List of Famous people who died at 56

Tsutomu Adachi was a Japanese manga artist born in Isesaki City, Gunma Prefecture, Japan, and the older brother of Mitsuru Adachi. Tsutomu was an assistant to Fujio Akatsuka, and was known as one of the "Four Protegés of Akatsuka". According to his younger brother, his definitive works include Jitsuroku Adachi Mitsuru Monogatari, Nigun no Hoshi Hanpa-kun and Tamagawa-kun.

Mari Yonehara was a Japanese translator, essayist, non-fiction writer, novelist, and simultaneous interpreter between Russian and Japanese, best known in Japan for simultaneous interpretation in 1980s and 1990s and writing in 2000s.

Ku Chin-shui was an Amis Taiwanese decathlete and pole vaulter. He medaled for Chinese Taipei at the Asian Athletics Championships six times, winning one gold medal, two silver medals, and three bronze medals. At the 1990 Asian Games, he earned a silver medal in the decathlon. Upon retiring from athletics, he became a physical education teacher.

Donato Sabia was an Italian middle-distance runner who specialized in the 800 metres.

Azad Arif oglu Rahimov was an Azerbaijani politician who served as the Minister of Youth and Sports of Azerbaijan Republic.

Bert Kaempfert was a German orchestra leader, multi-instrumentalist, music producer, arranger, and composer. He made easy listening and jazz-oriented records and wrote the music for a number of well-known songs, including "Strangers in the Night" and "Moon Over Naples".

Uwe Dreher was a German former footballer who played as a striker throughout the late 1970s and 1980s.

Abdel Aziz Ali Abdul Majid al-Rantisi, nicknamed the "Lion of Palestine", was the co-founder of Palestinian Sunni-Islamic fundamentalist militant organization Hamas along with Sheikh Ahmed Yassin.

Kaoru Kurimoto was the pen name of Sumiyo Imaoka , a Japanese novelist. Imaoka also used the pen name Azusa Nakajima to write criticism and music. She was known for her record-breaking 130-volume Guin Saga series, which has been translated into English, German, French, Italian and Russian. Her style has been described as being part of the New Wave science fiction movement. Outside of her literary endeavors, she was a playwright, composer, and pianist who performed with her own jazz ensemble, the Azusa Nakajima Trio.