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Famous people and celebrities who died in January 1961

This page is dedicated to commemorating the celebrities and famous people who passed away in January 1961. 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

  • Jan. 4 Erwin Schrödinger

    PHY - Austrian physicist and academic, nobel prize laureate (b. 1887)

  • Jan. 7 Clarice Baright

    American bar association: first woman admitted, died at 74

  • Jan. 8 Schoolboy Rowe

    American baseball player and coach (b. 1910)

  • Jan. 9 Emily Greene Balch

    PEA - American economist and academic, nobel prize laureate (b. 1867)

  • Jan. 10 Dashiell Hammett

    Renowned author known for his detective novels such as 'The Maltese Falcon'.

  • Jan. 11 Elena Gerhardt

    German soprano and actress (b. 1883)

  • Barry Fitzgerald
    Jan. 14 Barry Fitzgerald

    Irish actor (born 1888).

  • Ernest Thesiger
    Jan. 14 Ernest Thesiger

    Actor (brass monkey ghoul), is killed at 81

  • Jan. 14 Henry Geehl

    Composer dies at 79

  • Jan. 15 Francesco Maria Saraceni

    Composer dies at 49

  • Jan. 16 Max Schöne

    German swimmer (b. 1880)

  • Jan. 16 Janos Viski

    Composer dies at 54

  • Jan. 17 Patrice Lumumba

    Patrice Lumumba was a Congolese independence leader and the first democratically elected prime minister of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, who was assassinated in a political coup.

  • Jan. 21 Blaise Cendrars

    Blaise Cendrars was a Swiss-born writer and poet known for his modernist works and influence on literature.

  • Jan. 21 John Joseph Becker

    Composer dies one day before his 75th birthday

  • Jan. 24 Alfred Carlton Gilbert

    American pole vaulter and businessman, founded the a. c. gilbert company (b. 1884)

  • Jan. 24 Willem J M van Eysinga

    People rights scholar, died at the age of 82.

  • Jan. 27 Bernard Friedberg

    Austrian-israeli scholar, author (d. 1961).

  • Jan. 29 Angela Thirkell

    English novelist (b. 1890)

  • Jan. 29 John F O'Ryan

    American major general (born 1874)

  • Jan. 31 Krishna Singh

    Indian politician, 1st chief minister of bihar (b. 1887)