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Famous people and celebrities who died in May 1960

This page is dedicated to commemorating the celebrities and famous people who passed away in May 1960. This month marked the loss of influential and beloved figures whose contributions spanned various fields and touched many lives. Explore our detailed list to remember and celebrate their enduring legacies and the remarkable impact they had on the world

  • Charles Holden
    May 1 Charles Holden

    The bristol central library was designed by an english architect (d. 1960).

  • Caryl Chessman
    May 2 Caryl Chessman

    Notorious criminal known as the 'Red Light Bandit' who committed a series of rapes, robberies, and kidnappings in California during the late 1940s. He gained significant public attention due to his multiple death row appeals and became a controversial figure in the debate about capital punishment.

  • Sulho Ranta
    May 5 Sulho Ranta

    Composer dies at 58

  • Paul Abraham
    May 6 Paul Abraham

    Hungarian composer (blume von hawaii), dies at 67

  • J H C Whitehead
    May 8 J H C Whitehead

    British mathematician (born 1904)

  • Hugo Alfven
    May 8 Hugo Alfven

    Swedish composer (midsommarvaka), is killed at 88

  • Yury Olesha
    May 10 Yury Olesha

    Russian author, poet, and playwright (b. 1899)

  • Juri Olescha
    May 10 Juri Olescha

    Writer dies at 61

  • John D. Rockefeller Jr.
    May 11 John D. Rockefeller Jr.

    American businessman and philanthropist (b. 1874)

  • Cecil Armstrong Gibbs
    May 12 Cecil Armstrong Gibbs

    Composer dies at age 70

  • Lucrezia Bori
    May 14 Lucrezia Bori

    Spanish soprano and actress (b. 1887)

  • Georges Claude
    May 23 Georges Claude

    Neon lighting was invented by a french engineer and chemist (d. 1960).

  • Avraham Arnon
    May 24 Avraham Arnon

    Israeli educator, recipient of the israel prize (born1887)

  • Edward Brophy
    May 27 Edward Brophy

    Actor (champ dumbo, great guy), passes away at 65

  • James Montgomery Flagg
    May 27 James Montgomery Flagg

    American painter and illustrator (b. 1877)

  • George Zucco
    May 27 George Zucco

    Actor (fog island, black raven, desire me) dies at 74

  • Boris Pasternak
    May 30 Boris Pasternak

    LIT - Russian poet, novelist, and literary translator, nobel prize laureate (b. 1890)

  • Boris Leonidovich Pasternak
    May 30 Boris Leonidovich Pasternak

    Nobel Prize laureate for his important achievement both in contemporary lyrical poetry and in the field of the great Russian epic tradition

  • Willem Elsschot
    May 31 Willem Elsschot

    Pseudonym for alfons de ridder. flemish poet and novelist, alfons de ridder is a remarkable example of an outstanding flemish novelist of the first half century. his laconic style and ironic observations of urban life in the middle class make him one of the most notable flemish novelists.

  • Walther Funk
    May 31 Walther Funk

    German economist, journalist, and politician, german minister of economics (b. 1890)

  • Willem Elsschot [Alfons de Ridder]
    May 31 Willem Elsschot [Alfons de Ridder]

    Flemish writer (kas) dies at 78