Notable Deaths on March 23

Lee Kuan Yew, also known as LKY, was a Singaporean politician and barrister who served as the first prime minister of Singapore from 1959 to 1990. A member of the People's Action Party (PAP), his authoritarian governance oversaw the transformation of post-independence Singapore into a highly developed country and one of the four Asian Tigers. He is regarded as the founding father of modern Singapore.

Peter Lorre was a Hungarian and American actor, active first in Europe and later in the United States. Known for his timidly devious characters, appearance, and accented voice, he was frequently typecast as a sinister foreigner. He was caricatured throughout his life and his cultural legacy remains in the media today.

Bhagat Singh was an Indian anti-colonial revolutionary who participated in the mistaken murder of a junior British police officer in December 1928 in what was intended to be retaliation for the death of an Indian nationalist. He later took part in a largely symbolic bombing of the Central Legislative Assembly in Delhi and a hunger strike in jail, which—on the back of sympathetic coverage in Indian-owned newspapers—turned him into a household name in the Punjab region, and, after his execution at age 23, a martyr and folk hero in Northern India. Borrowing ideas from Bolshevism and anarchism, the charismatic Bhagat Singh electrified a growing militancy in India in the 1930s and prompted urgent introspection within the Indian National Congress's nonviolent, and eventually successful, campaign for India's independence.

Desmond Thomas Doss was a United States Army corporal who served as a combat medic with an infantry company in World War II. Due to his religious beliefs, he refused to carry a weapon.

Friedrich August von Hayek was an Austrian economist and philosopher. He is known for his contributions to political economy, political philosophy and intellectual history. Hayek shared the 1974 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences with Gunnar Myrdal for work on money and economic fluctuations, and the interdependence of economic, social and institutional phenomena. His account of how prices communicate information is widely regarded as an important contribution to economics that led to his receiving the prize. He was a notable member of the Austrian school of economics.

George Segal Jr. was an American actor and musician. He became popular in the 1960s and 1970s for playing both dramatic and comedic roles. After first rising to prominence with roles in acclaimed films such as Ship of Fools (1965) and King Rat (1965), he co-starred in the drama Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966).

Kenneth Joseph Howard Jr. was an American actor. He was known for his roles as Thomas Jefferson in 1776 (1972) and as high school basketball coach and former Chicago Bulls player Ken Reeves in the television show The White Shadow (1978–1981). Howard won the Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Play in 1970 for his performance in Child's Play, and won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie for his work in Grey Gardens (2009).

Madeleine Jana Korbel Albright was an American diplomat and political scientist who served as the 64th United States secretary of state under President Bill Clinton from 1997 to 2001. A member of the Democratic Party, she was the first woman to hold the position.

Boris Abramovich Berezovsky, also known as Platon Elenin, was a Russian business oligarch, government official, engineer and mathematician. He was a member of the Russian Academy of Sciences and held the federal state civilian service rank of 1st class Active State Councillor of the Russian Federation.

Valerie Ritchie Perrine was an American actress. She was best known for her portrayal of Honey Bruce in the film Lenny (1974). For the role, she won the BAFTA Award for Most Promising Newcomer to Leading Film Roles and the Best Actress Award at the Cannes Film Festival, and she received an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress.

Marie-Henri Beyle, better known by his pen name Stendhal, was a French writer. Best known for the novels Le Rouge et le Noir and La Chartreuse de Parme, he is highly regarded for the acute analysis of his characters' psychology and considered one of the early and foremost practitioners of realism. Stendhal proclaimed himself an egotist; the neologism for the same characteristic in his characters was "Beylism".

Josef Weider was a Canadian publisher and entrepreneur who co-founded the International Federation of BodyBuilders (IFBB) alongside his brother Ben Weider. He was also the creator of Mr. Olympia, Ms. Olympia, and the Masters Olympia bodybuilding contests. He was the publisher of various bodybuilding and fitness-related magazines, most notably Muscle & Fitness, Flex, Men's Fitness, and Shape, and the manufacturer of a line of fitness equipment and fitness supplements. In 2014, he was inducted into the International Sports Hall of Fame.

Cristóbal Balenciaga Eizaguirre was a Spanish fashion designer, and the founder of the Balenciaga clothing brand. He had a reputation as a couturier of uncompromising standards and was referred to as "the master of us all" by Christian Dior and as "the only couturier in the truest sense of the word" by Coco Chanel, who continued, "The others are simply fashion designers". On the day of his death, in 1972, Women's Wear Daily ran the headline "The King is Dead".

Giulia Anna "Giulietta" Masina was an Italian film actress best known for her performances as Gelsomina in La Strada (1954) and Cabiria in Nights of Cabiria (1957), for which she won the Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actress at the 1957 Cannes Film Festival.

Christopher James Hardman, known professionally as Lil' Chris, was an English singer-songwriter, actor, and television personality. He came to prominence in 2006 after appearing on the Channel 4 series Rock School, which saw Kiss vocalist and bassist Gene Simmons make a rock band at Lil' Chris' school. Later that year he released the single "Checkin' It Out", which charted at number 3, and a self-titled album. In 2008 he hosted his own series, Everybody Loves Lil' Chris. Hardman died by suicide in March 2015 at his home in Lowestoft after struggling with his mental health.

David Murray Brockie was a Canadian-born American singer and musician. He was the lead vocalist of the heavy metal band Gwar, in which he performed as Oderus Urungus, and he was a bassist and lead singer in the bands Death Piggy, X-Cops, and the Dave Brockie Experience (DBX). He additionally played the Oderus Urungus character in the comedy horror TV sitcom Holliston. Brockie died of a heroin overdose in 2014.

James Wesley Voight, known professionally as Chip Taylor, was an American songwriter and singer. He is noted for writing "Angel of the Morning" and "Wild Thing".

Peter, called Peter the Cruel or the Just, was King of Castile and León from 1350 to 1369. Peter was the last ruler of the main branch of the House of Ivrea. He was excommunicated by Pope Urban V for his persecutions and cruelties committed against the clergy.

Adolfo Suárez González, 1st Duke of Suárez, was a Spanish lawyer and politician who was Prime Minister of Spain from 1976 to 1981. He was the country's first democratically elected prime minister since Juan Negrín of the Second Spanish Republic and a key figure in the country's transition to democracy after the dictatorship of Francisco Franco.

Shivaram Hari Rajguru was an Indian anti-colonial revolutionary and independence activist. He is best known for his involvement in the 1928 assassination of a British police officer named John P. Saunders. He was an active member of the Hindustan Socialist Republican Association (HSRA) and on 23 March 1931, he was hanged by the British government along with his associates Bhagat Singh and Sukhdev Thapar.

Stanley Michael Bailey Hailwood was a British racing driver and motorcycle road racer, who competed in Grand Prix motorcycle racing from 1958 to 1967, and Formula One between 1963 and 1974. Nicknamed "the Bike", Hailwood was a nine-time Grand Prix motorcycle World Champion, with four titles in the premier 500cc class with MV Agusta, and won 76 motorcycle Grands Prix across 10 seasons.

Gaspard-Félix Tournachon, known by the pseudonym Nadar or Félix Nadar, was a French photographer, caricaturist, journalist, novelist and balloonist who was a proponent of heavier-than-air flight. In 1858, he became the first person to take aerial photographs. Photographic portraits by Nadar are held by many of the great national collections of photographs. His son, Paul Nadar, continued the studio after his death.

Sukhdev Thapar was an Indian freedom fighter who fought against the British government for Indian independence. He was a member of the Hindustan Socialist Republican Association (HSRA), and was executed along with Shivaram Rajguru and Bhagat Singh on 23 March 1931.

Gilbert Newton Lewis was an American physical chemist and a dean of the college of chemistry at University of California, Berkeley. Lewis was best known for his discovery of the covalent bond and his concept of electron pairs; his Lewis dot structures and other contributions to valence bond theory have shaped modern theories of chemical bonding. Lewis successfully contributed to chemical thermodynamics, photochemistry, and isotope separation, and is also known for his concept of acids and bases. Lewis also researched on relativity and quantum physics, and in 1926 he coined the term "photon" for the smallest unit of radiant energy.

Richard Beeching, Baron Beeching, commonly known as Dr Beeching, was a physicist and engineer who was chairman of British Railways. He became a household name in Britain in the early 1960s for his report The Reshaping of British Railways, commonly referred to as The Beeching Report, which led to far-reaching changes in the railway network, popularly known as the Beeching Axe.

Ludmya "Mia" Love was an American political commentator and politician who served as the U.S. representative for Utah's 4th congressional district from 2015 to 2019. A member of the Republican Party, she was the first Haitian American elected to Congress, the first Black person elected to Congress from Utah, and the first Republican Black woman elected to Congress.

Nicolas Fouquet, marquis de Belle-Île, vicomte de Melun et Vaux was the Superintendent of Finances in France from 1653 until 1661 under King Louis XIV. He had a glittering career, and acquired enormous wealth. He fell out of favor, accused of peculation and lèse-majesté. The king had him imprisoned from 1661 until his death in 1680.

Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed, was a Somali politician and former military official who served as the first president of Puntland from 1998 to 2004. He also played a key role in establishing the Transitional Federal Government (TFG), which he led as President of Somalia from 2004 to 2008. Additionally, he was one of the founders of the rebel Somali Salvation Democratic Front (SSDF).

Henry of Grosmont, Duke of Lancaster was an English statesman, diplomat, soldier, and Christian writer. The owner of Bolingbroke Castle in Lincolnshire, Grosmont was a member of the House of Plantagenet, which was ruling over England at that time. He was the wealthiest and most powerful peer of the realm.

Luis Donaldo Colosio Murrieta was a Mexican politician, economist, and Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) presidential candidate, who was assassinated at a campaign rally in Tijuana during the presidential campaign of 1994.

Raoul Dufy was a French painter associated with the Fauvist movement. He gained recognition for his vibrant and decorative style, which became popular in various forms, such as textile designs, and public building decorations. Dufy is most remembered for his artwork depicting outdoor social gatherings. In addition to painting, he was skilled in various other fields, including drawing, printmaking, book illustration, scenic design, furniture design, and planning public spaces.

Said Nursi, known also as Said-i Kurdî, was a Kurdish scholar of Islam from Turkey who wrote the Risale-i Nur Collection, a body of Qur'anic commentary exceeding six thousand pages. His focus was on a revival of personal Islamic faith "through study, self-reform and service of others".

Emperor Zhenzong of Song, personal name Zhao Heng, was the third emperor of the Song dynasty of China. He reigned from 997 to his death in 1022. His personal name was originally Zhao Dechang, but was changed to Zhao Yuanxiu in 983, Zhao Yuankan in 986, and finally Zhao Heng in 995. He was the third son of his predecessor, Emperor Taizong, and was succeeded by his sixth son, Emperor Renzong at the end of his reign. From 1020 he was seriously ill, but retained power despite this. Because of his illness, day-to-day rule of China was often placed in the hands of his third wife, Empress Liu.

Moshe Feinstein was a Russian-born American Orthodox Jewish rabbi, scholar, and posek. He has been called the most famous Orthodox Jewish legal authority of the 20th century and his rulings are often referenced in contemporary rabbinic literature. Feinstein served as president of the Union of Orthodox Rabbis, chairman of the Council of the Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah of the Agudath Israel of America, and head of Mesivtha Tifereth Jerusalem in New York.

Peter Oakley was an English pensioner and Internet personality, who posted YouTube videos under the Internet pseudonym geriatric1927. With his YouTube debut in August 2006 with Telling it all, a series of five-to-ten-minute autobiographical videos, Oakley gained popularity with a wide section of the YouTube community. Amongst the autobiographical details revealed in his videos are that he served as a radar mechanic during World War II, that he had a lifelong love of motorcycles, and that he lived alone as a widower and pensioner.

Pope Julius III, born Giovanni Maria Ciocchi del Monte, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 22 February 1550 to his death, in March 1555.

Justus Lipsius was a Brabantian Catholic philologist, philosopher, and humanist. Lipsius wrote a series of works designed to revive ancient Stoicism in a form that would be compatible with Christianity. The most famous of these is De Constantia. His form of Stoicism influenced a number of contemporary thinkers, creating the intellectual movement of Neostoicism. He taught at the universities in Jena, Leiden, and Leuven.

Jim Duffy was an American animator whose credits included more than twenty years at Klasky Csupo creating productions for Nickelodeon, as well as earlier stints as an animator for Hanna-Barbera, TVC Animation in London, Murakami-Wolf-Swenson, and others. Duffy received two Primetime Emmy Awards for the 2000s animated show As Told by Ginger, as well as several other nominations for his work on Rugrats. Duffy also won three Daytime Emmy Awards during his tenure at Klasky Csupo, and received additional nominations for his work on Aaahh!!! Real Monsters and Captain Planet and the Planeteers. Duffy was also a director, writer, designer and storyboard artist for live-action television commercials, PSAs, and corporate productions, including a series of safety videos for the National Coal Board. He divided his professional time between Los Angeles and London. His shortform animated films were screened at film festivals worldwide.

Agafya "Halyna" Andriivna Kuzmenko was a Ukrainian teacher and anarchist revolutionary. After moving to southern Ukraine, she became a prominent figure within the ranks of the Makhnovshchina, a mass movement to establish a libertarian communist society. Kuzmenko spearheaded the movement's educational activities, promoted Ukrainization and acted as an outspoken advocate of women's rights. Along with her husband, the anarchist military leader Nestor Makhno, in 1921 she fled into exile from the political repression in Ukraine. While imprisoned for subversive activities in Poland, she gave birth to her daughter Elena Mikhnenko, whom she brought with her to Paris. Following the death of her husband, the outbreak of World War II saw her deportation for forced labour, first by the Nazis and then by the Soviets. After her release, she spent her final days with her daughter in Kazakh SSR.

Eileen Farrell was an American soprano who had a nearly 60-year-long career performing both classical and popular music in concerts, theatres, on radio and television, and on disc. NPR noted, "She possessed one of the largest and most radiant operatic voices of the 20th century." While she was active as an opera singer, her concert engagements far outnumbered her theatrical appearances. Her career was mainly based in the United States, although she did perform internationally. The Daily Telegraph stated that she "was one of the finest American sopranos of the 20th century; she had a voice of magnificent proportions which she used with both acumen and artistry in a wide variety of roles", and described her as having a voice "like some unparalleled phenomenon of nature. She is to singers what Niagara is to waterfalls."

Artur da Silva Bernardes was a Brazilian lawyer and politician who served as the 12th president of Brazil from 1922 to 1926. Bernades' presidency was marked by the crisis of the First Brazilian Republic and the almost uninterrupted duration of a state of emergency. During his long political career, from 1905 until his death, he was the main leader of the Republican Party of Minas Gerais (PRM) from 1918–1922 until the party's closure in 1937, and founder and leader of the Republican Party (PR).

Mae Murray was an American actress, dancer, film producer, and screenwriter. Murray rose to fame during the silent film era and was known as "The Girl with the Bee-Stung Lips" and "The Gardenia of the Screen".

Luis María del Corazón de Jesús Dionisio Argaña Ferraro was a Paraguayan politician and jurist. A prominent and influential member of the Colorado Party, he was a Supreme Court judge, unsuccessfully ran for the Colorado Party's nomination for president in the 1993 election and eventually was elected Vice-President in the 1998 election, but was assassinated seven months after assuming office in March 1999 at a time when it appeared likely that he would inherit the presidency from Raúl Cubas, who was on the verge of being impeached. The incident and its aftermath is known in Paraguay as Marzo paraguayo. An airport in Paraguay, Dr. Luis María Argaña International Airport, is named for him.

Rafqa Pietra Chobok, also known as Saint Rafka and Saint Rebecca, was a Lebanese Maronite nun who was canonized by Pope John Paul II on June 10, 2001.

Paul Joseph Cohen was an American mathematician, best known for his proofs that the continuum hypothesis and the axiom of choice are independent from Zermelo–Fraenkel set theory, for which he was awarded a Fields Medal.

Arthur Melvin "Art" Okun was an American economist. Okun is known in particular for Okun's law, an observed relationship that states that for every 1% increase in the unemployment rate, a country's GDP will be roughly an additional 2.5% lower than its potential GDP. He is also known as the creator of the misery index, the analogy of the deadweight loss of taxation with a leaky bucket, and for the conception of "the invisible handshake".

Eric John Medlen was an American NHRA Fuel Funny Car driver. Medlen drove for John Force Racing in 2004, 2005, and 2006, campaigning in the Castrol Syntec Ford Mustang Fuel Funny Car, and in 2007, campaigning in the Auto Club/Pleasant Holiday Ford Mustang Fuel Funny Car. He had a total of six career wins. His first win came during his Rookie season in 2004 at Brainerd International Raceway.

Onofre Dizon Corpuz ONS was a Filipino academic, economist, and historian. He served as the Secretary of Education of the Philippines from 1968 to 1971 and was the 13th president of the University of the Philippines System from 1975 to 1979. Dr. Corpuz was later named Minister of Education under the parliamentary system wherein he was also member of the now defunct Batasang Pambansa from 1979 to 1983.

Paul César Helleu was a French oil painter, pastel artist, drypoint etcher, and designer, best known for his numerous portraits of beautiful society women of the Belle Époque. He also conceived the ceiling mural of night sky constellations for Grand Central Terminal in New York City. He was also the father of Jean Helleu and the grandfather of Jacques Helleu, both artistic directors for Parfums Chanel.

Sir Rupert James "Dick" Hamer, was an Australian politician who served as the 39th premier of Victoria from 1972 to 1981, and prior to that, the 18th deputy premier of Victoria from 1971 to 1972. He held office as the leader of the Victorian division of the Liberal Party of Australia (LPA) and a member of the Victorian Legislative Assembly (MLA) for the district of Kew.

Franklin Pierce Adams was an American columnist known as Franklin P. Adams and by his initials F.P.A. Famed for his wit, he is best known for his newspaper column, "The Conning Tower", and his appearances as a regular panelist on radio's Information Please. A prolific writer of light verse, he was a member of the Algonquin Round Table of the 1920s and '30s.

Odo I, also known as Eudes, surnamed Borel and called the Red, was duke of Burgundy between 1079 and 1102. Odo was the second son of Henry of Burgundy and grandson of Robert I. He became the duke following the abdication of his older brother, Hugh I, who retired to become a Benedictine monk at Cluny.

Charles Albert George "Jack" Russell was one of the leading batsmen in county cricket during the period after World War I. Right-handed with both bat and with ball as a medium-slow bowler, Russell's main strength was his leg-side play with the bat. He was a sound batsmen whose watchfulness made him effective on very difficult pitches.

Miroslava Breach Velducea was a Mexican investigative journalist for La Jornada and Norte de Juárez in Chihuahua City, Mexico known for her reporting on human rights violations, drug trafficking, and government corruption. She was murdered on 23 March 2017 as she was leaving her home. She was one of six journalists killed in Mexico in 2017.

Yolande was Duchess of Lorraine (1473) and Bar (1480). She was the daughter of Isabella, Duchess of Lorraine, and René of Anjou. Though she was nominally in control of major territories, she ceded her power and titles to her husband and her son. In addition, her younger sister was Margaret of Anjou, Queen of England.

Galawdewos, also known as Claudius in European sources, was Emperor of Ethiopia from 3 September 1540 until his death in 1559, and a member of the Solomonic dynasty. His throne name was Atsnaph Sagad I. A male line descendant of medieval Amhara kings, he was a younger son of Dawit II and Seble Wongel.

David Bruce Bleak was a soldier of the United States Army during the Korean War. Bleak rose to the rank of staff sergeant and was awarded the Medal of Honor, the highest military decoration of the United States, for his actions near Minari-gol, South Korea, on 14 June 1952.

Itagaki Nobukata was a retainer of the Takeda family. He was known as one of the "Twenty-Four Generals of Takeda Shingen". His name is also seen with different kanji as 信形. Nobukata served under both Takeda Nobutora and Takeda Shingen and also was tasked with young Shingen.

Charles Carroll was an American statesman from Annapolis, Maryland. In 1760, he built the colonial home Mount Clare in Maryland, and a he was named a delegate to the Second Continental Congress in 1776 and 1777, which unanimously approved the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776.

Manuel Robles Pezuela was a military engineer, military commander, and eventually interim president of Mexico during a civil war, the Reform War, being waged between conservatives and liberals, in which he served as president of the Conservatives, in opposition to President Benito Juárez, head of the Liberals.

Francis Fane, 1st Earl of Westmorland, of Mereworth in Kent and of Apethorpe in Northamptonshire was an English landowner and politician who sat in the House of Commons between 1601 and 1624 and then was raised to the Peerage as Earl of Westmorland.

Raúl Macías Guevara was a Mexican professional boxer, actor and boxing trainer. He took the NBA World Bantamweight Championship on March 9, 1955. Widely known as "Ratón" Macías, or "Mouse" Macías, he won a bronze medal at the 1951 Pan American Games.

Virgil Oliver "Fire" Trucks was an American professional baseball pitcher in Major League Baseball with the Detroit Tigers, St. Louis Browns, Chicago White Sox, Kansas City Athletics and New York Yankees between 1941 and 1958. He batted and threw right-handed.

Beatrice Muriel Hill Tinsley was a British-born New Zealand astronomer and cosmologist, and the first female professor of astronomy at Yale University, whose research made fundamental contributions to the astronomical understanding of how galaxies evolve, grow and die.

The 50s decade ran from January 1, 50, to December 31, 59. It was the sixth decade in the Anno Domini/Common Era, if the nine-year period from 1 AD to 9 AD is considered as a "decade".

Major Parkash Singh VC was a Sikh Indian 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.

Claude Alexandre, Count of Bonneval, was a French army officer who later went into the service of the Ottoman Empire, eventually converting to Islam and becoming known as Humbaracı Ahmet Paşa.

Sir Henry Unton was an Elizabethan English diplomat.

Jean-Baptiste Dubos, also referred to as l'Abbé Du Bos, was a French author. He was also a diplomat and an art critic.

Luís António Verney was a Portuguese philosopher, theologian, and pedagogue. An estrangeirado, Verney is sometimes called the most important figure of the Portuguese Enlightenment.

Paul I was Emperor of Russia from 1796 until his assassination in 1801.

Arthur Macalister, was three times Premier of Queensland, Australia.

Hovhannes Tumanyan was an Armenian poet, writer, translator, and literary and public activist. He is the national poet of Armenia.

Oskar Luts was an Estonian writer and playwright.

Albert Bloch was an American Modernist artist and the only American artist associated with Der Blaue Reiter, a group of early 20th-century European modernists.

Thoralf Albert Skolem was a Norwegian mathematician who worked in mathematical logic, set theory, and number theory.

Lalla Carlsen was a Norwegian singer and actress. She was a very popular singer in Norway.

Haim Ernst Wertheimer was an Israeli biochemist.

Margaret Atwood Judson was an American historian and writer.

David Cooper was a Scottish professional footballer who played as a winger.

Osmond Hudson Borradaile was a Canadian cameraman, cinematographer, and veteran of World War I and World War II.

David Fraser McTaggart was a Canadian badminton player and an environmentalist who played a central part in the foundation of Greenpeace International.

Margaret Ursula Jones was an English archaeologist, best known for directing major excavations at Mucking, Essex.

Robert Laxalt was an American writer from Nevada.

Cindy Walker was an American songwriter, country music singer, and dancer. She wrote many popular and enduring songs recorded by many artists.

Vaino Vahing was an Estonian writer, prosaist, psychiatrist and playwright. Starting from 1973, he was a member of the Estonian Writers' Union.

Ghukas Chubaryan was a prominent Armenian sculptor, People's Artist of Armenia. He authored numerous works that later became symbols of the Armenian capital.

Jean Bartik was an American computer programmer who was one of the original six programmers of the ENIAC computer.

Naji Talib was an Iraqi politician who served as the prime minister of Iraq from 1966 to 1967, replacing Abd ar-Rahman al-Bazzaz.

Jaroslav Šerých was a Czech painter, printmaker and illustrator.

Joseph Henry Garagiola Sr. was an American professional baseball catcher, and later a radio and television personality with a varied career.