List of Famous people who died at 71

Martin Bodmer was a Swiss bibliophile, scholar and collector.

Lothar Bisky was a German politician. He was the chairman of the Party of Democratic Socialism (PDS), the successor of East Germany's Socialist Unity Party (SED). In June 2007 he became co-chairman of The Left party, formed by a merger of the PDS and the much smaller Labour and Social Justice – The Electoral Alternative. From 2007 until 2010 he was the President of the Party of the European Left. Also, he was the Publisher of the socialist newspaper Neues Deutschland.

Jamil al-Assad was a younger brother of the late Syrian president Hafez al-Assad, and the uncle of present Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad. He served in the Parliament of Syria, called the majlis ash-sha'b from 1971 until his death. He was also commander of a minor militia.

Eduard Yakovlevich Volodarsky was a Soviet and Russian screenwriter, writer and playwright. He was named Honoured Artist of the RSFSR in 1987, awarded the Order of Honour in 2002 and 4th class Order "For Merit to the Fatherland" in 2011 for his contribution to the development of national cinema.

Ali Ekber Çiçek was a Turkish folk musician.

Juan José Laboriel López, known as Johnny Laboriel, was a Mexican rock and roll singer. His career started in 1958, when at 16 years old he joined the rock and roll group "Los Rebeldes del Rock".

Mato Dukovac was the leading Croatian fighter ace of World War II, credited with between 40 and 44 confirmed victories. He joined the Air Force of the Independent State of Croatia following the Axis invasion of Yugoslavia in April 1941, and then the Luftwaffe, with which he flew combat missions on the Eastern Front. His tours of the Eastern Front spanned October and November 1942, February to June 1943, and October 1943 to March 1944. He defected to the Soviet Union on 20 September 1944 and was returned to Yugoslavia in November 1944. He worked as a flight instructor for the Yugoslav Air Force in Pančevo and Zadar before defecting to Italy in April 1945.

Sylvie Feit was a French actress and artistic director.

Maria Veniaminovna Yudina was a Soviet pianist.

Wilhelm Simon was a German SS-Hauptscharführer. During World War II he held administrative posts at the Nazi concentration camps of Buchenwald and Mittelbau-Dora and was convicted of war crimes by the United States in 1947.