Notable Deaths on January 26

Charles "Lucky" Luciano was an Italian mafioso who operated mainly in the United States. He started his criminal career in New York City's Five Points Gang and was instrumental in the development of the National Crime Syndicate. Luciano is considered the father of the Italian-American Mafia for the establishment of the Commission in 1931, after he abolished the capo dei capi title held by Salvatore Maranzano following the Castellammarese War. He was also the first official boss of the modern Genovese crime family.

Nelson Aldrich Rockefeller was the 41st vice president of the United States, serving from 1974 to 1977 under President Gerald Ford. A member of the Republican Party and the wealthy Rockefeller family, he was the 49th governor of New York from 1959 to 1973. He was the leader of the moderate faction of his party, known as the Rockefeller Republicans.

Paul William "Bear" Bryant was an American college football player and coach. He is considered by many to be one of the greatest college football coaches of all time, and best known as the head coach of the University of Alabama football team, the Alabama Crimson Tide, from 1958 to 1982. During his 25-year tenure as Alabama's head coach, he amassed six national championships and 13 conference championships. Upon his retirement in 1982, he held the record for the most wins (323) as a head coach in collegiate football history. The Paul W. Bryant Museum, Paul W. Bryant Hall, Paul W. Bryant Drive, and Saban Field at Bryant–Denny Stadium are all named in his honor at the University of Alabama.

José Vicente Ferrer de Otero y Cintrón was a Puerto Rican actor and director of stage, film and television. He was one of the most celebrated and esteemed Hispanic American actors during his lifetime and after, with a career spanning nearly 60 years between 1935 and 1992. He achieved prominence for his portrayal of Cyrano de Bergerac in the play of the same name, which earned him the inaugural Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play in 1947. He reprised the role in a 1950 film version and won an Academy Award for Best Actor, making him both the first Hispanic and the first Puerto Rican–born actor to win an Academy Award.

Abraham Vigoda was an American actor, known for his portrayals of Salvatore Tessio in The Godfather (1972) and Phil Fish in both Barney Miller and Fish (1977–1978). His career as an actor began in 1947 performing with the American Theatre Wing and continued in Broadway productions throughout the 1960s and 1970s.

Gianna Maria-Onore Bryant, also known as Gigi Bryant and Mambacita, was an American student-athlete and the daughter of National Basketball Association (NBA) player Kobe Bryant and Vanessa Bryant. Raised in Newport Beach, California, Bryant was a competitive point guard who played for the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) and Harbor Day School under the training and coaching of her father. A highly regarded prospect, she publicly aspired to play college basketball for the University of Connecticut Huskies and later play professionally in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). She was widely recognized as the heir to her father's athletic legacy. Along with her father and seven others, Bryant died in a helicopter crash in January 2020 at the age of 13 while traveling to a youth basketball tournament at the Mamba Sports Academy.

Edward Goldenberg Robinson was an American actor who was popular during Hollywood's Golden Age. After making his stage debut in 1913, he rose to stardom with his performance as the title character in Little Caesar (1931) and became well known for his portrayals of gangsters. He starred in a variety of films, including the biopics Dr. Ehrlich's Magic Bullet and A Dispatch from Reuters and the film noirs Double Indemnity and The Woman in the Window.

Barbara Hale was an American actress who portrayed legal secretary Della Street in the dramatic television series Perry Mason (1957–1966), earning her a 1959 Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series. She reprised the role in 30 Perry Mason made-for-television movies (1985–1995).

Major-General Charles George Gordon CB, also known as Chinese Gordon, Gordon Pasha, Gordon of Khartoum and General Gordon, was a British Army officer and administrator. He saw action in the Crimean War as an officer in the British Army. He made his military reputation in China, where he was placed in command of the "Ever Victorious Army", a force of Chinese soldiers led by European officers that was instrumental in putting down the Taiping Rebellion, regularly defeating much larger forces. For these accomplishments, he was given the nickname "Chinese Gordon" and honours from both the Emperor of China and the British.

Krekor Ohanian, known professionally as Mike Connors, was an American actor and film producer. He was best known for playing private detective Joe Mannix on the CBS television series Mannix from 1967 to 1975. This role earned him a Golden Globe Award in 1970, the first of six straight nominations, as well as four consecutive Primetime Emmy nominations from 1970 to 1973. He also starred in the short-lived series Tightrope! (1959–1960) and Today's FBI (1981–1982).

Edward Jenner was an English physician and scientist who pioneered the concept of vaccines and created the smallpox vaccine, the world's first vaccine. The terms vaccine and vaccination are derived from Variolae vaccinae, the term devised by Jenner to denote cowpox. He used it in 1798 in the title of his Inquiry into the Variolae vaccinae known as the Cow Pox, in which Jenner described the protective effect of cowpox against smallpox.

Anandibai Gopalrao Joshi was the first certified Indian female doctor of western medicine while Kadambini Ganguly was the first Indian female doctor who actually practiced.

Abner Doubleday was a career United States Army officer and Union major general in the American Civil War. He fired the first shot in defense of Fort Sumter, the opening battle of the war, and had a pivotal role in the early fighting at the Battle of Gettysburg. Gettysburg was his finest hour, but his relief by Maj. Gen. George G. Meade caused lasting enmity between the two men. In San Francisco, after the war, he obtained a patent on the cable car railway that still runs there. In his final years in New Jersey, he was a prominent member and later president of the Theosophical Society.

George Habash was a Palestinian politician and physician who was the founder and first general-secretary of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) from 1967 to 2000.

Lewis Mumford was an American historian, sociologist, philosopher of technology, and literary critic. Particularly noted for his study of cities and urban architecture, he had a broad career as a writer. He made significant contributions to social philosophy, American literary and cultural history, and the history of technology.

Maharana Amar Singh I the Sisodia-Rajput ruler of the Mewar Kingdom, was the eldest son and successor of Maharana Pratap I. He was the 14th Rana of Mewar, ruling from 19 January 1597 until his death on 26 January 1620.

John Edward Altobelli was an American college baseball coach who worked for 27 seasons at Orange Coast College in Costa Mesa, California. During his career, he led the Pirates to four California state junior college titles and in 2019 was named National Coach of the Year by the American Baseball Coaches Association. In January 2020, Altobelli, along with his wife Keri and daughter Alyssa, died in a helicopter crash in Calabasas, California, which also killed basketball player Kobe Bryant.

Jean-Louis André Théodore Géricault was a French painter and lithographer. His best-known painting is The Raft of the Medusa. Despite his short life, he was one of the pioneers of the Romantic movement.

John Donald Budge was an American tennis player. He is most famous as the first tennis player—male or female—to win all four Grand Slam tournaments in one year and complete the Grand Slam. Budge was the second man to complete the career Grand Slam, after Fred Perry. He won ten majors, of which six were Grand Slam events and four Pro Slams, the latter achieved on three different surfaces. Budge is considered to have had one of the best backhands in the history of tennis, with most observers rating it better than that of later player Ken Rosewall.

Gérard de Nerval was the pen name of Gérard Labrunie, a French travel writer, essayist, poet, and translator. He was a major figure during the era of French romanticism, and best known for his novellas and poems, especially the collection Les Filles du feu, which included the novella Sylvie and the poem "El Desdichado". Through his translations, Nerval played a major role in introducing French readers to the works of German Romantic authors, including Klopstock, Schiller, Bürger and Goethe. His later work merged poetry and journalism in a fictional context and influenced Marcel Proust. His last novella, Aurélia ou le rêve et la vie, influenced André Breton and Surrealism.

Jeane Dixon was one of the best-known American psychics and astrologers of the 20th century, owing to her alleged prediction of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, her syndicated newspaper astrology column, some well-publicized predictions, and a best-selling biography.

Alfred Elton van Vogt was a Canadian-born American science fiction writer. His fragmented, bizarre narrative style influenced later science fiction writers, including Philip K. Dick. He was one of the most popular and influential practitioners of science fiction in the mid-twentieth century, the genre's so-called Golden Age, and one of the most complex. The Science Fiction Writers of America named him their 14th Grand Master in 1995.

Jeanne Hébuterne was a French painter and art model best known as the frequent subject and common-law wife of the artist Amedeo Modigliani. She died by suicide two days after Modigliani's death, and is now buried beside him.

Khan Abdul Wali Khan was a Pakistani politician who served as president of the National Awami Party from 1967 till its dissolution in 1986, and then of the Awami National Party, a left wing Pashtun nationalist federalist party. He was the Leader of the Opposition twice, from 1972 to 1975 and from 1988 to 1990. A political rival of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, he led the Pakistan National Alliance, and then a nationwide uprising, against the Pakistan Peoples Party in the 1977 parliamentary election.

Nikolai Ivanovich Vavilov was a Russian and Soviet agronomist, botanist and geneticist who identified the centers of origin of cultivated plants. His research focused on improvement of wheat, maize and other cereal crops.

Nicolaus August Otto was a German engineer who successfully developed the compressed charge internal combustion engine which ran on petroleum gas and led to the modern internal combustion engine. The Association of German Engineers (VDI) created DIN standard 1940 which says "Otto Engine: internal combustion engine in which the ignition of the compressed fuel-air mixture is initiated by a timed spark", which has been applied to all engines of this type since.

David Rice Atchison was a mid-19th-century Democratic United States Senator from Missouri. He served as president pro tempore of the United States Senate for six years. Atchison served as a major general in the Missouri State Militia in 1838 during Missouri's Mormon War and as a Confederate brigadier general during the American Civil War under Major General Sterling Price in the Missouri Home Guard. Some of Atchison's associates claimed that for 24 hours—Sunday, March 4, 1849, through noon on Monday—he may have been acting president of the United States. This belief, however, is dismissed by most scholars.

Kenneth Clarke Spearman, known professionally as Kenny Clarke and nicknamed Klook, was an American jazz drummer and bandleader. A major innovator of the bebop style of drumming, he pioneered the use of the ride cymbal to keep time rather than the hi-hat, along with the use of the bass drum for irregular accents.

Jan Augustus Gies was a member of the Dutch Resistance who, with his wife, Miep, helped hide Anne Frank, her sister Margot, their parents Otto and Edith, the van Pels family, and Fritz Pfeffer from Nazi persecution during the occupation of the Netherlands by aiding them as they resided in the Secret Annex.

Sir Thomas Dalyell, 11th Baronet, known as Tam Dalyell, was a Scottish politician who served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Linlithgow from 1962 to 2005. A member of the Labour Party, he was best known for formulating what came to be known as the "West Lothian question", on whether non-English MPs should be able to vote upon English-only matters after political devolution. He was also known for his staunch anti-war views, opposing the Falklands War, the Gulf War, the War in Afghanistan and the Iraq War.

Jeanne Mathilde Sauvé was a Canadian politician, journalist and stateswoman who served as the 23rd governor general of Canada from 1984 to 1990 and as the 29th speaker of the House of Commons from 1980 to 1984. She was the first woman to hold either office, and is to date the only woman to serve as speaker of the House of Commons.

Frank J. Howard was an American college football player and coach. He played college football for Alabama. After a career-ending injury, Howard joined the staff at Clemson College and became head coach in 1940. Howard coached the Clemson Tigers for 30 years, amassing the 15th most wins of any college football coach. He led Clemson to ten bowl games, an undefeated season in 1948, and several top-20 rankings during his tenure as head coach. During his stay at Clemson, Howard also oversaw the athletic department, ticket sales, and was an assistant coach for the baseball team. He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame, the South Carolina Sports Hall of Fame, the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame and the Clemson Ring of Honor. The playing surface at Clemson's Memorial Stadium is named after him.

Mary Willie Grace Moore was an American operatic lyric soprano and actress in musical theatre and film. She was nicknamed the "Tennessee Nightingale." Her films helped to popularize opera by bringing it to a larger audience. She was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress for her performance in One Night of Love.

Arthur Cayley was an English mathematician who worked mostly on algebra. He helped found the modern British school of pure mathematics, and was a professor at Trinity College, Cambridge for 35 years.

Louis Stanton Auchincloss was an American lawyer, novelist, historian, and essayist. He is best known as a novelist who parlayed his experiences into books exploring the experiences and psychology of American polite society and old money.

Thomas Joseph Gola was an American basketball player and politician. Gola was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1976 and the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame in 2006. He is widely considered one of the greatest NCAA basketball players of all time, playing four years with the La Salle Explorers. Gola was a consensus first-team All-American for three consecutive years. He has held the record for the most total rebounds in NCAA history since 1955, and was the first college player to have over 2,000 points and 2,000 rebounds in a career. Gola was the Helms Foundations College Basketball Player of the Year in 1954, and the United Press Player of the Year in 1955, as well as being the highest vote recipient for the Associated Press' 1955 All-America Team. He was selected the most valuable player in the 1952 National Invitation Tournament and the 1954 NCAA basketball tournament.

Alfred James McGuire was an American college basketball coach and broadcaster, the head coach at Marquette University from 1964 to 1977. He won a national championship in his final season at Marquette, and was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1992. He was also well known as a longtime national television basketball broadcaster and for his colorful personality.

Lorne John "Gump" Worsley was a Canadian professional ice hockey goaltender. Born and raised in Montreal, Quebec, 'Gump' was given his nickname because friends thought he looked like a comic-strip character Andy Gump.

Barbara Howard was a Canadian sprinter and educator. Growing up in Vancouver, British Columbia, Howard gained national media attention as a sprinter in high school when she completed a time trial that broke the standing British Empire Games record for the 100-yard dash. She was selected as a member of the Canadian track and field team for the 1938 British Empire Games, becoming the first Black woman to represent Canada in international athletic competition. Although she did not place in the 100-yard dash, she helped her team win silver and bronze in the 440-yard and 660-yard relay events. The outbreak of the Second World War meant that most international sporting events over the next decade were cancelled, and Howard's window of opportunity as a sprinter ended before she could compete again.

Sahabzada Mohammad Yaqub Ali Khan SPk was a Pakistani politician, diplomat, military figure, linguist, and a retired 3-Star Officer in the Pakistani Army. "He was Pakistan's public face in international affairs for three decades" per The New York Times newspaper obituary.

Frederick Conrad Koch was an American biochemist and endocrinologist. Born in Chicago, Illinois, Koch graduated from the University of Illinois in 1899. He was affiliated with the University of Chicago from 1912 to 1941, serving as chairman of the department of biochemistry from 1936 to 1941. He retired as professor emeritus, and was director of biomedical research at Armour and Company. He was known primarily for his work on male sex hormones and testicular function. He served as the 19th president of the Endocrine Society, which in 1957 established the Fred Conrad Koch Lifetime Achievement Award, the society's highest honor.

Charles Elzer Loudermilk, known professionally as Charlie Louvin, was an American country music singer and songwriter. He is best known as one of the Louvin Brothers, and was a member of the Grand Ole Opry since 1955.

Duncan Gordon Boyes VC was an English recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces. The award was bestowed upon him for his actions during the Shimonoseki Expedition, Japan in 1864. He was later discharged from naval service as a result of ill-discipline and moved to New Zealand to work on his family's sheep station. Suffering from depression and alcoholism, he committed suicide at the age of 22 in Dunedin.

Thomas Uren was an Australian politician and Deputy Leader of the Australian Labor Party from 1975 to 1977. Uren served as the Member for Reid in the Australian House of Representatives from 1958 to 1990, being appointed Minister for Urban and Regional Development (1972–75), Minister for Territories and Local Government (1983–84) and Minister for Local Government and Administrative Services (1984–87). He helped establish the heritage and conservation movement in Australia and, in particular, worked to preserve the heritage of inner Sydney.

Lloyd Lindbergh "Lindy" Delapenha was a Jamaican footballer and sports journalist. He was the first Jamaican to play professional football in England. Between 1948 and 1960, he played league football for Portsmouth, Middlesbrough and Mansfield Town. Despite limited appearances for Portsmouth in the 1948/1949 and 1949/1950 seasons, he nevertheless played a part in the club's two title-winning sides and with it became the first black player to win a First Division championship medal.

Adriaan van Maanen was a Dutch-American astronomer. Born in Friesland, he studied astronomy at the University of Utrecht, earning his Ph.D. in 1911, and worked briefly at the University of Groningen. In 1911, he came to the United States to work as a volunteer in an unpaid capacity at Yerkes Observatory. Within a year he got a position at the Mount Wilson Observatory, where he remained active until his death in 1946.

Henry Jay Lewis was an American double-bassist and orchestral conductor whose career extended over four decades. A child prodigy, he joined the Los Angeles Philharmonic at age 16, becoming the first African-American instrumentalist in a major symphony orchestra and, later, the first African-American symphony orchestra conductor in the United States. As musical director of the Seventh Army Symphony Orchestra, he supported America's cultural diplomacy initiatives in Europe after World War II.

Padma Kant Shukla was a distinguished Professor and first International Chair of the Physics and Astronomy Department of Ruhr-University Bochum in Germany. He was also the director of the International Centre for Advanced Studies in Physical Sciences at Ruhr-University Bochum. He held a PhD in physics from Banaras Hindu University in Varanasi, India and a second doctorate in Theoretical Plasma Physics from Umeå University in Sweden.

Harry Hamilton Laughlin was an American educator and eugenicist. He served as the superintendent of the Eugenics Record Office from its inception in 1910 to its closure in 1939, and was among the most active individuals influencing American eugenics policy, especially compulsory sterilization legislation.

George Kenneth Hotson Younger, 4th Viscount Younger of Leckie, Baron Younger of Prestwick, was a British Conservative Party politician and banker. He was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Ayr from 1964 to 1992. During the premiership of Margaret Thatcher, Younger served as Secretary of State for Scotland from 1979 to 1986, and as Secretary of State for Defence from 1986 to 1989.

José Emilio Pacheco Berny was a Mexican poet, essayist, novelist and short story writer. He is regarded as one of the major Mexican poets of the second half of the 20th century. The Berlin International Literature Festival has praised him as "one of the most significant contemporary Latin American poets". In 2009 he was awarded the Cervantes Prize for his literary oeuvre.

Ruben Erik Nirvi was a Finnish linguist. He was the deputy of Finnish philology at the University of Helsinki from 1955 to 1957 and the personal additional professor of the Finnish language from 1957 to 1972. He was a special expert on Finnish, especially the Ingrian dialects. He defended his thesis Sanankieltoja ja niihin liittyviä kielenilmiöitä itämerensuomalaisissa kielissä: Riista- ja kotieläintalous.

Merrill Church Meigs was the publisher of the Chicago Herald and Examiner in the 1920s. Inspired to become a pilot by Charles Lindbergh's solo flight across the Atlantic Ocean, he became a booster of Chicago as a world center of aviation. He gave flying lessons to President Harry S. Truman.

Louis-Athanase David was a Canadian lawyer, politician, and businessman. He was a cabinet minister in the Provincial Parliament of Quebec, representing the riding of Terrebonne and serving as Provincial Secretary. In this position, he created Quebec's first cultural policy. He was later a member of the Canadian Senate.

Viktor Schreckengost was an American industrial designer as well as a teacher, sculptor, and artist. His wide-ranging work included noted pottery designs, industrial design, bicycle design and seminal research on radar feedback. Schreckengost's peers included designers Raymond Loewy, Norman Bel Geddes, Eva Zeisel, and Russel Wright.

Henry Briggs was an English mathematician notable for changing the original logarithms invented by John Napier into common logarithms, which are sometimes known as Briggsian logarithms in his honor. The specific algorithm for long division in modern use was introduced by Briggs c. 1600 AD.

Cleven "Goodie" Goudeau was an art director and cartoonist, credited as originator of the first line of African American contemporary greeting cards. He held the record at one time for the longest card, and produced the first nationally published card featuring a Black Santa Claus.

Valeriy Nikolayevich Brumel was a Soviet-Russian high jumper. The 1964 Olympic champion and multiple world record holder, he is regarded as one of the greatest athletes ever to compete in the high jump. His international career was ended by a motorcycle crash in 1965.

Suzanne Liselotte Marguerite Massie was an American scholar of Russian history who played an important role in the relations between Ronald Reagan and the Soviet Union in the final years of the Cold War. On December 30, 2021, she was awarded Russian citizenship.

Gabriel Christie was a British Army General from Scotland, who settled in Montreal after the Seven Years' War. Following the British Conquest of New France, he invested in land and became one of the largest landowners in the British Province of Quebec.

James Edwin Campbell was an American educator, school administrator, newspaper editor, poet, and essayist. Campbell was the first principal of the West Virginia Colored Institute from 1892 until 1894, and is considered by the university as its first president.

Sir Lawrence Hyde II was an English lawyer who was Attorney-general to the consort of King James I, Anne of Denmark. He sat in the House of Commons at various times between the years 1584 and 1611.

Jørgen Mohr was a Danish mathematician, known for being the first to prove the Mohr–Mascheroni theorem, which states that any geometric construction which can be done with compass and straightedge can also be done with compasses alone.

David Kato Kisule was a Ugandan teacher and LGBT rights activist, considered a father of Uganda's gay rights movement and described as "Uganda's first openly gay man". He served as advocacy officer for Sexual Minorities Uganda (SMUG).

Roberto Casimiro Mieres Dasso was a racing driver from Mar del Plata, Argentina. He participated in 17 Formula One World Championship Grands Prix, debuting on 7 June 1953. He scored a total of 13 championship points.

Wilhelmine Schröder-Devrient, was a German operatic soprano. As a singer, she combined a rare quality of tone with dramatic intensity of expression, which was as remarkable on the concert platform as in opera.

Dom Frei Manuel do Cenáculo, T.O.R. was a Portuguese Franciscan prelate, who served as the first Bishop of Beja (1770–1802) and as Archbishop of Évora (1802–1814).

James Whitaker Wright was a company promoter and swindler, who committed suicide at the Royal Courts of Justice in London immediately following his conviction for fraud.

Nicholas Wotton was an English diplomat, cleric and courtier. He served as Dean of York and Royal Envoy to Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor.

Ludwig Andreas von Khevenhüller, Graf von Frankenburg-Aichleberg was a prominent Austrian field marshal.

Albert Schultens was a Dutch philologist.

Johann Christoph Friedrich Bach was a German composer and harpsichordist, the fifth son of Johann Sebastian Bach, sometimes referred to as the "Bückeburg Bach".

Thomas Lovell Beddoes was an English poet, dramatist and physician.

Edward Davy was an English physician, scientist, and inventor who played a prominent role in the development of telegraphy, and invented an electric relay.

William Mills Wrigley Jr. was an American chewing gum industrialist. He founded the Wm. Wrigley Jr. Company in 1891.

Dietrich Richard Alfred von Hildebrand was a German Catholic philosopher and religious writer.

Harold Brodkey, born Aaron Roy Weintraub, was an American short story writer and novelist.

Hugh Redwald Trevor-Roper, Baron Dacre of Glanton was an English historian. He was Regius Professor of Modern History at the University of Oxford.

Frederick Theodore Haas Jr. was an American professional golfer.

Christine M. Jones was an American politician who represented District 26 in the Maryland House of Delegates.

Shōtarō Yasuoka was a Japanese writer.

Stefan Kudelski was a Polish audio engineer known for creating the Nagra series of professional audio recorders.

Paula Gruden or Pavla Gruden was an Australian poet, translator, and editor of Slovene descent.