Notable Deaths on February 7

Q: Who died on February 7?

Notable people who died on February 7 include: Lü Bu, Jin Mindi, Boleslaus II the Pious, Emperor Go-Suzaku of Japan (born 1009), Siegfried I.

Q: What is Dean Smith known for?

Dean Smith, American basketball player and coach (born 1931)

2015 — Dean Smith

American basketball player and coach (born 1931)

February 7 has seen 84 notable figures pass away throughout recorded history — from 199 – 2025. Below are the most significant names who died on this date.

By thisDay.info Editorial Team · February 7 — Wikipedia

Notable Deaths 84 people 199 – 2025

Did you know

During his tenure as head coach, North Carolina won two national championships and appeared in 11 Final Fours

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Smith played college basketball at the University of Kansas, where he won a national championship in 1952 playing for Hall of fame coach Phog Allen.

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Called a "coaching legend" by the Basketball Hall of Fame, he coached for 36 years at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

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Smith's career total of 879 wins lasted until 2005 when Pat Summitt surpassed him with her 880th victory

Did you know

Dean Edwards Smith was an American men's college basketball head coach

Lü Bu

Chinese warlord

Lü Bu, courtesy name Fengxian, was a Chinese general and warlord who lived during the late Eastern Han dynasty. Originally a subordinate of Ding Yuan, he murdered the minor warlord and defected to the powerful Dong…

199

Jin Mindi

emperor of the Jin Dynasty (born 300)

Emperor Min of Jin, personal name Sima Ye, courtesy name Yanqi (彥旗), was an emperor of the Jin dynasty and the last of the Western Jin.

318

Boleslaus II the Pious

Duke of Bohemia (born 932)

Year 999 (CMXCIX) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Julian calendar.

999

Emperor Go-Suzaku of Japan (born 1009)

Emperor Go-Suzaku was the 69th emperor of Japan, according to the traditional order of succession.

1045

Siegfried I

Count of Sponheim (born c. 1010)

Siegfried I is considered the progenitor of the Carinthian ducal House of Sponheim (Spanheimer) and all of its lateral branches, including the Counts of Lebenau and the Counts of Ortenburg. He is documented as Count of…

1065

Ava

German poet (born 1060)

The poet Ava, also known as Frau Ava, Ava of Göttweig or Ava of Melk, was the first named female writer in any genre in the German language. She is the author of five poems which focus on Christian themes of salvation…

1127

Marshal Stephen of Armenia

Stephen of Armenia was the marshal of Armenia, the son of Leo I, Prince of Armenia and Beatrice of Rethel.

1165

Thomas

Count of Flanders

Thomas II was the Lord of Piedmont from 1233 to his death, Count of Flanders jure uxoris from 1237 to 1244, and regent of the County of Savoy from 1253 to his death, while his nephew Boniface was fighting abroad. He was…

1259

Robert

Count of Clermont (born 1256)

Robert of Clermont was a French prince du sang who was created Count of Clermont in 1268. He was the sixth and last son of King Louis IX and Margaret of Provence.

1317

Jan Muskata

Bishop of Kraków (born 1250)

Jan Muskata was bishop of Kraków from 1294 to 1309.

1320

Nikko

Japanese priest, founder of Nichiren Shoshu Buddhism (born 1246)

Nikkō Shōnin , Buddhist name Hawaki-bō Byakuren Ajari Nikkō (伯耆房白蓮阿闍梨日興), was one of the six senior disciples of Nichiren and was the former Chief Priest of Kuon-ji temple in Mount Minobu, Japan. Various Nichiren sects…

1333

Alfonsina de' Medici

Regent of Florence (born 1472)

Alfonsina Orsini was a regent of Florence. She governed the Republic of Florence during the absences of her son, Lorenzo II de' Medici, in the period of 1515–1519. Her rule was feared as a sign of the end of republican…

1520

Bartolommeo Bandinelli

Florentine sculptor (born 1493)

Baccio Bandinelli was an Italian Renaissance sculptor, draughtsman, and painter.

1560

Bartholomäus Sastrow

German politician (born 1520)

Bartholomäus Sastrow, sometimes anglicised Bartholomew, was a German official, notary, and mayor of Stralsund. He left a culturally and historically important autobiography, written in 1595 when he was 75 years of age.…

1603

Thomas Cecil

1st Earl of Exeter, English soldier and politician, Lord Lieutenant of Northamptonshire (born 1546)

Thomas Cecil, 1st Earl of Exeter KG, known as Lord Burghley from 1598 to 1605, was an English politician, courtier and soldier.

1623

William V

Duke of Bavaria (born 1548)

William V, called the Pious, was the duke of Bavaria from 1579 to 1597.

1626

William Bedell

English bishop and academic (born 1571)

The Rt. Rev. William Bedell, D.D., was an English Anglican bishop who served as the 5th Provost of Trinity College Dublin from 1627 to 1629. He also served as Lord Bishop of Kilmore and as a member of the Irish House of…

1642

Paul Pellisson

French lawyer and author (born 1624)

Paul Pellisson was a French writer, associated with the Baroque Précieuses movement.

1693

Stephen Gray

English astronomer and physicist (born 1666)

Stephen Gray was an English dyer and astronomer who was the first to systematically experiment with electrical conduction. Until his work in 1729 the emphasis had been on the simple generation of static charges and…

1736

William Boyce

English organist and composer (born 1711)

William Boyce was an English composer and organist. Like Beethoven later on, he became deaf but continued to compose. He knew Handel, Arne, Gluck, J. C. Bach, Abel, and a very young Mozart, all of whom respected his…

1779

Qianlong Emperor of China (born 1711)

The Qianlong Emperor, also known by his temple name Emperor Gaozong of Qing, personal name Hongli, was the fifth emperor of the Qing dynasty and the fourth Qing emperor to rule over China proper. He reigned officially…

1799

Daniel Chodowiecki

Polish-German painter and academic (born 1726)

Daniel Niklaus Chodowiecki was a German painter and printmaker of Huguenot and Polish ancestry, who is most famous as an etcher. He spent most of his life in Berlin, and became the director of the Berlin Academy of Art.

1801

August Wilhelm Hupel

German-Estonian linguist and author (born 1737)

August Wilhelm Hupel was a Baltic German publicist, baltophile, estophile and linguist.

1819

Ann Radcliffe

English author (born 1764)

Ann Radcliffe was an English novelist and poet who pioneered the Gothic novel. Her fourth and most popular novel, The Mysteries of Udolpho, was published in 1794. She is also remembered for her third novel, The Romance…

1823

Gustav IV Adolf of Sweden (born 1778)

Gustav IV Adolf or Gustav IV Adolph was King of Sweden from 1792 until he was deposed in a coup in 1809. He was also the last Swedish monarch to be the ruler of Finland.

1837

Mariano Paredes

Mexican general and 16th president (1845–1846) (born 1797)

José Mariano Epifanio Paredes y Arrillaga was a Mexican conservative general who served as president of Mexico between December 1845 and July 1846. He assumed office through a coup against the liberal administration led…

1849

Francisco de Paula Martínez de la Rosa y Berdejo

Spanish playwright and politician, Prime Minister of Spain (born 1787)

Francisco de Paula Martínez de la Rosa y Cornejo was a Spanish statesman and dramatist and the first prime minister of Spain to receive the title of President of the Council of Ministers.

1862

Vuk Karadžić

Serbian philologist and linguist (born 1787)

Vuk Stefanović Karadžić was a Serbian philologist, anthropologist and linguist. He was one of the most important reformers of the modern Serbian language. Vuk Karadžić was a versatile scholar and the founder of several…

1864

Henry E. Steinway

German-American businessman, founded Steinway & Sons (born 1797)

Heinrich Engelhard Steinweg, anglicized name Henry Engelhard Steinway, was a German-American piano maker. He was the founder of the piano company Steinway & Sons.

1871

Sheridan Le Fanu

Irish author (born 1814)

Joseph Thomas Sheridan Le Fanu, often shortened to J. S. Le Fanu, was an Irish writer of Gothic tales and mystery novels. He is considered by literary critics to be among the greatest ghost story writers of the…

1873

Pope Pius IX (born 1792)

Pope Pius IX was head of the Catholic Church from 16 June 1846 until his death in February 1878.

1878

Marie Louise Andrews

American story writer and journalist (born 1849)

Marie Louise Andrews was an American author and editor from Indiana. She was a founder of the Western Association of Writers, and served as its secretary from its founding until June 1888, when she retired. She was…

1891

Galileo Ferraris

Italian physicist and engineer (born 1847)

Galileo Ferraris was an Italian university professor, physicist and electrical engineer, one of the pioneers of AC power system and inventor of the induction motor, although he never patented his work. Many newspapers…

1897

William Halford

English-American lieutenant, Medal of Honor recipient (born 1841)

William Halford was a sailor, and later an officer, in the United States Navy. He also received the Medal of Honor.

1919

Alexander Kolchak

Russian admiral and explorer (born 1874)

Admiral Alexander Vasilyevich Kolchak was a Russian navy officer and polar explorer who led the White movement in the Russian Civil War. When he assumed the title of Supreme Ruler of Russia in 1918, Kolchak headed a…

1920

Charles Langelier

Canadian journalist, judge, and politician (born 1850)

Charles Langelier was a Canadian lawyer, politician, judge, journalist, and author.

1920

John J. Gardner

American politician (born 1845)

John James Gardner was an American businessman, Civil War veteran, Republican Party politician and statesman who represented Atlantic County, New Jersey in the New Jersey Senate from 1878 to 1893 and United States House…

1921

Elihu Root

American lawyer and politician, 38th United States Secretary of State, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1845)

Elihu Root was an American lawyer, Republican politician, and statesman who served as the 41st United States Secretary of War under presidents William McKinley and Theodore Roosevelt and the 38th United States Secretary…

1937

Harvey Samuel Firestone

American businessman, founded the Firestone Tire and Rubber Company (born 1868)

Harvey Samuel Firestone Sr. was an American businessman, and the founder of the Firestone Tire and Rubber Company, one of the first global makers of automobile tires.

1938

Boris Grigoriev

Russian painter and illustrator (born 1886)

Boris Grigoriev was a painter, graphic artist, and writer.

1939

James McCormick (Irish republican)

Executed Irish Republican (born 1910)

James McCormick was born in Mullingar, County Westmeath, Ireland and joined the Irish Republican Army (IRA) in Tullamore, County Offaly. He was executed for his role in the 1939 Coventry bombing, which killed five…

1940

Peter Barnes (Irish republican)

Executed Irish Republican (born 1907)

Peter Barnes was an Irish republican. He was born in Banagher, King's County (Offaly). As a young man Barnes joined Fianna Éireann and in 1924 became a member of the Irish Republican Army (IRA).

1940

Ivan Bilibin

Russian illustrator and stage designer (born 1876)

Ivan Yakovlevich Bilibin was a Russian illustrator and stage designer who took part in the Mir iskusstva, contributed to the Ballets Russes, co-founded the Union of Russian Artists, and from 1937 was a member of the…

1942

Lina Cavalieri

Italian soprano and actress (born 1874)

Natalina "Lina" Cavalieri was an Italian operatic dramatic soprano, actress, and monologist.

1944

Nap Lajoie

American baseball player and manager (born 1874)

Napoléon Lajoie, also known as Larry Lajoie, was an American professional baseball second baseman who played 21 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB). Nicknamed "the Frenchman", he represented both Philadelphia…

1959

Daniel François Malan

South African minister and politician, 5th Prime Minister of South Africa (born 1874)

Daniël François Malan was a South African politician who served as the fourth prime minister of South Africa from 1948 to 1954. The National Party implemented the system of apartheid, which enforced racial segregation…

1959

Guitar Slim

American singer and guitarist (born 1926)

Eddie Jones, known as Guitar Slim, was an American guitarist in the 1940s and 1950s, best known for the million-selling song "The Things That I Used to Do", for Specialty Records. It is listed in the Rock and Roll Hall…

1959

Igor Kurchatov

Russian physicist and academic (born 1903)

Igor Vasilyevich Kurchatov was a Soviet physicist who played a central role in organizing and directing the former Soviet program of nuclear weapons. He has been called the "father of the Russian atomic bomb".

1960

Learco Guerra

Italian cyclist and manager (born 1902)

Learco Guerra was an Italian professional road racing cyclist. The highlight of his career was his overall win in the 1934 Giro d'Italia. He was born in San Nicolò Po, a frazione of Bagnolo San Vito in Lombardy, gained…

1963

Sofoklis Venizelos

Greek captain and politician, 133rd Prime Minister of Greece (born 1894)

Sofoklis Venizelos was a Greek politician who served three times as Prime Minister of Greece: in 1944, 1950 and 1950–1951.

1964

Nick Adams

American actor and screenwriter (born 1931)

Nicholas Aloysius Adamshock, better known as Nick Adams, was an American film and television actor and screenwriter. He was noted for his roles in several Hollywood films during the 1950s and 1960s, including Rebel…

1968

Walter Lang

American director and screenwriter (born 1896)

Walter Richard Lang was an American film director.

1972

Josef Mengele

German SS officer and physician (born 1911)

Josef Mengele, often dubbed the "Angel of Death", was a German military officer and physician during World War II at the Soviet front and then at Auschwitz during the Holocaust. He conducted research and experiments on…

1979

Cheikh Anta Diop

Senegalese historian, anthropologist, and physicist (born 1923)

Cheikh Anta Diop was a Senegalese historian, anthropologist, physicist, and politician who studied the human race's origins and pre-colonial African culture. Diop's work is considered foundational to the theory of…

1986

Alan Perlis

American computer scientist and academic (born 1922)

Alan Jay Perlis was an American computer scientist, mathematician, and educator who helped establish computer science as an academic discipline. He was a pioneer in compiler construction and programming language design,…

1990

Alfredo M. Santos

Filipino general (born 1905)

Alfredo Manapat Santos was Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces of the Philippines in 1962 to 1965, making him the first four-star general of the Philippines' armed forces.

1990

Amos Yarkoni

Israeli colonel (born 1920)

Amos Yarkoni, was an officer in the Israel Defense Forces and one of six Israeli Arabs to have received the IDF's third highest decoration, the Medal of Distinguished Service. He was the first commander of the Shaked…

1991

Witold Lutosławski

Polish composer and conductor (born 1913)

Witold Roman Lutosławski was a Polish composer and conductor. Among the major composers of 20th-century classical music, he is "generally regarded as the most significant Polish composer since Szymanowski, and possibly…

1994

King Hussein of Jordan (born 1935)

Hussein bin Talal was King of Jordan from 1952 until his death in 1999. A member of the Hashemite dynasty, he is regarded as a 40th-generation direct descendant of the Islamic prophet Muhammad.

1999

Bobby Troup

American actor, pianist, and composer (born 1918)

Robert William Troup Jr. was an American actor, jazz pianist, singer, and songwriter. He composed the rhythm and blues standard "(Get Your Kicks on) Route 66" and portrayed Dr. Joe Early in the television program…

1999

Doug Henning

Canadian magician and politician (born 1947)

Douglas James Henning was a Canadian magician, illusionist, escape artist and politician.

2000

Anne Morrow Lindbergh

American author and pilot (born 1906)

Anne Spencer Morrow Lindbergh was an American writer and aviator. She was the wife of decorated pioneer aviator Charles Lindbergh, with whom she made many exploratory flights.

2001

Augusto Monterroso

Guatemalan author (born 1921)

Augusto Monterroso Bonilla was a Honduran writer who adopted Guatemalan nationality, known for the ironical and humorous style of his short stories. He is considered an important figure in the Latin American "Boom"…

2003

Atli Dam

Faroese engineer and politician, 5th Prime Minister of the Faroe Islands (born 1932)

Atli Pætursson Dam was a Faroese politician who served as prime minister of the Faroe Islands on three occasions. From 1970 to 1981, 1985 to 1989, and 1991 to 1993. To this date, he is the longest-serving prime minister…

2005

Princess Durru Shehvar of the Ottoman Empire (born 1914)

Hatice Hayriye Ayşe Dürrüşehvar Sultan, after marriage named Durru Shehvar Durdana Begum Sahiba, Princess of Berar; was an Ottoman princess by birth and Hyderabadi princess by marriage. She was the only daughter of the…

2006

Blossom Dearie

American singer and pianist (born 1924)

Margrethe Blossom Dearie was an American jazz singer and pianist. She had a distinctive light and girlish voice. Dearie performed regular engagements in London and New York City over many years and collaborated with…

2009

Franco Ballerini

Italian cyclist and coach (born 1964)

Franco Ballerini was an Italian road racing cyclist.

2010

Harry Keough

American soccer player and coach (born 1927)

Harry Joseph Keough was an American soccer defender who played on the United States national team in their 1–0 upset of England at the 1950 FIFA World Cup. He spent most of his club career in his native St. Louis,…

2012

Krsto Papić

Croatian director and screenwriter (born 1933)

Krsto Papić was a Croatian screenwriter and film director whose career spanned over five decades. He is generally considered among the best directors of former Yugoslavia, and counted among the Yugoslav Black Wave.

2013

Doug Mohns

Canadian-American ice hockey player (born 1933)

Douglas Allen "Diesel" Mohns was a professional ice hockey player who played 22 seasons in the National Hockey League from 1953–54 until 1974–75. Mohns twice won the most coveted prize in junior hockey, the Memorial…

2014

Billy Casper

American golfer (born 1931)

William Earl Casper Jr. was an American professional golfer. He was one of the most prolific tournament winners on the PGA Tour from the mid-1950s to the mid-1970s.

2015

Marshall Rosenberg

American psychologist and author (born 1934)

Marshall Bertram Rosenberg was an American psychologist, mediator, author, and teacher. Starting in the early 1960s, he developed nonviolent communication, a process for supporting partnership and resolving conflict…

2015

John C. Whitehead

American banker and politician, 9th United States Deputy Secretary of State (born 1922)

John Cunningham Whitehead was an American banker and civil servant, a board member of the World Trade Center Memorial Foundation, and, until his resignation in May 2006, chairman of the Lower Manhattan Development…

2015

Richard Hatch

American actor (born 1945)

Richard Lawrence Hatch was an American actor and writer. He began his career as a stage actor before moving on to television work in the 1970s. Hatch is best known for his roles as Captain Apollo in the original…

2017

Hans Rosling

Swedish academic (born 1948)

Hans Rosling was a Swedish physician, academic, and public speaker. He was a professor of international health at Karolinska Institute and was the co-founder and chairman of the Gapminder Foundation, which developed the…

2017

Tzvetan Todorov

Bulgarian philosopher (born 1939)

Tzvetan Todorov was a Bulgarian-French historian, philosopher, structuralist literary critic, sociologist and essayist. He was the author of many books and essays, which have had a significant influence in anthropology,…

2017

John Dingell

American politician (born 1926)

John David Dingell Jr. was an American politician from the state of Michigan who served as a member of the United States House of Representatives from 1955 until 2015. A member of the Democratic Party, Dingell holds the…

2019

Albert Finney

English actor (born 1936)

Albert Finney was an English actor. He attended the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and worked in the theatre before attaining fame for film acting during the early 1960s, debuting with The Entertainer (1960), directed by…

2019

Jan Olszewski

Polish politician, 3rd Prime Minister (born 1930)

Jan Ferdynand Olszewski was a Polish conservative lawyer and politician who served as the Prime Minister of Poland for five months between December 1991 and early June 1992 and later became a leading figure of the…

2019

Frank Robinson

American baseball player, coach, and manager (born 1935)

Frank Robinson, nicknamed "the Judge", was an American professional baseball outfielder and manager in Major League Baseball (MLB) who played for five teams over 21 seasons: the Cincinnati Reds (1956–1965), Baltimore…

2019

Li Wenliang

Chinese ophthalmologist who initially warned about COVID-19 (born 1985)

Li Wenliang was a Chinese ophthalmologist who warned his colleagues about early COVID-19 infections in Wuhan.

2020

Dafydd Elis-Thomas

Welsh academic and politician (born 1946)

Dafydd Elis Elis-Thomas, Baron Elis-Thomas, was a Welsh politician who served as the leader of Plaid Cymru from 1984 to 1991 and represented the Dwyfor Meirionnydd constituency in the Senedd from 1999 to 2021.

2025

Tony Roberts

American actor and singer (born 1939)

David Anthony Roberts was an American actor known for his roles on stage and screen. He is best known for his collaborations with filmmaker Woody Allen, having acted in six of his films, most notably Annie Hall (1977).

2025

Notable deaths

Who died on February 7?

Dean Smith — American basketball coach (1931–2015)

FeaturedDean Smith

Death year2015

Known forCalled a "coaching legend" by the Basketball Hall of Fame, he coached for 36 years at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Deaths on this date84 (199 – 2025)

Explore February 7

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

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Also on February 7 in History

2024

Pakistan election offices are hit by twin bombings, killing at least 24 people a day before general elections. Wikipedia →

2021

The 2021 Uttarakhand flood begins. Wikipedia →

2016

North Korea launches Kwangmyŏngsŏng-4 into outer space violating multiple UN treaties and prompting condemnation from around the world. Wikipedia →

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