List of Famous people who died at 71

Volodymyr Vasylyovych Shcherbytsky was a Ukrainian and Soviet politician. He was a leader of the Communist Party of Ukraine from 1972 to 1989.

Branislav Pokrajac was a Serbian handball coach and player who competed for Yugoslavia in the 1972 Summer Olympics and in the 1976 Summer Olympics.

Moustapha Sourang was a Senegalese politician.

Claudio Risi was an Italian film director. His father Dino and his brother Marco are also film directors.

Alcindo Martha de Freitas, known simply as Alcindo, was a Brazilian footballer who played as a midfielder.

Peter Carl Goldmark was a Hungarian-American engineer who, during his time with Columbia Records, was instrumental in developing the long-playing microgroove 33​¹⁄₃ rpm phonograph disc, the standard for incorporating multiple or lengthy recorded works on a single disc for two generations. The LP was introduced by Columbia's Goddard Lieberson in 1948. Lieberson was later president of Columbia Records from 1956–71 and 1973–75. According to György Marx he was one of The Martians.

Walter Huppenkothen was a German lawyer, Sicherheitsdienst (SD) leader, and Schutzstaffel (SS) prosecutor in the Hauptamt SS-Gericht.

Yves Bot was a French magistrate who served until his death as Advocate General at the European Court of Justice.

José Fernández Díaz, commonly known as Joseíto Fernández, was a Cuban singer and songwriter. He is the writer of well-known songs, including "Elige tú, que canto yo", "Amor de madre", "Demuéstrame tú", and "Así son, boncó", as well as the most famous "Guajira Guantanamera".

Niyazi Zulfigar oglu Tagizade Hajibeyov (1912–1984) was a prominent Soviet Azerbaijani conductor, and composer of the renowned symphonic mugam "Rast".