Notable Deaths on October 15

Thomas Isidore Noël Sankara was a Burkinabé military officer, politician, Marxist and pan-Africanist revolutionary who served as the first president of Burkina Faso from 1983 until his assassination in 1987. Sankara previously served as the fifth prime minister of Upper Volta from January to May 1983.

Paul Gardner Allen was an American businessman, computer programmer, and investor. He co-founded Microsoft Corporation with his childhood friend Bill Gates in 1975, which was followed by the microcomputer revolution of the 1970s and 1980s. Allen was ranked as one of the richest people in American history by Forbes, with an estimated net worth of $20.3 billion at the time of his death in October 2018.

Carlo Gambino was a Sicilian crime boss who was the leader and namesake of the Gambino crime family of New York City. Following the Apalachin Meeting in 1957, and the imprisonment of Vito Genovese in 1959, Gambino took over the Commission of the American Mafia and played a powerful role in organized crime until his death from a heart attack in 1976. During a criminal career that spanned over fifty years, Gambino served only twenty-two months in prison, for a tax evasion charge in 1937.

Margaretha Geertruida MacLeod, better known by the stage name Mata Hari, was a Dutch exotic dancer and courtesan who was convicted of being a spy for Germany during World War I. She was executed by firing squad in France.

Sai Baba of Shirdi, also known as Shirdi Sai Baba, was an Indian spiritual master considered to be a saint, and revered by both Hindu and Muslim devotees during and after his lifetime.

Norodom Sihanouk was King, Chief of State and Prime Minister of Cambodia. He is known as Samdech Euv or by his nickname The Pink Prince. During his lifetime, Cambodia was under various regimes, from French colonial rule, a Japanese puppet state (1945), an independent kingdom (1953–1970), a military republic (1970–1975), the Khmer Rouge regime (1975–1979), a Vietnamese-backed communist regime (1979–1989), a transitional communist regime (1989–1993) to eventually another kingdom.

Andrzej Tadeusz Bonawentura Kościuszko was a Polish military engineer, statesman, and military leader who became a national hero in Poland, the United States, Lithuania, and Belarus. He fought in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth's struggles against Russia and Prussia, and on the U.S. side in the American Revolutionary War. As Supreme Commander of the Polish National Armed Forces, he led the 1794 Kościuszko Uprising.

General Sir Michael David Jackson was a British Army officer and one of its most high-profile generals since the Second World War. Originally commissioned into the Intelligence Corps in 1963, he transferred to the Parachute Regiment in 1970, with which he served two of his three tours of duty in Northern Ireland. On his first, he was present as an adjutant at the events of the Ballymurphy massacre (1971), where eleven unarmed civilians were shot dead by British troops, and then at Bloody Sunday in 1972, when British soldiers opened fire on unarmed protesters, killing fourteen. On his second, he was a company commander in the aftermath of the Warrenpoint ambush (1979), when the IRA killed 18 soldiers with two roadside bombs, the British Army's heaviest single loss of life during the Troubles. He was assigned to a staff post at the Ministry of Defence (MoD) in 1982 before assuming command of the 1st Battalion, Parachute Regiment, in 1984. Jackson was posted to Northern Ireland for the third time, as a brigade commander, in the early 1990s.

Sir David Anthony Andrew Amess was a British politician who served as a Member of Parliament (MP) for 38 years, serving Basildon from 1983 to 1997 and then Southend West until his murder in 2021. A member of the Conservative Party, he was a Catholic with socially conservative political views, and was in favour of Britain leaving the European Union.

Cole Albert Porter was an American composer and songwriter. Many of his songs became standards noted for their witty, urbane lyrics, and many of his scores found success on Broadway and in Hollywood films.

Pierre Jean Marie Laval was a French politician. He served as Prime Minister of France three times: 1931–1932 and 1935–1936 during the Third Republic, and 1942–1944 during Vichy France. After the war, Laval was tried as a Nazi collaborator and executed for treason.

Titus Lucretius Carus was a Roman poet and philosopher. His only known work is the philosophical poem De rerum natura, a didactic work about the tenets and philosophy of Epicureanism, which usually is translated into English as On the Nature of Things—and somewhat less often as On the Nature of the Universe. Very little is known about Lucretius's life; the only certainty is that he was either a friend or client of Gaius Memmius, to whom the poem was addressed and dedicated. De rerum natura was a considerable influence on the Augustan poets, particularly Virgil and Horace. The work was almost lost during the Middle Ages, but was rediscovered in 1417 in a monastery in Germany by Poggio Bracciolini. It played an important role both in the development of atomism and the efforts of various figures of the Enlightenment era to construct a new Christian humanism.

Zhang Xueliang, also known by the epithet "Young Marshal" in contrast to his father "Old Marshal" Zhang Zuolin, was a Chinese general. He is best known for his role in the Xi'an Incident in 1936, in which he arrested Chiang Kai-shek and forced him to form a Second United Front with the Chinese Communist Party against the Japanese.

Andries van Wezel, Latinized as Andreas Vesalius, was an anatomist and physician who wrote De Humani Corporis Fabrica Libri Septem, which is considered one of the most influential books on human anatomy and a major advance over the long-dominant work of Galen. Vesalius is often referred to as the founder of modern human anatomy. He was born in Brussels, which was then part of the Habsburg Netherlands. He was a professor at the University of Padua (1537–1542) and later became Imperial physician at the court of Emperor Charles V.

Delphine Claire Beltiane Seyrig was a Lebanese-born French actress and film director. She came to prominence in Alain Resnais's 1961 film Last Year at Marienbad, and later acted in films by Chantal Akerman, Luis Buñuel, Jacques Demy, Marguerite Duras, Ulrike Ottinger, François Truffaut, Joseph Losey, and Fred Zinneman. She directed three films, including the documentary Sois belle et tais-toi (1981).

Raziyyat-Ud-Dunya Wa Ud-Din, popularly known as Razia Sultan, was the Sultan of the Delhi Sultanate from 1236 until her deposition in 1240. She was the first female Muslim ruler of the Indian Subcontinent, and the only female Muslim ruler of Delhi.

William Joseph Patrick O'Brien was an American film actor with more than 100 screen credits. Of Irish descent, he often played Irish and Irish-American characters and was referred to as "Hollywood's Irishman in Residence" in the press. One of the best-known screen actors of the 1930s and 1940s, he played priests, cops, military figures, pilots, and reporters. He is especially well-remembered for his roles in Knute Rockne, All American (1940), Angels with Dirty Faces (1938), and Some Like It Hot (1959). He was frequently paired onscreen with Hollywood star and close friend James Cagney. O'Brien also appeared on stage and television.

Edie Adams was an American comedian, actress, singer and businesswoman who was prominent in the second half of the 1900s. She earned a Tony Award and was nominated for an Emmy Award.

James Brendan Bolger was a New Zealand politician of the National Party who was the 35th prime minister of New Zealand, serving from 1990 to 1997.

Raymond Nicolas Landry Poincaré was a French statesman who served as President of France from 1913 to 1920, and three times as Prime Minister of France. He was a conservative leader, primarily committed to political and social stability.

ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn al-Ḥakam ibn Hishām ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-Marwānī al-Umawī al-Qurashī, or simply ʿAbd al-Raḥmān III, was the eighth and final Emir of Córdoba from 912 to 929. In 929, he elevated the emirate to the Caliphate of Córdoba, serving as its first caliph until his death. Abd al-Rahman won the laqab (sobriquet) al-Nāṣir li-Dīn Allāh in his early 20s when he supported the Maghrawa Berbers in North Africa against Fatimid expansion and later claimed the title of Caliph for himself. His half-century reign was known for its religious tolerance.

Abū Bakr al-Rāzī, also known as Rhazes, was a Persian Muslim physician, philosopher, alchemist, and pre-eminent medical writer of the Islamic Golden Age, widely regarded as one of the most important figures in the history of medicine. In addition to medicine and philosophy, he wrote on logic, astronomy, and grammar.

Hedwig of Silesia, a member of the Bavarian comital House of Andechs, was Duchess of Silesia from 1201 and of Greater Poland from 1231 as well as High Duchess consort of Poland from 1232 until 1238. She was canonized by the Catholic Church in 1267 by Pope Clement IV.

Karl Philipp, Fürst zu Schwarzenberg was an Austrian Generalissimo and former Field Marshal. He first entered military service in 1788 and fought against the Turks. During the French Revolutionary War, he fought on the allied side against France and in that period rose through the ranks of the Imperial Army. During the Napoleonic Wars, he fought in the Battle of Wagram (1809), which the Austrians lost decisively against Napoleon. He had to fight for Napoleon in the battles of Gorodechno and Wolkowisk (1812) against the Russians and won. During the War of the Sixth Coalition, he was in command of the allied army that decisively defeated Napoleon in the Battle of Leipzig (1813). He participated in the Battle of Paris (1814), which forced Napoleon to abdicate.

Elizabeth (Betty) Mary Driver was a British actress and singer, best known for her role as Betty Williams in the long-running ITV soap opera Coronation Street, a role she played for 42 years from 1969 to 2011, appearing in 2,732 episodes. She had previously appeared as Mrs Edgley in Coronation Street spin-off Pardon the Expression (1965–1966) opposite Arthur Lowe. In her early career Driver was a singer, appearing in musical films such as Boots! Boots! (1934), opposite George Formby, and in Penny Paradise (1938), directed by Carol Reed. She was made an MBE in the 2000 New Year Honours.

William Eugene Smith was an American photojournalist. He has been described as "perhaps the single most important American photographer in the development of the editorial photo essay." His major photo essays include World War II photographs, the visual stories of an American country doctor and a nurse midwife, the clinic of Albert Schweitzer in French Equatorial Africa, the city of Pittsburgh, and the pollution which damaged the health of the residents of Minamata in Japan. His 1948 series, Country Doctor, photographed for Life, is now recognized as "the first extended editorial photo story".

Pope Urban VI, born Bartolomeo Prignano, was head of the Catholic Church from 8 April 1378 to his death, in October 1389. He was the last pope elected from outside the College of Cardinals. His pontificate began shortly after the end of the Avignon Papacy. It was marked by immense conflict between rival factions as a part of the Western Schism, with much of Europe, such as France, the Iberian Kingdoms of Castile and Aragon, and Scotland recognizing Clement VII, based in Avignon, as the true pope.

Kaikhosru Shapurji Sorabji was an English composer, music critic, pianist and writer. His music, written over a period of seventy years, ranges from sets of miniatures to works lasting several hours. One of the most prolific 20th-century composers, he is best known for his piano pieces, notably nocturnes such as Gulistān and Villa Tasca, and large-scale, technically intricate compositions, which include seven symphonies for piano solo, four toccatas, Sequentia cyclica and 100 Transcendental Studies. He felt alienated from English society by reason of his homosexuality and mixed ancestry, and had a lifelong tendency to seclusion.

Abu’l-ʿAbbās Aḥmad ibn Jaʿfar ibn Muḥammad ibn Hārūn al-Muʿtamid ʿalā’Llāh, better known by his regnal name al-Muʿtamid ʿalā 'llāh, was the caliph of the Abbasid Caliphate from 870 to 892. His reign marks the end of the "Anarchy at Samarra" and the start of the Abbasid restoration, but he was largely a ruler in name only. Power was held by his brother al-Muwaffaq, who held the loyalty of the military. Al-Mu'tamid's authority was circumscribed further after a failed attempt to flee to the domains controlled by Ahmad ibn Tulun in late 882, and he was placed under house arrest by his brother. In 891, when al-Muwaffaq died, loyalists attempted to restore power to the Caliph, but were quickly overcome by al-Muwaffaq's son al-Mu'tadid, who assumed his father's powers. When al-Mu'tamid died in 892, al-Mu'tadid succeeded him as caliph.

Suryakant Tripathi was an Indian poet, writer, composer, and sketch artist who wrote in Hindi. He is considered one of the four major pillars of the Chhayavad period in Hindi literature. He is renowned with the epithet Mahāprāṇ and his pen name Nirālā.

Petronilla, whose name is also spelled Petronila or Petronella, was Queen of Aragon (1137–1164) from the abdication of her father, Ramiro II, in 1137 until her own abdication in 1164. After her abdication, she acted as regent during the minority of her son Alfonso II of Aragon (1164–1173). She was the last ruling member of the Jiménez dynasty in the Kingdom of Aragon, and by marriage to Ramon Berenguer IV, Count of Barcelona, brought the House of Barcelona to the throne of Aragon, uniting the Kingdom of Aragon with the County of Barcelona to create the Crown of Aragon.

Stanisław Kiecal, better known in the boxing world as Stanley Ketchel, was an American professional boxer who became one of the greatest World Middleweight Champions in history. He was nicknamed "The Michigan Assassin." He was murdered at a ranch in Conway, Missouri, at the age of 24.

Robert Herrick was a 17th-century English lyric poet and Anglican cleric. He is best known for Hesperides, a book of poems. This includes the carpe diem poem "To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time", with the first line "Gather ye rosebuds while ye may".

Herbert Henry Dow was an American chemical industrialist who founded the American multinational conglomerate Dow Chemical. A graduate of the Case School of Applied Science in Cleveland, Ohio, he was a prolific inventor of chemical processes, compounds, and products, notably bromine extraction from brine water, and was a successful businessman.

Johnny Sheffield was an American actor who, between 1939 and 1947, portrayed Boy in the Tarzan film series and, between 1949 and 1955, played Bomba, the Jungle Boy.

Frances Elizabeth Somerville Alexander was a British geologist, academic, and physicist, whose wartime work with radar and radio led to early developments in radio astronomy and whose post-war work on the geology of Singapore is considered a significant foundation to contemporary research. Alexander earned her PhD from Newnham College, Cambridge, and worked in Radio Direction Finding at Singapore Naval Base from 1938 to 1941. In January 1941, unable to return to Singapore from New Zealand, she became Head of Operations Research in New Zealand's Radio Development Lab, Wellington. In 1945, Alexander correctly interpreted that anomalous radar signals picked up on Norfolk Island were caused by the sun. This interpretation became pioneering work in the field of radio astronomy, making her one of the first women scientists to work in that field, albeit briefly.

Letitia Elizabeth Landon was an English poet and novelist, better known by her initials L.E.L. Her first major breakthrough came with The Improvisatrice and she developed the metrical romance towards the Victorian ideal of the Victorian monologue, influencing fellow English writers such as Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Robert Browning, Alfred Tennyson and Christina Rossetti. Her influence can also be found in the United States, where she was very popular. Edgar Allan Poe regarded her genius as self-evident.

Danilo Kiš was a Yugoslav and Serbian novelist, short story writer, essayist and translator. His best known works include Hourglass, A Tomb for Boris Davidovich and The Encyclopedia of the Dead.

Deng Ken was a Chinese politician who served as Vice Governor of Hubei. During a political career spanning more than five decades, he held a number of senior Party and government positions. A member of the Chinese Communist Party from 1937, Deng participated in the Communist movement before the establishment of the People's Republic of China, working in Shanghai, Yan'an and Northeast China during the Second Sino-Japanese War and the Chinese Civil War. He was the younger brother of former Chinese paramount leader Deng Xiaoping and although their careers occasionally intersected, he spent most of his political life serving in regional administrative roles rather than in the central government.

Dolores Jiménez y Muro was a Mexican revolutionary, schoolteacher, poet, and military commander. Born in Aguascalientes, Jiménez and her family moved to San Luis Potosí when she was young. She did not receive a formal education but was privately tutored and became well-known for her civic poetry. After Porfirio Díaz became president of Mexico in 1876, establishing a dictatorial regime, Jiménez grew concerned with the plight of Mexico's poor, becoming a schoolteacher and philanthropist. She also began writing for various political journals. In 1904, she moved to Mexico City, where she joined the liberal Ponciano Arriaga Liberal Club and helped found the trade union federation Mexican Socialism.

Rudolf of Rheinfelden was Duke of Swabia from 1057 to 1079. Initially a follower of his brother-in-law, the Salian emperor Henry IV, his election as German anti-king in 1077 marked the outbreak of the Great Saxon Revolt and the first phase of open conflict in the Investiture Controversy between the Emperor and the Papacy. After a series of armed conflicts, Rudolf succumbed to his injuries after his forces defeated Henry's in the Battle on the Elster.

Virginia Lee Burton, also known by her married name Virginia Demetrios, was an American illustrator and children's book author. She wrote and illustrated seven children's books, including Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel (1939) and The Little House (1943), which won the Caldecott Medal. She also illustrated six books by other authors.

Zdeněk Fibich was a Czech composer of classical music. Among his compositions are chamber works, symphonic poems, three symphonies, at least seven operas, melodramas including the substantial trilogy Hippodamia, liturgical music including a mass – a missa brevis; and a large cycle of piano works called Moods, Impressions, and Reminiscences. The piano cycle served as a diary of sorts of his love for a piano pupil, and one of the pieces formed the basis for the short instrumental work Poème, for which Fibich is best remembered today.

Abraham Fraenkel was a German-born Israeli mathematician. He was an early Zionist and the first Dean of Mathematics at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He is known for his contributions to axiomatic set theory, especially his additions to Ernst Zermelo's axioms, which resulted in the Zermelo–Fraenkel set theory.

Mildred Fay Jefferson was an American physician and anti-abortion activist. The first black woman to graduate from Harvard Medical School, the first woman to graduate in surgery from Harvard Medical School, and the first woman to become a member of the Boston Surgical Society, she is known for her opposition to the legalization of abortion and her work as president of the National Right to Life Committee.

Alfred Moore was an American judge, lawyer, planter and military officer who became an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. Moore Square, a park located in the Moore Square Historic District in Raleigh, North Carolina, was named in his honor, as was Moore County, North Carolina. He was also a founder and trustee of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Walter Stapeldon was an English cleric and administrator who was Bishop of Exeter from 1308 and twice served as Lord High Treasurer of England, in 1320 and from 1322 to 1325. He founded what became Exeter College, Oxford and contributed liberally to the rebuilding of Exeter Cathedral, where his tomb and monument survive. He was killed by a mob during the London uprising.

Donald Albert Wandrei was an American science fiction, fantasy and weird fiction writer, poet and editor. He was the older brother of science fiction writer and artist Howard Wandrei. He had fourteen stories in Weird Tales, another sixteen in Astounding Stories, plus a few in other magazines including Esquire. Wandrei was the co-founder of the prestigious fantasy/horror publishing house Arkham House.

Lambert was the King of Italy from 891, Emperor, co-ruling with his father from 892, and Duke of Spoleto and Camerino from his father's death in 894. He was the son of Guy III of Spoleto and Ageltrude, born in San Rufino. He was the last ruler to issue a capitulary in the Carolingian tradition.

Gilbert de Bourbon, Count of Montpensier, was a member of the House of Bourbon. He was the son of Louis I, Count of Montpensier and Gabrielle de La Tour d'Auvergne, Count of Montpensier and Dauphin d'Auvergne. He was appointed to the Order of Saint Michael by King Charles VIII of France in October 1483.

Joseph McLaughlin, known professionally as Josef Locke, was an Irish tenor. He was successful in the United Kingdom and Ireland in the 1940s and 1950s.

Fazıl Hüsnü Dağlarca was one of the most prolific Turkish poets of the Turkish Republic with more than 60 collections of his poems published as of 2007. He was a laureate of the Struga Poetry Evenings Golden Wreath Award.

Samuel Greig, also known as Samuil Karlovich Greig, was a Scottish-born Russian naval officer who served in the Seven Years' War, Russo-Turkish War and Russo-Swedish War. His son Aleksey Greig also served in the Imperial Russian Navy.

Konrad Emil Bloch was a German-American biochemist. Bloch received the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1964 for discoveries concerning the mechanism and regulation of the cholesterol and fatty acid metabolism.

Erol Günaydın was a Turkish theater and film actor, as well as a renowned showman famous particularly for his portrayal of Nasreddin Hoca and his performances in the traditional Turkish meddah.

Rolf Kristian Eckersberg Stenersen was a Norwegian businessman, non-fiction writer, essayist, novelist, playwright and biographer. He was also a track and field athlete and art collector.

Géraud de Cordemoy was a French philosopher, historian and lawyer. He is mainly known for his works in metaphysics and for his theory of language.

Abd Allah ibn Muhammad ibn Abd al-Rahman was the seventh emir of Córdoba, reigning from 888 to 912 in Al-Andalus.

Saint Dionysius I was the metropolitan of the Russian Orthodox Church from 1384 to 1385.

Marie of France was the sixth child and second daughter of John II of France and Bonne of Bohemia.

Juan de Valdés Leal was a Spanish painter and etcher of the Baroque era.

Sir Nathaniel Dance-Holland, 1st Baronet was a British painter and politician.

Count Sergey Kuzmich Vyazmitinov was a Russian general and statesman.

Ivan Ivanovich Dmitriev was a Russian statesman. He was also a poet associated with the sentimentalist movement in Russian literature.

Gilbert Arthur à Beckett was an English writer.

Lluís Companys i Jover was a Catalan politician from Spain who served as president of Catalonia from 1934 and during the Spanish Civil War.

Edythe Chapman was an American stage and silent film actress.

Fumio Hayasaka was a Japanese composer of classical music and film scores.

Lipót Fejér was a Hungarian mathematician.

Stepan Andriiovych Bandera was a Ukrainian far-right leader of the radical militant faction of the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists, the OUN-B.

Clara Kimball Young was an American film actress who was popular in the early silent film era.

Horton Smith was an American professional golfer, best known as the winner of the first and third Masters Tournaments.

Frederick Montague, 1st Baron Amwell, CBE was a British Labour Party politician.

Apostolos Nikolaidis was a Greek athlete, football manager and businessman. He was a leading board member and president of Panathinaikos A.O.

Mikhail Alekseyevich Lavrentyev was a Soviet mathematician and hydrodynamicist.

Sarah Kofman was a French philosopher.

Matti Ossian Wuori was a Finnish lawyer, politician, and Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for the Green League in 1999–2004.

John Lawrence Narz Jr. was an American radio personality, television host, and singer.

Claude Cheysson was a French Socialist politician who served as Foreign Minister in the government of Pierre Mauroy from 1981 to 1984.

Giovanni Reale was an Italian historian of philosophy.