Famous Deaths on May 12

1801 Nicholas Repnin, Russian statesman (b. 1734)
1811 Louis-Charles-Joseph Rey, French classical cellist and composer, dies at 52
1814 Robert Treat Paine, American judge and Founding Father (signed US Declaration of Independence), dies at 83
1820 Jacob Andries van Braam, Dutch merchant and colonial administrator (Suriname), dies at 49
1825 Elias Mann, American composer, dies at 75
1825 Stanislao Mattei, Italian composer, teacher, musicologist, and monk dies at 75
1838 Jędrzej Śniadecki, Polish writer, physician, chemist (creation of modern Polish terminology in the field of chemistry), dies at 69
1843 Charlotte von Kalb, German writer, dies at 81
1843 Johann Georg Lickl, Austrian organist, kapellmeister, and composer, dies at 74
1845 August Wilhelm Schlegel, German poet, translator and critic, dies at 77
1845 János Bacsanyi, Hungarian poet (b. 1763)
1852 John Richardson, Canadian writer (War of 1812), dies at 55
1856 Jacques Philippe Marie Binet, French mathematician (b. 1786)
1860 Charles Barry, British architect (rebuilding of the Palace of Westminster, dies at 64
1861 Christian Heinrich Hohmann, German composer, dies at 50
1864 Abner Monroe Perrin, Confederate brigadier general, dies in battle at 37

J.E.B. Stuart (1833-1864)

Confederate General in the American Civil War, killed in action at 31

1867 Friedrich William Eduard Gerhard, German archaeologist (b. 1795)
1871 Daniel François Esprit Auber, French opera composer (Fra Diavolo), dies at 89
1871 John F. W. Herschel, British astronomer (Catalogue of Nebulae), dies at 79
1876 Georgi Benkovski, Bulgarian revolutionary, brutally killed by the Turks (b. 1843)
1876 Henri-François-Alphonse Esquiros, French poet and writer (Evangile du peuple), dies at 63
1878 Catherine Beecher, American educator (championed higher education for women), dies at 77
1884 [Friedrich] Bedřich Smetana, Czech composer (The Bartered Bride; Má Vlast; Moldau), dies at 60
1896 Juan Morel Campos, Puerto Rican composer (Danza), dies at 38
1897 Minna Canth, Finnish playwright (Anna Liisa) and social activist, dies of a heart attack at 53
1897 Willem Roelofs, Dutch painter and lithographer, dies at 75
1906 Gabriel C. Wharton, American civil engineer and Brigadier General (Confederate Army), dies at 81
1907 Joris-Karl Huysmans, French writer (Against the Grain), dies at 59
1908 Melesio Morales, Mexican composer, dies at 69
1909 Bertha Townsend, American tennis player (US Nat C'ship 1888-89), dies at 40
1916 James Connolly, Irish socialist (founder of the Irish Socialist Republican Party), dies at 47
1918 Abel Hoadley, Australian confectioner (Violet Crumble), dies at 73
1921 Emilia Pardo Bazán, Spanish countess and writer (Pascual López: Autobiography of a Medical Student), dies at 68
1924 Henri Maréchal, French composer and music critic, dies at 82
1925 Alfred Milner, British governor (Cape Colony) and colonial administrator, dies at 71
1925 Amy Lowell, American imagist poet (Pulitzer Prize for Poetry) 1926, dies of a cerebral hemorrhage at 51
1925 Artur Napoleão dos Santos, Portuguese pianist, composer, and music publisher, dies at 82
1931 Eugène Ysaÿe, Belgian violin virtuoso (Caesar Franck's sonata), composer (Six Sonatas for Solo Violin, op. 27), educator (Brussels Conservatoire, 1881-98), and conductor (Cincinnati Symphony, 1918-22), dies pf complications from diabetes at 72

Józef Piłsudski (1867-1935)

Father of the Second Polish Republic who served as its Chief of State (1918-22), Marshall of Poland and later its de facto leader (1926-35), dies at 67

1941 Ruth Stonehouse, American silent film actress and director, dies at 48
1943 Albert Stoessel, American violinist, conductor, composer, and educator, dies of a heart attack on the podium at 48
1944 Arthur Quiller-Couch, Cornish novelist and editor (The Oxford Book Of English Verse 1250–1900), dies at 80
1948 Isidor Achron, American composer, dies of a heart attack at 55
1951 Oscar DePriest, American politician (Rep-D-Ill), dies at 80
1956 Hendrik Marchant, Dutch politician (his private member's bill led to women's suffrage), dies at 87
1956 Louis Calhern, American actor (Julius Caesar, Blackboard Jungle), dies at 61
1956 Vladimír Ambros, Czech composer, dies at 65
1957 Alfonso de Portago, Spanish bobsledder and race car driver (b. 1928)
1957 Erich von Stroheim, Austrian-American film director and actor (Greed; La Grande Illusion; Sunset Boulevard), dies of prostate cancer at 71
1960 (Cecil) Armstrong Gibbs, English composer, dies of pneumonia at 70
1960 Prince Aly Khan [Ali Salman Aga Khan], Pakistani socialite, jockey, political ambassador and third husband to Rita Hayworth, dies from injuries sustained in a car accident at 48
1962 Dick Calkins, American comic strip artist and co-author of Buck Rogers), dies at 67
1963 Robert Kerr, Canadian runner (1908 Olympics), dies at 80
1963 Stanisław Wiechowicz, Polish composer, dies at 69
1965 Roger Vailland, French author (Drôle de jeu, La loi) and screenwriter, dies at 57
1966 Felix Martin Julius Steiner, German Heer and Waffen-SS officer (b. 1896)
1967 John Masefield, British writer and poet (Salt-Water Ballads), Poet Laureate (1930-67), dies at 88
1967 Julius Kalas, Czech composer, dies at 64
1969 Martin Lamble, British folk-rock drummer (Fairport Convention, 1966-69), killed in a vehicle crash at 19

Nelly Sachs (1891-1970)

German-Swedish poet and playwright (O the Chimneys - Nobel Prize for Literature 1966), dies at 78

1970 Wladyslaw Anders, Polish army general (WWI and WWII), and politician (Parliament-in exile), dies at 78
1971 Heinie Manush, American Baseball HOF left fielder (MLB All-Star 1934 Washington Sens; AL batting champion 1926 Detroit Tigers), dies from throat cancer at 69
1971 Johnny Taylor, Australian cricket batsman (20 Tests; 1 x 100, 8 x 50) and rugby union fly-half (2 caps), dies at 75
1971 Tor Johnson [Tore Johansson], Swedish wrestler and actor (Bride of the Monster), dies at 67
1973 Art Pollard, American racecar driver (b. 1927)
1973 Frances Marion, American screenwriter (Pollyanna, Camille), dies at 85
1975 Joe Mooney, American jazz and pop accordionist, organist, and vocalist, dies at 64
1976 Rudolf Kempe, German conductor (Tonhalle Orch 1965-72), dies at 65
1977 Luc van Brabant, Flemish writer and erotic poet, dies at 67
1980 Lillian Roth [Rutstein], American singer and actress (Animal Crackers; Alice Sweet Alice), dies at 69
1981 Benjamin Sheares, President of Singapore (1971-81), dies at 73
1982 Humphrey Searle, British composer and musicologist (Twentieth Century Counterpoint; The Music of Franz Liszt), dies at 66
1984 Doris May, American silent film actress (Peck's Bad Boy), dies at 81 of heart failure
1985 Jean Dubuffet, French painter and sculptor (Landscape with 2 Personages), dies at 83
1986 Elisabeth Bergner, Austrian British stage actress, dies at 85
1986 Lee Bonnell, American actor, dies at 67
1987 Victor Feldman, British jazz pianist and drummer, dies of a heart attack at 53
1988 Paul Osborn, American playwright (Mornings at 7), dies at 86
1989 Joe Valdez Caballero, American creator of hard taco, shell, dies at 81
1989 Marcelle de Manziarly, French pianist and composer, dies at 89
1990 Andrei Kirilenko, Russian member of Central Committee of Communist Party, dies at 83
1992 Joe Burke, American baseball executive (president KC Royals 1981-92), dies from lymphatic cancer at 68
1992 Lenny Montana [Leonardo Passafaro], American professional wrestler (NWA Georgia), and actor (The Godfather), dies of a heart attack at 66
1992 Robert Reed, American actor (The Brady Bunch - "Mike"; Nurse), dies of AIDs at 59
1993 Zeno Colò, Italian downhill skier (Olympic gold 1952), dies at 72
1994 Alfred Beit, British politician and art philanthropist, dies at 91
1994 Erik Erikson, American developmental psychologist and psychoanalyst (coined the phrase "identity crisis"), dies at 91
1994 Helen Lee Mai, Hong Kong actress, dies at 63
1994 John Smith, British Labour Party chairman (1992-94), dies at 55
1994 Xenophon Balaskas, South African cricketer (9 Tests for South Africa, 22 wkts), dies at 83
1995 Arthur Lubin, American film director and producer (Francis The Talking Mule, Mr Ed), dies at 95
1995 Giorgio Belladonna, Italian bridge player (16 x World C'ships; 10 x European C'ships, Italy open team-of-four), dies of lung cancer at 71
1995 Marcel Rubin, Austrian composer, dies at 89
1995 Reza Abdoh, Iranian born American theater director, dies of AIDs at 32
1996 Rob Hall, New Zealand mountaineer, dies on Mt Everest at 35
1998 Hermann Lenz, German writer (Swabian Chronicles), dies at 75
1999 Abd-al-Aziz ibn Abd-Allah ibn Baaz, Grand Mufti of Saudi Arabia 1993-1999 (b. 1910)
1999 Penny Santon [Pierina Burlando], American actress (Fletch, Roll Out, Matt Houston), dies at 82
1999 Saul Steinberg, Romanian-American cartoonist and illustrator (The New Yorker), dies at 84
2000 Adam Petty, American auto racer (son of Kyle Petty; death leads to NASCAR mandate of steering wheel kill switch), dies in practice session accident at 19
2001 (Pierino) Perry Como, American singer ("Catch A Falling Star") and TV personality (The Perry Como Show), dies at 89
2001 Alexei Tupolev, Russian aircraft designer (b. 1925)
2001 Didi (Waldyr Pereira), Brazilian soccer midfielder (68 caps; Fluminense), dies at 72
2002 Erich Kulas, ECW Wrestler (Mass Transit), dies after surgery at 22
2003 Michael Richardson, British investment banker and advisor to Margaret Thatcher known as "Mr Privatisation", dies at 78
2003 Prince Sadruddin Aga Khan, French UN High Commissioner for Refugees (b. 1933)
2004 John LaPorta, American jazz clarinetist and composer, dies at 84
2005 Martin Lings, English Islamic scholar (b. 1909)
2005 Monica Zetterlund, Swedish jazz singer (with Bill Evans - "Waltz For Debby"), and dies in an accidental apartment fire at 67
2006 Sonny Montgomery, American politician (Rep-D-Mississippi 1967-97), dies at 85
2007 Mullah Dadullah Akhund, Taliban military leader (b. 1966?)
2007 Teddy Infuhr, American former child actor (The Bishop's Wife, They Live By Night), dies at 70
2008 Irena Sendler [née Krzyżanowska], Polish nurse, social worker, and WWII heroine who helped smuggle Jewish ghetto children to safety, dies at 98 [1]
2008 Robert Rauschenberg, American artist (b. 1925)
2009 Antonio Vega, Spanish pop-rock singer-songwriter, dies of lung cancer at 51
2011 Harry Danielsen, Norwegian educator and politician, dies at 74
2014 Cornell Borchers, German actress (The Big Lift, Floodtide, Istanbul), dies at 89
2014 H. R. Giger, Swiss surrealist artist (album cover art for ELP - "Brain Salad Surgery"; Debbie Harry - "'KooKoo"), and Oscar-winning special effects designer (Alien), dies from injuries from a fall at 74
2015 Mervyn Burtch, Welsh composer (The Raven King) and educator, dies at 85
2015 Ruth Mompati, South African politician and Secretary of Nelson Mandela, dies at 89
2016 Delbert L. Latta, American politician (Rep-R-OH, 1959-89), dies at 96
2016 Julius La Rosa, American singer (fired by Arthur Godfrey on the air), dies at 86
2017 Bill Dowdy, American jazz drummer (The Three Sounds), dies at 84
2017 Mauno Koivisto, President of Finland (1982-94), dies at 93
2017 Michael Jackson, American NFL wide receiver (NFL receiving TD leader 1996; Baltimore Ravens), dies in a motorcycle accident at 48
2018 Chuck Knox, American football coach (LA Rams, Buffalo Bills, Seattle Seahawks; AP NFL Coach of the Year 1973, 80, 84), dies of dementia at 86
2018 Dennis Nilsen, Scottish serial killer, dies at 72
2020 Astrid Kirchherr, German photographer, helped establish The Beatles image, dies at 81
2021 Higinio Vélez, Cuban baseball manager (Olympic gold 2004; Santiago de Cuba, Cuban National Series 1999–2001), dies from COVID-19 at 73
2021 Jerry Burns, American football coach (University of Iowa 1961-65; Minnesota Vikings 1986-91), dies at 94
2022 Gino Cappelletti, American football running back (AFL All-Star 1961, 63-66; AFL MVP 1964; Boston Patriots), dies at 88
2022 Robert McFarlane, American Marine Corps veteran and civil servant (National Security Adviser, 1983-85), involved in the Space Defense Initiative, and Iran-Contra Affair, dies at 84
2023 Bruce Robertson, New Zealand rugby union centre (34 Tests, 22 tries; Counties Manukau RFU), dies at 71
2023 Don Denkinger, American baseball umpire (World Series: 1974, 80, 85, 91; MLB All-Star Game 1971, 76, 87; "The Call"), dies at 86
2023 Owen Davidson, Australian tennis player (mixed doubles Grand Slam 1967 [Lesley Turner Bowrey, Billie Jean King]; Australian Open doubles 1972, US Open doubles 1973), dies at 79