Deaths on 12 May
2000s
Mark Damon
2024
American film actor and producer (1933–2024)
David Sanborn
2024
American saxophonist (1945–2024)
A. J. Smith
2024
American football executive (1949–2024)
Aimee Stephens
2020
American civil rights activist (1960–2020)
Dennis Nilsen
2018
Scottish serial killer (1945–2018)
Mauno Koivisto
2017
Finnish politician, President of Finland (1923–2017)
Mike Agostini
2016
Trinidad and Tobago sprinter (1935–2016)
Peter Gay
2015
German-American historian and author (1923–2015)
Cornell Borchers
2014
German actress (1925–2014)
Marco Cé
2014
Cardinal of the Romanic Catholic Church
H. R. Giger
2014
Swiss artist (1940–2014)
Sarat Pujari
2014
Indian actor
Lorenzo Zambrano
2014
Mexican businessman and philanthropist
Gerd Langguth
2013
Jan Bens
2012
Dutch footballer (1921–2012)
Eddy Paape
2012
Belgian artist (1920–2012)
Antonio Vega (singer)
2009
Musical artist
Robert Rauschenberg
2008
American painter and graphic artist (1925–2008)
Irena Sendler
2008
20th and 21st-century Polish activist and resistance fighter against the Nazis
Hussein Maziq
2006
Libyan politician (1918–2006)
Ömer Kavur
2005
Turkish film director
Martin Lings
2005
English writer, Islamic scholar, and philosopher (1909–2005)
Kai Setälä
2005
Finnish physician and professor (1913–2005)
Monica Zetterlund
2005
Swedish jazz singer and actress (1937–2005)
Sadruddin Aga Khan
2003
UN High Commissioner for Refugees (1933–2003)
Perry Como
2001
American singer, actor, and TV personality (1912–2001)
Didi (footballer, born 1928)
2001
Brazilian footballer (1928–2001)
Aleksey Tupolev
2001
Soviet aircraft designer (1925–2001)
Adam Petty
2000
American racing driver (1980–2000)
1900s
Saul Steinberg
1999
Romanian-born American cartoonist (1914–1999)
Adolfo Pedernera
1995
Argentine footballer (1918–1995)
Erik Erikson
1994
American psychoanalyst and essayist (1902-1994)
John Smith (Labour Party leader)
1994
British politician (1938–1994)
Zeno Colò
1993
Italian alpine skier (1920–1993)
Nikos Gatsos
1992
Greek poet, translator, and lyricist
Robert Reed
1992
American actor (1932–1992)
Elisabeth Bergner
1986
German actress (1897–1986)
Jean Dubuffet
1985
French painter and sculptor (1901–1985)
Francis Hughes
1981
Provisional IRA volunteer and hunger striker
Benjamin Sheares
1981
President of Singapore from 1971 to 1981
Frances Marion
1973
American screenwriter, director, journalist and author
Art Pollard
1973
American racing driver (1927–1973)
Heinie Manush
1971
American baseball player (1901–1971)
Nelly Sachs
1970
Jewish German-Swedish writer, Holocaust survivor and Nobel laureate (1891–1970)
John Masefield
1967
English poet and writer (1878–1967)
Felix Steiner
1966
Waffen-SS commander (1896–1966)
Agnes Forbes Blackadder
1964
Scottish medical doctor (1875–1964)
Richard Girulatis
1963
German football manager (1878–1963)
Robert Kerr (athlete)
1963
Canadian athlete (1882–1963)
Alfonso de Portago
1957
Spanish aristocrat and racing driver (1928–1957)
Erich von Stroheim
1957
Austrian-American actor and director (1885–1957)
Louis Calhern
1956
American actor (1895–1956)
Hans Waldemar Wessolowski
1948
German-American illustrator (1894–1948)
Max Brand
1944
American writer (1892–1944)
Arthur Quiller-Couch
1944
English writer and literary critic (1863–1944)
Józef Piłsudski
1935
Polish statesman (1867–1935)
Eugène Ysaÿe
1931
Belgian violinist and composer (1858–1931)
Amy Lowell
1925
American poet (1874–1925)
James Connolly
1916
Irish republican, trade unionist and revolutionary (1868–1916)
Joris-Karl Huysmans
1907
French novelist and art critic (1848–1907)
Göran Fredrik Göransson
1900
Swedish merchant, ironmaster and industrialist (1819–1900)
1800s
Minna Canth
1897
Finnish writer and social activist
Bedřich Smetana
1884
Czech composer (1824–1884)
Anselme Payen
1878
French chemist (1795–1871)
Georgi Benkovski
1876
Bulgarian revolutionary
Friedrich Wilhelm Eduard Gerhard
1867
German archaeologist (1795–1867)
J. E. B. Stuart
1864
Confederate cavalry general (1833–1864)
Charles Barry
1860
English architect (1795–1860)
Sergey Aksakov
1859
Russian writer (1791–1859)
Jacques Philippe Marie Binet
1856
French mathematician, physicist and astronomer (1786-1856)
János Batsányi
1845
Hungarian poet
Walenty Wańkowicz
1842
Polish painter (1799–1842)
Nikolai Vasilyevich Repnin
1801
Russian statesman and general (1734–1801)
Before 1800
Johann Uz
1796
German poet (1720–1796)
Charles Simon Favart
1792
French playwright and theatre director (1710–1792)
Abraham Trembley
1784
Genevan naturalist (1710–1784)
Lambert-Sigisbert Adam
1759
French sculptor (1700–1759)
Thomas Lowndes (astronomer)
1748
Adolphus Frederick II
1708
Duke of Mecklenburg-Strelitz
John Dryden
1700
English poet and playwright (1630–1700)
Lucas Achtschellinck
1699
Flemish painter
Edme Mariotte
1684
French physicist and priest
Thomas Wentworth, 1st Earl of Strafford
1641
English supporter of Charles I (1593–1641)
George Chapman
1634
16th/17th-century English dramatist, poet, and translator
Murad Mirza (son of Akbar)
1599
Mughal prince (1570–1599)
Cecily Bonville, 7th Baroness Harington
1529
English noblewoman and peeress (1460–1529)
Joanna, Princess of Portugal
1490
Portuguese princess
Thomas Palaiologos
1465
Despot of the Morea from 1428 to 1460
Engelbert of Admont
1331
Abbot of the Benedictine monastery of Admont
Valdemar I of Denmark
1182
King of Denmark from 1154 to 1182
Fergus of Galloway
1161
Lord of Galloway (d. 1161)
Liutold of Eppenstein
1090
Pope Sergius IV
1012
Head of the Catholic Church from 1009 to 1012
Pope Sylvester II
1003
Head of the Catholic Church from 999 to 1003
Eutychius of Alexandria
940
Greek Patriarch of Alexandria, 933–940
Æthelhard
805
Archbishop of Canterbury from 792 to 805