Notable Deaths on September 23

Q: Who died on September 23?

Notable people who died on September 23 include: Ælfwald I, Al-Mutanabbi, Robert de Sablé, Snorri Sturluson, Wenceslaus I of Bohemia.

Q: What is Robert Bloch known for?

Robert Bloch, American author and screenwriter (born 1917)

1994 — Robert Bloch

American author and screenwriter (born 1917)

September 23 has seen 97 notable figures pass away throughout recorded history — from 788 – 2021. Below are the most significant names who died on this date.

By thisDay.info Editorial Team · September 23 — Wikipedia

Notable Deaths 97 people 788 – 2021

Did you know

He is best known as the writer of the novel Psycho (1959), the basis for the 1960 film Psycho directed by Alfred Hitchcock

Did you know

Lovecraft, who was the first to seriously encourage his talent

Did you know

His writing career lasted 60 years, including more than 30 years in television and film

Did you know

He began his professional writing career immediately after graduation from high school, aged 17

Did you know

Bloch wrote hundreds of short stories and over 30 novels

Ælfwald I

king of Northumbria

Ælfwald I was king of Northumbria from 779 to 788. He is thought to have been a son of Oswulf, and thus a grandson of Eadberht Eating.

788

Al-Mutanabbi

Arab poet (born 915)

Abū al-Ṭayyib Aḥmad ibn al-Ḥusayn al-Mutanabbī al-Kindī, commonly known as al-Mutanabbi, was an Abbasid-era Arab poet at the court of the Hamdanid emir Sayf al-Dawla in Aleppo, for whom he composed 300 folios of poetry.…

965

Robert de Sablé

French knight

Robert IV de Sablé was Lord of Sablé, the eleventh Grand Master of the Knights Templar from 1191 to 1192 and Lord of Cyprus from 1191 to 1192. He was known as the Grand Master of the Knights Templars and the Grand…

1193

Snorri Sturluson

Icelandic historian, poet, and politician (born 1178)

Snorri Sturluson was an Icelandic historian, poet, knight, and politician. He was elected twice as lawspeaker of the Icelandic parliament, the Althing. He is commonly thought to have authored or compiled portions of the…

1241

Wenceslaus I of Bohemia

Wenceslaus I, called One-Eyed, was King of Bohemia from 1230 to 1253.

1253

Beatrice of Provence

countess regnant of Provence (born 1234)

Beatrice of Provence, was the ruling Countess of Provence and Forcalquier from 1245 until her death, as well as Countess of Anjou and Maine and Queen of Sicily by marriage to Charles I of Naples.

1267

Dan I of Wallachia

Dan I was the ruler of Wallachia from 1383 to 1386. He was the son of Radu I of Wallachia and the half-brother of Mircea I of Wallachia.

1386

John I

Duke of Lorraine (born 1346)

John I was the Duke of Lorraine from 1346 to his death. As an infant of six months, he succeeded his father, Rudolph, who was killed in the Battle of Crécy. His mother was Marie of Blois.

1390

Adolph I

Duke of Cleves (born 1373)

Adolph I of Cleves was the second Count of Cleves and the fourth Count of Mark.

1448

Charles

Prince of Viana, King of Navarre (born 1421)

Charles, Prince of Viana, sometimes called Charles IV of Navarre, was the eldest son of King John II of Aragon and Queen Blanche I of Navarre. He pre-deceased his father.

1461

Beatrice of Naples

queen consort of Hungary (born 1457)

Beatrice of Naples, also known as Beatrice of Aragon, was twice Queen of Hungary and of Bohemia by marriage to Matthias Corvinus and Vladislaus II. She was the daughter of Ferdinand I of Naples and Isabella of Clermont.

1508

Catherine of Saxe-Lauenburg (born 1513)

Catherine of Saxe-Lauenburg was Queen of Sweden as the first wife of Gustav I from 1531 until her death in 1535.

1535

John Jewel

English bishop (born 1522)

John Jewel of Devon, England was Bishop of Salisbury from 1559 to 1571.

1571

Azai Hisamasa

Japanese warlord (born 1524)

Azai Hisamasa was a son of Azai Sukemasa and the second head of the Azai clan.

1573

Pontus de Tyard

French priest and poet (born 1521)

Pontus de Tyard was a French poet and priest, a member of "La Pléiade".

1605

Valentin Conrart

French author, founded the Académie française (born 1603)

Valentin Conrart was a French writer, and as a founder of the Académie française, the first occupant of seat 2.

1675

Christian Thomasius

German jurist and philosopher (born 1655)

Christian Thomasius was a German jurist and philosopher. The German Enlightenment "supposedly" began with him.

1728

Herman Boerhaave

Dutch botanist and physician (born 1668)

Herman Boerhaave was a Dutch chemist, botanist, Christian humanist, and physician. He is sometimes regarded as the founder of clinical teaching and of the modern academic hospital along with Venetian physician Santorio…

1738

Robert Dodsley

English poet and playwright (born 1703)

Robert Dodsley was an English bookseller, publisher, poet, playwright, and miscellaneous writer.

1764

Johan Ernst Gunnerus

Norwegian bishop and botanist (born 1718)

Johan Ernst Gunnerus was a Norwegian bishop and botanist. Gunnerus was born at Christiania. He was bishop of the Diocese of Nidaros from 1758 until his death and also a professor of theology at the University of…

1773

John Rogers

American lawyer and politician (born 1723)

John Rogers was a Founding Father of the United States, who served as a lawyer and judge from Upper Marlboro, Maryland. Rogers was a delegate for Maryland to the Continental Congress in 1775—1776, when he voted for the…

1789

Vincenzo Bellini

Italian composer (born 1801)

Vincenzo Salvatore Carmelo Francesco Bellini was an Italian opera composer famed for his long, graceful melodies and evocative musical settings. A central figure of the bel canto era, he was admired not only by the…

1835

John Ainsworth Horrocks

English-Australian explorer (born 1818)

John Ainsworth Horrocks was an English pastoralist and explorer who was one of the first European settlers in the Clare Valley of South Australia where, in 1840, he established the village of Penwortham.

1846

José Gervasio Artigas

Uruguayan general and politician (born 1764)

José Gervasio Artigas Arnal was a soldier and statesman who is regarded as a national hero in Uruguay and the father of Uruguayan nationhood.

1850

Émilie Gamelin

Canadian nun, founded the Sisters of Providence (born 1800)

Émilie Tavernier Gamelin was a Canadian Catholic social worker and religious sister best known as the founder of the Sisters of Providence of Montreal. In 2001, she was beatified by Pope John Paul II.

1851

Prosper Mérimée

French archaeologist and historian (born 1803)

Prosper Mérimée was a French writer in the movement of Romanticism, one of the pioneers of the novella, a short novel or long short story. He was also a noted archaeologist and historian, an important figure in the…

1870

Louis-Joseph Papineau

Canadian lawyer and politician (born 1786)

Louis-Joseph Papineau, born in Montreal, Quebec, was a politician, lawyer, and the landlord of the seigneurie de la Petite-Nation. He led the reformist Patriote movement, organized boycotts against British imports, and…

1871

Jean Chacornac

French astronomer (born 1823)

Jean Chacornac was a French astronomer and discoverer of a comet and several asteroids.

1873

Urbain Le Verrier

French mathematician and astronomer (born 1811)

Urbain Jean Joseph Le Verrier was a French astronomer and mathematician who specialized in celestial mechanics and is best known for predicting the existence and position of Neptune using only mathematics.

1877

Wilkie Collins

English novelist, short story writer, and playwright (born 1824)

William Wilkie Collins was an English novelist and playwright known especially for The Woman in White (1860), a mystery novel and early sensation novel, and for The Moonstone (1868), which established many of the ground…

1889

Emmanuel Benner

French artist (born 1836)

Emmanuel Benner was a French Academic painter and draughtsman. The son of the painter Jean Benner-Fries, he was twin to fellow artist, Jean Benner, and the uncle of the painter Emmanuel Michel Benner, Jean's son. Like…

1896

William Marsh Rice

American businessman, founded Rice University (born 1816)

William Marsh Rice was an American businessman and entrepreneur who made his fortune in Texas. He is best known for leaving his fortune to fund the establishment of Rice University in Houston, Texas.

1900

Donato Álvarez

Argentinian general (born 1825)

Donato Álvarez was an Argentine general. He fought in the battle of Vuelta de Obligado under the command of Lucio Mansilla. He joined Justo José de Urquiza in his conflict against Juan Manuel de Rosas, and fought in the…

1913

Werner Voss

German lieutenant and pilot (born 1897)

Werner Voss was a World War I German flying ace credited with 48 aerial victories. A dyer's son from Krefeld, he was a patriotic young man while still in school. He began his military career in November 1914 as a…

1917

Richard Adolf Zsigmondy

Austrian-German chemist, physicist, and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1865)

Richard Adolf Zsigmondy was an Austrian-born chemist. He was known for his research in colloids, for which he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1925, as well as for co-inventing the slit-ultramicroscope, and…

1929

Sigmund Freud

Austrian neurologist and psychiatrist (born 1856)

Sigmund Freud was an Austrian neurologist and the founder of psychoanalysis, a clinical method for evaluating and treating pathologies arising from conflicts in the psyche through dialogue between patient and…

1939

Francisco León de la Barra

Mexican politician and diplomat, interim president, 1911 (born 1863)

Francisco León de la Barra y Quijano was a Mexican political figure, diplomat, lawyer and politician who served as the 36th President of Mexico from May 25 to November 6, 1911 during the Mexican Revolution, following…

1939

Hale Holden

American businessman (born 1869)

Hale Holden was president of the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad (CB&Q) from 1914 to 1918 and 1920 to 1929, and chairman of the board of directors for Southern Pacific Railroad from 1932 to 1939. He was one of…

1940

Elinor Glyn

English author, screenwriter, and producer (born 1864)

Elinor Glyn was a British novelist and scriptwriter who specialised in romantic fiction, which was considered scandalous for its time, although her works are relatively tame by modern standards. She popularized the…

1943

Jakob Schaffner

Swiss author and critic (born 1875)

Jakob Schaffner was a leading Swiss novelist who became a supporter of Nazism.

1944

Sam Barry

American basketball player and coach (born 1892)

Justin McCarthy "Sam" Barry was an American collegiate coach who achieved significant accomplishments in three major sports - football, baseball, and basketball. He remains one of only three coaches to lead teams to…

1950

Siegfried Bettmann

German engineer (born 1863)

Siegfried Bettmann was a bicycle, motorcycle and car manufacturer and founder of the Triumph Motorcycle Company. In 1914 he established the Annie Bettmann Foundation to help young people start businesses. Triumph became…

1951

Jacob Nicol

Canadian publisher, lawyer, and politician (born 1876)

Jacob Nicol, was a Canadian lawyer, newspaper publisher, and politician. He became Senator under Prime Minister of Canada, William Lyon Mackenzie King.

1958

Stanislaus Zbyszko

Polish wrestler and strongman (born 1879)

Stanisław Jan Cyganiewicz, better known by his ring name Stanislaus Zbyszko, was a Polish strongman, catch wrestler, and professional wrestler. He was a three-time World Heavyweight Champion in the United States during…

1967

Pio of Pietrelcina

Italian priest and saint (born 1887)

Pio of Pietrelcina, widely known as Padre Pio was an Italian friar of the Order of Friars Minor Capuchin, priest, stigmatist and mystic. He is venerated as a saint in the Catholic Church, and his feast day is celebrated…

1968

James Waddell Alexander II

American mathematician and topologist (born 1888)

James Waddell Alexander II was a mathematician of the pre-World War II era. He was part of an influential school of topology at Princeton University, along with Oswald Veblen, Solomon Lefschetz, and others. He was a…

1971

Pablo Neruda

Chilean poet and diplomat, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1904)

Pablo Neruda was a Chilean poet-diplomat and politician who won the 1971 Nobel Prize in Literature. Neruda became known as a poet when he was 13 years old and wrote in a variety of styles, including surrealist poems,…

1973

Cliff Arquette

American actor and comedian (born 1905)

Clifford Charles Arquette was an American actor and comedian. He was best known for performing comedic routines as his alter-ego Charley Weaver on numerous television and radio shows.

1974

Robbie McIntosh

Scottish drummer (born 1950)

Robert Broderick James McIntosh (6 May 1950 – 22 September 1974 was a Scottish drummer from Dundee who was a founder-member of the Average White Band. His father was American-born actor Bonar Colleano, who had a…

1974

Lyman Bostock

American baseball player (born 1950)

Lyman Wesley Bostock Jr. was an American professional baseball player. He played Major League Baseball for four seasons, as an outfielder for the Minnesota Twins (1975–77) and California Angels (1978), with a lifetime…

1978

Catherine Lacey

English actress (born 1904)

Catherine Lacey was an English actress of stage and screen.

1979

Jim Fouché

State President of South Africa (born 1898)

Jacobus Johannes Fouché, also known as J. J. Fouché, was a South African politician who served as the second state president of South Africa from 1968 to 1975.

1980

Chief Dan George

Canadian actor, author, and poet (born 1899)

Chief Dan George was a chief of the Tsleil-Waututh Nation, a Coast Salish band whose Indian reserve is located on Burrard Inlet in the southeast area of the District of North Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. He also…

1981

Bob Fosse

American actor, dancer, choreographer, and director (born 1927)

Robert Louis Fosse was an American choreographer, dancer, actor, filmmaker, and stage director. He is known for his work on stage and screen, and was arguably the most influential figure in the field of jazz dance in…

1987

Tibor Sekelj

Hungarian-Serbian explorer and author (born 1912)

Tibor Sekelj, also known as Székely Tibor according to Hungarian orthography, was a Hungarian born polyglot, explorer, author, and 'citizen of the world.' In 1986 he was elected a member of the Academy of Esperanto and…

1988

Ivar Ivask

Estonian poet and scholar (born 1927)

Ivar Vidrik Ivask was an Estonian poet and literary scholar.

1992

Glendon Swarthout

American author and academic (born 1918)

Glendon Fred Swarthout was an American writer and novelist.

1992

James Van Fleet

American general (born 1892)

General James Alward Van Fleet was a United States Army officer who served during World War I, World War II and the Korean War. Van Fleet was a native of New Jersey, who was raised in Florida and graduated from the…

1992

Jerry Barber

American golfer (born 1916)

Carl Jerome Barber was an American professional golfer who played on the PGA Tour. He had seven wins on tour, including a major title, the PGA Championship in 1961.

1994

Madeleine Renaud

French actress (born 1900)

Lucie Madeleine Renaud was a French actress best remembered for her work in the theatre. She did though appear in several films directed by Jean Grémillon including Remorques and Lumière d'été.

1994

Natalie Savage Carlson

American author (born 1906)

Natalie Savage Carlson was an American writer of children's books. For her lifetime contribution as a children's writer, she was United States nominee for the biennial, international Hans Christian Andersen Award in…

1997

Ray Bowden

English footballer (born 1909)

Edwin Raymond Bowden was an English footballer who played as an inside forward. He scored 130 goals from 316 appearances in the Football League, playing for Plymouth Argyle, Arsenal and Newcastle United. He was capped…

1998

Mary Frann

American actress (born 1943)

Mary Frann was an American stage, film, and television actress.

1998

Ivan Goff

Australian-American screenwriter and producer (born 1910)

Ivan Goff was an Australian screenwriter, best known for his collaborations with Ben Roberts including White Heat (1949), Man of a Thousand Faces (1957), Legend of the Lone Ranger (1981), and the pilot for Charlie's…

1999

Aurelio Rodríguez

Mexican baseball player and manager (born 1947)

Aurelio Rodríguez Ituarte, Jr., sometimes known by the nickname "Chi Chi", was a Mexican professional baseball player, who spent the bulk of his Major League career with the Detroit Tigers. Known for his powerful…

2000

Carl Rowan

American journalist and author (born 1925)

Carl Thomas Rowan was an American journalist, author and government official whose columns were syndicated across the U.S. At one point, he was the highest ranking African American in the United States government.

2000

Raoul Berger

American attorney and law professor (born 1901)

Raoul Berger was an American legal scholar at the University of California at Berkeley and Harvard Law School. While at Harvard, he was the Charles Warren Senior Fellow in American Legal History. He is known for his…

2000

Ron Hewitt

Welsh footballer (born 1928)

Ronald Hewitt was a Wales international footballer.

2001

Yuri Senkevich

Russian physician and journalist (born 1937)

Yuri Aleksandrovich Senkevich was a Soviet physician, voyager, scientist, and Candidate of Sciences.

2003

Billy Reay

Canadian-American ice hockey player and coach (born 1918)

William Tulip Reay was a Canadian professional ice hockey player and coach. Reay played ten seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) from 1943 to 1953, winning two Stanley Cups. He then coached from 1957 to 1959 in…

2004

Filiberto Ojeda Ríos

Puerto Rican activist (born 1933)

Filiberto Ojeda Ríos was a Puerto Rican independence activist who cofounded the Boricua Popular Army, also known as Los Macheteros, and its predecessor, the Fuerzas Armadas de Liberación Nacional Puertorriqueña (FALN).…

2005

Malcolm Arnold

English trumpet player and composer (born 1921)

Sir Malcolm Henry Arnold was an English composer and conductor. His works feature music in many genres, including a cycle of nine symphonies, numerous concertos, concert works, chamber music, choral music and music for…

2006

Etta Baker

American singer and guitarist (born 1913)

Etta Baker was an American Piedmont blues guitarist and singer from North Carolina.

2006

Peter Leonard

Australian journalist (born 1942)

Peter Antony Leonard was an Australian journalist and newsreader.

2008

Loren Pope

American journalist and author (born 1910)

Loren Brooks Pope was an American writer and educational consultant, best known for his book, Colleges That Change Lives. He was also the education editor of The New York Times.

2008

Paul B. Fay

American sailor and politician, United States Secretary of the Navy (born 1918)

Paul Burgess Fay Jr. was the Acting United States Secretary of the Navy in November 1963, and a close confidant of President John F. Kennedy.

2009

Malcolm Douglas

Australian hunter and television host (born 1941)

Malcolm Douglas was an Australian wildlife documentary film maker, and crocodile hunter. Douglas started in the 1960s as a professional crocodile hunter and farmer, but later dedicated himself to their preservation.

2010

Henry Champ

Canadian journalist and academic (born 1937)

Stephen Henry Champ was a veteran Canadian broadcast journalist, working for CTV News, NBC News and CBC News.

2012

Pavel Grachev

Russian general and politician, 1st Minister of Defence for Russia (born 1948)

Pavel Sergeyevich Grachev, sometimes transliterated as Grachov or Grachyov, was a Russian Army General and the Defence Minister of the Russian Federation from 1992 to 1996; in 1988 he was awarded Hero of the Soviet…

2012

Roberto Rodríguez

Venezuelan baseball player and coach (born 1941)

Roberto Muñoz Rodríguez was a Venezuelan professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Kansas City / Oakland Athletics, San Diego Padres, and Chicago Cubs. He played in the United…

2012

Corrie Sanders

South African boxer (born 1966)

Cornelius Johannes Sanders was a South African professional boxer who competed from 1989 to 2008. He won the WBO heavyweight title in 2003 after knocking out Wladimir Klitschko in two rounds, which was considered one of…

2012

Sam Sniderman

Canadian businessman, founded Sam the Record Man (born 1920)

Sam Sniderman, was a Canadian businessman best known as the founder of the Canadian record shop chain Sam the Record Man. Sniderman was also a major promoter of Canadian music including involvement in pushing for the…

2012

Abdel Hamid al-Sarraj

Syrian colonel and politician (born 1925)

Abdul Hamid Sarraj was a Syrian military officer and politician. When the union between Egypt and Syria — the United Arab Republic (UAR) — was declared in 1958, Sarraj, a staunch Arab nationalist and supporter of…

2013

Gil Dozier

American captain, lawyer, and politician (born 1934)

Gilbert Lynel "Gil" Dozier, was an attorney, businessman, farmer, and rancher who served from 1976 to 1980 as the Louisiana Commissioner of Agriculture and Forestry. A Democrat, Dozier's political career ended with…

2013

Ruth Patrick

American botanist and immunologist (born 1907)

Ruth Myrtle Patrick was an American botanist and limnologist specializing in diatoms and freshwater ecology. She authored more than 200 scientific papers, developed ways to measure the health of freshwater ecosystems…

2013

A. W. Davis

American basketball player and coach (born 1943)

Arvis W. Davis was an American basketball player and coach. Davis is best known for his All-American college career at the University of Tennessee (UT). He was known by several nicknames, including the "Rutledge Rifle"…

2014

Irven DeVore

American anthropologist and biologist (born 1934)

Irven DeVore was an anthropologist and evolutionary biologist, and Curator of Primatology at Harvard University's Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology. He headed Harvard's Department of Anthropology from 1987 to…

2014

Don Manoukian

American football player and wrestler (born 1934)

Donald J. Manoukian was an American football guard and professional wrestler of Armenian descent from Reno, Nevada.

2014

Al Suomi

American ice hockey player and referee (born 1913)

Albert William Suomi was an American ice hockey player, who played 5 games in the National Hockey League with the Chicago Black Hawks during the 1936–37 season. Although he did not aspire to play at a professional…

2014

Dayananda Saraswati

Indian monk and philosopher (born 1930)

Swami Dayananda Saraswati was a renunciate monk of the Hindu Saraswati order of sannyasa. He was also known as Pujya Swamiji and was a traditional teacher of Advaita Vedanta. He was the founder of the Arsha Vidya…

2015

Charles Kuen Kao

Hong Kong-American-British electrical engineer and physicist (born 1933)

Sir Charles Kuen Kao was a Hong Kong electrical engineer who contributed to the development and use of fibre optics in telecommunications. In the 1960s, Kao created various methods to combine glass fibres with lasers in…

2018

Gary Kurtz

American film producer (born 1940)

Gary Douglas Kurtz was an American film producer whose list of credits includes American Graffiti (1973), Star Wars (1977), The Empire Strikes Back (1980), The Dark Crystal (1982) and Return to Oz (1985). Kurtz also…

2018

Jane Fortune

American author, journalist, and philanthropist (born 1942)

Jane Fortune was an American author and journalist. Many of her publications and philanthropic activities were centered on the research, restoration, and exhibition of art by women in Florence, Italy.

2018

Juliette Gréco

French singer and actress (born 1927)

Juliette Gréco was a French singer and actress. Her best-known songs are "Paris Canaille", "La Javanaise" and "Déshabillez-moi" (1967). She often sang tracks with lyrics written by French poets such as Jacques Prévert…

2020

John Elliott

Australian businessman (born 1941)

John Dorman Elliott was an Australian businessman and state and federal president of the Liberal Party. He had also been president of the Carlton Football Club. He frequently provoked controversy due to his political…

2021

Nino Vaccarella

Italian race car driver (born 1933)

Nino Vaccarella was an Italian sports car racing and Formula One driver.

2021

Notable deaths

Who died on September 23?

Robert Bloch — American fiction writer (1917–1994)

FeaturedRobert Bloch

Death year1994

Known forHe also wrote a relatively small amount of science fiction

Deaths on this date97 (788 – 2021)

Explore September 23

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

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Also on September 23 in History

2024

Israel launches airstrikes against Hezbollah targets in Lebanon, killing more than 490 people. Wikipedia →

2022

Voting begins in the five-day sham annexation referendums in Russian-occupied Ukraine, leading to Russian annexation of Donetsk, Kherson, Luhansk and Zaporizhzhia oblasts. Wikipedia →

2020

A grand jury in Kentucky declines to indict three police officers for the shooting death of Breonna Taylor in a drug raid gone wrong, leading to nationwide protests in the U.S. Wikipedia →

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