- 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 Alcalá-Zamora, 1st Prime Minister of the Second Spanish Republic and President of Spain (1931-36), dies at 71
- Feb 21 Tan Malaka, Indonesian philosopher and founder (Indonesian Communist), executed at 49
- Feb 22 Russell W. Porter, American artist and explorer (Alaska), dies at 77
- Mar 2 Sarojini Naidu, Indian freedom fighter and poet, dies at 70
- Mar 7 Francis Dodd, English artist (official war artist WWI), commits suicide at 74
- 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 24 [Johann Baptist] Hanns Albin Rauter, German SS and Police leader in the occupied Netherlands, executed by firing squad at 54
- 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, American linguist, dies at 62
- 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, assassinated at 61
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 Truslow Adams, American historian (Pulitzer 1921), dies at 70
- May 20 Randolph West, American biochemist, known for the Dakin-West reaction (b. 1890)
- May 21 Klaus Mann, German-American author (Mephisto), dies at 42
- May 22 Klaus H T Mann, German/American 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
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
- Jul 19 Frank Murphy, American politician and 56th United States Attorney General, dies at 59
- 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 author (Gone With the Wind), dies at 48
Margaret Mitchell
- Aug 17 Gregorio Perfecto, Filipino jurist (48th Associate Justice of the Philippine Supreme Court) and politician, dies at 57
- Aug 26 Nico van Suchtelen, Dutch writer and publisher, dies at 70
- Aug 31 Andre Debierne, French chemist/physicist (actinium), dies
- Sep 7 José Clemente Orozco, Mexican painter (b. 1883)
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 (rep-NY 1918-21), dies at 77
- Nov 3 Solomon R. Guggenheim, American businessman and art collector (Guggenheim Museum New York), dies at 88
- Nov 8 Cyriel Verschaeve, Belgian priest and writer (Maria Magdalena -1928), dies at 75
- 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 and etcher (Oestereetster), dies at 89
- Nov 23 Gustav Radbruch, German lawyer and jurist, dies at 71
- Dec 3 Elin Pelin, Bulgarian writer (The Gerak Family; Earth), dies at 72
- 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 Hervey Allen, American writer and poet (Anthony Adverse), dies at 60