 1850)

Woldemar Voigt was a German mathematician and physicist.

1919

Arthur Wesley Dow

American painter and photographer (born 1857)

Arthur Wesley Dow was an American painter, printmaker, photographer and an arts educator.

1922

Hannes Hafstein

Icelandic poet and politician, 1st Prime Minister of Iceland (born 1861)

Hannes Þórður Pétursson Hafstein was an Icelandic politician and poet. In 1904 he became the first Icelander to be appointed to the Danish Cabinet as the Minister for Iceland in the Cabinet of Deuntzer and was – unlike…

1922

Samuel Gompers

English-born American labor leader, founded the American Federation of Labor (born 1850)

Samuel Gompers was a British-born American cigar maker and labor union leader. A key figure in American labor history, Gompers founded the American Federation of Labor (AFL) and served as the organization's president…

1924

Mehmet Nadir

Turkish mathematician and academic (born 1856)

Mehmet Nadir was a Turkish mathematician, politician, and educator.

1927

Rosina Heikel

Finnish physician (born 1842)

Emma Rosina Heikel was a Finnish medical doctor and feminist. In 1878, she became the first female physician in Finland, and specialised in gynaecology and paediatrics.

1929

Fritz Pregl

Slovenian-Austrian chemist and physician, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1869)

Fritz Pregl, was a Slovenian-Austrian chemist and physician from a mixed Slovene-German-speaking background. He won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1923 for making important contributions to quantitative organic…

1930

Gustave Le Bon

French psychologist, sociologist, and anthropologist (born 1840)

Charles-Marie Gustave Le Bon was a leading French polymath whose areas of interest included anthropology, psychology, sociology, medicine, invention, and physics. He is best known for his 1895 work The Crowd: A Study of…

1931

Georgios Jakobides

Greek painter and sculptor (born 1853)

Georgios Jakobides was a Greek painter and medallist, one of the main representatives of the Greek artistic movement of the Munich School. He founded and was the first curator of the National Gallery of Greece in Athens.

1932

Victor Grignard

French chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1871)

Francois Auguste Victor Grignard was a French chemist who won the Nobel Prize for his discovery of the eponymously named Grignard reagent and Grignard reaction, both of which are important in the formation of…

1935

Wlodimir Ledóchowski

Austrian-Polish religious leader, 26th Superior-General of the Society of Jesus (born 1866)

Włodzimierz Halka Ledóchowski was a Polish Catholic priest who served as the 26th superior general of the Society of Jesus from 11 February 1915 until his death. Prior to taking holy orders, he was briefly a page to…

1942

Robert Robinson Taylor

American architect (born 1868)

Robert Robinson Taylor was an American architect and educator. Taylor was the first African-American student enrolled at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), and the first accredited African-American…

1942

Wassily Kandinsky

Russian-French painter and theorist (born 1866)

Wassily Wassilyevich Kandinsky was a Russian painter and art theorist active in Germany during the late Belle Époque and Interwar eras. Kandinsky is generally credited as one of the pioneers of abstraction in Western…

1944

Irma Grese

German concentration camp guard (born 1923)

Irma Ilse Ida Grese was a Nazi concentration camp guard at Ravensbrück, Auschwitz II-Birkenau, and Bergen-Belsen. She has been widely known as the "Hyena of Auschwitz" and the "Beast of Belsen" for the atrocities she…

1945

Josef Kramer

German concentration camp commandant (born 1906)

Josef Kramer was a Hauptsturmführer in the SS and the Commandant of Auschwitz-Birkenau and Bergen Belsen concentration camps. Dubbed the "Beast of Belsen" by camp inmates, he was a German Nazi war criminal, directly…

1945

Elisabeth Volkenrath

Polish-German concentration camp supervisor (born 1919)

Elisabeth Volkenrath was a German supervisor at several Nazi concentration camps during World War II.

1945

Henry James

American lawyer and author (born 1879)

Henry James III was an American writer who won the Pulitzer Prize for Biography or Autobiography in 1931. James, who was described as "delightful, rather pedantic, crisp, and humorous," was the son of William James and…

1947

Nicholas Roerich

Russian archaeologist, painter, and philosopher (born 1874)

Nikolai Konstantinovich Rerikh, better known as Nicholas Roerich, was a Russian polymath, painter, writer, archaeologist, theosophist, philosopher, and public figure. He is best known for his prolific body of artwork,…

1947

Abraham Wald

Hungarian mathematician and academic (born 1902)

Abraham Wald was a Hungarian and American mathematician and statistician who contributed to decision theory, geometry and econometrics, and founded the field of sequential analysis. One of his well-known statistical…

1950

John Raymond Hubbell

American director and composer (born 1879)

John Raymond Hubbell was an American writer, composer and lyricist. He is best known for the popular song, "Poor Butterfly".

1954

Egas Moniz

Portuguese psychiatrist and neurosurgeon, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1874)

António Caetano de Abreu Freire Egas Moniz, known as simply Egas Moniz, was a Portuguese neurologist and the developer of cerebral angiography. He is regarded as one of the founders of modern psychosurgery, having…

1955

Dora Marsden

English author and activist (born 1882)

Dora Marsden was an English suffragette, editor of literary journals, and philosopher of language. Beginning her career as an activist in the Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU), Marsden eventually broke off from…

1960

Grandma Moses

American painter (born 1860)

Anna Mary Robertson Moses, popularly known as Grandma Moses, was an American folk artist. She began painting in earnest at the age of 78 and is a prominent example of a newly successful art career at an advanced age.…

1961

Harry Barris

American singer-songwriter and pianist (born 1905)

Harry Barris was an American popular singer and songwriter. He was one of the earliest singers to use "scat singing" in recordings. Barris, one of Paul Whiteman's Rhythm Boys, along with Bing Crosby and Al Rinker,…

1962

Raymond A. Spruance

American admiral and diplomat, United States Ambassador to the Philippines (born 1886)

Raymond Ames Spruance was a United States Navy admiral during World War II. He commanded U.S. naval forces during the Battle of the Philippine Sea, one of the most significant naval battles of the Pacific Theatre. He…

1969

Henry Green

English author (born 1905)

Henry Vincent Yorke, who wrote under the pen name Henry Green, was an English writer best remembered for the novels Living (1929), Party Going (1939) and Loving (1945). He published a total of nine novels between 1926…

1973

Yakup Kadri Karaosmanoglu

Egyptian-Turkish journalist, author, and politician (born 1889)

Yakup Kadri Karaosmanoğlu was a Turkish novelist, journalist, diplomat, and member of parliament.

1974

Cyril Delevanti

English-American actor (born 1889)

Harry Cyril Delevanti was an English character actor, with a long career in American films during the Golden Age of Hollywood. He appeared in some 170 productions, and was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best…

1975

Addie Viola Smith

American lawyer and trade commissioner (born 1893)

Addie Viola Smith, also known as Shi Fanglan, was an American attorney who served as the United States trade commissioner to Shanghai from 1928 to 1939. She was the first female Foreign Service officer in the United…

1975

Oguz Atay

Turkish engineer and author (born 1934)

Oğuz Atay was a Turkish novelist. His first novel, Tutunamayanlar, appeared in 1971–72. Never reprinted in his lifetime and controversial among critics, it has become a best-seller since a new edition came out in 1984.…

1977

Jon Hall

American actor and director (born 1915)

Jon Hall was an American film actor known for playing a variety of adventurous roles, as in 1937's The Hurricane, and later when contracted to Universal Pictures, including Invisible Agent, The Invisible Man's Revenge,…

1979

Alexander Schmemann

Estonian-American priest and theologian (born 1921)

Alexander Dmitrievich Schmemann was an influential Orthodox priest, theologian, and author who spent most of his career in the United States.

1983

Nichita Stănescu

Romanian poet and critic (born 1933)

Nichita Stănescu was a Romanian poet and essayist.

1983

Heather Angel

British-American actress (born 1909)

Heather Grace Angel was a British actress. She was known for providing the voice of Mrs. Darling, Wendy's mother in Peter Pan (1953) and Alice's sister in Alice in Wonderland (1951).

1986

Ella Baker

American activist (born 1903)

Ella Josephine Baker was an African-American civil rights and human rights activist. She was a largely behind-the-scenes organizer whose career spanned more than five decades. In New York City and the South, she worked…

1986

Smita Patil

Indian actress and journalist (born 1955)

Smita Patil was an Indian actress who primarily worked in Hindi and Marathi films. Regarded among the greatest and finest actresses in the history of Indian cinema, she was known for her unconventional portrayal of…

1986

K. C. Irving

Canadian businessman (born 1899)

Kenneth Colin Irving, was a Canadian businessman whose business began with a family sawmill in Bouctouche, New Brunswick, in 1882. In 1989, he was made an Officer of the Order of Canada.

1992

Cornelius Vanderbilt Whitney

American businessman and philanthropist (born 1899)

Cornelius "Sonny" Vanderbilt Whitney was an American businessman, film producer, government official, writer and philanthropist. He was also a polo player who owned a stable of Thoroughbred racehorses.

1992

Vanessa Duriès

French author (born 1972)

Vanessa Duriès, also known as Katia Lamara, was a French novelist. She was the author of two novels; Le lien and L'Étudiante.

1993

Ann Nolan Clark

American author and educator (born 1896)

Ann Nolan Clark, born Anna Marie Nolan, was an American writer who won the 1953 Newbery Medal.

1995

Edward Blishen

English author and educator (born 1920)

Edward Blishen was an English author and broadcaster. He may be known best for the first of two children's novels based on Greek mythology, written with Leon Garfield, illustrated by Charles Keeping, and published by…

1996

Don E. Fehrenbacher

American historian, author, and academic (born 1920)

Don Edward Fehrenbacher was an American historian. He wrote on politics, slavery, and Abraham Lincoln. He won the 1979 Pulitzer Prize for History for The Dred Scott Case: Its Significance in American Law and Politics,…

1997

Lew Grade

Ukrainian-born British impresario and media proprietor (born 1906)

Lew Grade, Baron Grade, was a British media proprietor and impresario. Born to Jewish parents in the Russian Empire, he emigrated to the United Kingdom as a child and was raised in London. Originally a dancer, and later…

1998

Richard Thomas

Royal Naval Officer (born 1922)

Admiral Sir William Richard Scott Thomas, was a senior Royal Navy officer and the Gentleman Usher of the Black Rod in the British Parliament's House of Lords from January 1992 to 8 May 1995.

1998

Wade Watts

civil rights activist (born 1919)

Wade Watts was an American gospel preacher and civil rights activist from Oklahoma. He served as the state president of the Oklahoma chapter of the NAACP for sixteen years, challenging the Ku Klux Klan through Christian…

1998

Zal Yanovsky

Canadian singer-songwriter and guitarist who founded The Lovin' Spoonful (born 1944)

Zalman Yanovsky was a Canadian folk-rock musician and restaurateur. Born in Toronto, he was the son of political cartoonist Avrom Yanovsky and teacher Nechama Yanovsky. He played lead guitar and sang for the Lovin'…

2002

David Wheeler

English computer scientist and academic (born 1927)

David John Wheeler was an English computer scientist and professor of computer science at the University of Cambridge.

2004

Alan Shields

American painter and ferryboat captain (born 1944)

Alan J. Shields was an American painter, and for a time during the 1980s, had a secondary career as a commercial boat operator, including as ferryboat captain.

2005

Lamar Hunt

American businessman, co-founded the American Football League and World Championship Tennis (born 1932)

Lamar Hunt Sr. was an American businessman and prominent member of the Hunt family. As a sports executive, he was involved in promoting football, soccer, and tennis in the United States. With his brothers, he also…

2006

Alan Thicke

Canadian actor, songwriter, game and talk-show host (born 1947)

Alan Willis Thicke was a Canadian-American actor, songwriter, and game/talk show host. He was the father of singer Robin Thicke. Thicke was best known for playing Dr. Jason Seaver on the 1980s sitcom Growing Pains on…

2016

Noah Klieger

Holocaust survivor who became an award-winning Israeli journalist (born 1926)

Noah Klieger was an Israeli journalist and sports administrator. Klieger, a survivor of the Nazi concentration camps Auschwitz, Mittelbau-Dora and Ravensbruck, covered trials of Nazi criminals after the end of World War…

2018

Stephen "tWitch" Boss

American dancer and media personality (born 1982)

Stephen Laurel "tWitch" Boss was an American freestyle hip hop dancer, choreographer, actor, television producer, and television personality. In 2008, he finished in second place on the American version of So You Think…

2022

Lorraine O'Grady

American artist (born 1934)

Lorraine O'Grady was an American artist, writer, translator, and critic. Working in conceptual art and performance art that integrates photo and video installation, she explored the cultural construction of identity –…

2024

Juan José Zerboni

Mexican actor (born 1953)

Juan José Zerboni was a Mexican actor.

2025

Notable deaths

Who died on December 13?

Behçet Necatigil — Turkish translator (1916-1979)

FeaturedBehçet Necatigil

Death year1979

Known forHis paternal family originated from Kastamonu, a city in Turkey's Western Black Sea region

Deaths on this date91 (558 – 2025)

Explore December 13

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

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Also on December 13 in History

2007

The Treaty of Lisbon is signed by the EU member states to amend both the Treaty of Rome and the Maastricht Treaty which together form the constitutional basis of the EU. The Treaty of Lisbon is effective from 1 December 2009. Wikipedia →

2003

Iraq War: Operation Red Dawn: Former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein is captured near his home town of Tikrit. Wikipedia →

2002

European Union enlargement: The EU announces that Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia, and Slovenia will become members on May 1, 2004. Wikipedia →

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Notable Deaths on December 13

1979 — Behçet Necatigil

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