- Jan 10 Erich von Drygalski, German geographer, geophysicist, and polar scientist (b. 1865)
- Jan 15 Pompeo Aloisi, Italian baron, diplomat and senator, dies at 63
- Jan 18 Charles Ponzi [Carlo], Italian con-man (Ponzi scheme in the US), dies at 66
- Jan 20 Joseph Cuypers, architect Dutch (Amsterdam Stock Exchange), dies at 87
- Jan 22 William Thomas Walsh, American author (Isabella of Spain), dies at 57
- Jan 25 Makino Nobuaki, Japanese statesman (b. 1861)
- Feb 12 Hassan al Banna, Egyptian founder of the Muslim Brotherhood, dies at 42
- Feb 14 Yusuf Salman Yusuf, Iraqi-Assyrian communist leader (b. 1901)
- Feb 18 Niceto A Zamora y Torres, premier of Spain (1931-36), dies at 71
- Feb 21 Tan Malaka, Indonesian philosopher and founder (Indonesian Communist), executed at 49
- Mar 2 Sarojini Naidu, Indian freedom fighter and poet, dies at 70
- Mar 7 Francis Dodd, English artist (b. 1874)
- Mar 13 Henri Giraud, French general (b. 1879)
- Mar 14 John Callan O'Laughlin, American political and military figure and journalist (b. 1873)
- Mar 17 Aleksandra Ekster, Russian painter (b. 1882)
- Mar 25 Hanns A Rauter, German SS-commandant in Netherland, executed at 54
- Mar 30 Friedrich Bergius, German chemist (benzine from brown coal, Nobel 1931), dies at 64
- Apr 14 Joseph A Cushman, US paleontologist, dies at 68
- Apr 18 Leonard Bloomfield, linguist/philosopher, dies
- Apr 19 Stephen Samuel Wise, American Rabbi and President of Zionist Org of America, dies at 75
- Apr 25 Jankel Adler, Polish painter and printmaker, dies at 53
- Apr 28 Aurora Quezon, First Lady of the Philippines (shot) (b. 1888)
Maurice Maeterlinck
May 6 Maurice Maeterlinck, Belgian philosopher (Nobel 1911), dies at 86
Maurice Maeterlinck
- May 9 Louis II [Louis Honoré Charles Antoine Grimaldi], Prince of Monaco, dies at 78
- May 16 William Newzam Prior Nicholson, painter/engraver, dies
- May 18 James T Adams, US historian (Pulitzer 1921)
- May 20 Randolph West, American biochemist, known for the Dakin-West reaction (b. 1890)
- May 21 Klaus Mann, German writer, dies at 42
- May 22 Klaus H T Mann, German/US writer (Turning Point), dies
- May 24 Alexey Shchusev, Russian-Soviet architect, dies at 75
- May 25 Simon H Spoor, intelligence officer/general (WWII), dies at 47
- May 27 Ropert L Ripley, cartoonist (Believe It or Not), dies at 55 in NY
- Jun 3 Amedos Peter Giannine, founder of Bank of America dies at 79
Amadeo Giannini
Jun 3 Amadeo Giannini, American banker and entrepreneur (founded Bank of America), dies at 79
Amadeo Giannini
- Jun 10 Sigrid Undset, Norwegian writer, Nobel laureate (b. 1882)
- Jun 11 Koci Xoxe, Albanian vice-premier, executed
- Jun 11 Oton Zupanic, Slavs poet (Zimzelen pod snegom), dies at 71
- Jun 19 Syed Zafarul Hasan, Indian-Pakistani Prominent Muslim philosopher, dies at 64
- Jun 26 Kim Gu, President of the Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea (1939-48), dies at 72
- Jul 1 Louis Davids [Simon David], cabaret artist, dies at 65
- Jul 2 Georgi Dimitrov, Bulgaria premier (1946-49), dies at 67
- Jul 8 Antun Sa'ada, Syrian rightwing politician, executed in Lebanon
- Jul 12 Douglas Hyde, first President of Ireland (b. 1860)
- Jul 16 Vyacheslav Ivanov, Russian philosopher, playwright and poet, dies at 83
- Aug 9 Edward Thorndike, American psychologist (father of modern educational psychology), dies at 74
- Aug 14 Husni al-Barazi, premier of Syria, shot to death
- Aug 14 Husni el-Zaim, president/dictator of Syria, shot to death
Margaret Mitchell
Aug 16 Margaret Mitchell, American writer (Gone With the Wind), dies at 48
Margaret Mitchell
August Krogh
Sep 13 August Krogh, Danish zoophysiologist, dies at 75
August Krogh
- Sep 19 George Shiels, Irish dramatist (b. 1886)
- Oct 1 Oswald Garrison Villard, American journalist and editor of the New York Evening Post, dies at 77
- Oct 6 Robert Lynd, Irish writer and critic (News Chronicle), dies at 70
- Oct 29 G. I. Gurdjieff, Armenian mystic (b. 1872)
- Oct 31 Edward Stettinius Jr. 48th US Secretary of State (1944-45) and diplomat, dies at 49
- Nov 2 Jerome F. Donovan, American politician (b. 1872)
- Nov 3 Solomon R. Guggenheim, American businessman and art collector (Guggenheim Museum New York), dies at 88
- Nov 8 Cyriel Verschaeve, Belgian clergyman (b. 1874)
- Nov 12 Hendrik A de Fish, [Henri Pauwels], Flemish philological, dies at 64
- Nov 14 Matsudaira Tsuneo, Japanese diplomat, dies at 72
- Nov 19 James Ensor, Flemish painter/etcher (Oestereetster), dies at 89
- Nov 23 Gustav Radbruch, German Min of Justice, dies
- Dec 3 Elin Pelin, writer, dies
- Dec 10 Duncan Stewart, 2nd British Governor of Sarawak (1949), dies at 45 after being fatally stabbed in the streets of Sibu by pro-Indonesian Malay student Rosli Dhoby
- Dec 16 Traitsjo Kostov, Bulgarian communist vice-premier, executed
- Dec 28 W Hervey Allen, US writer/poet (Anthony Adverse), dies at 60