List of Famous people who died at 78

Walter Maynard Ferguson CM was a Canadian jazz trumpeter and bandleader. He came to prominence in Stan Kenton's orchestra before forming his own big band in 1957. He was noted for his bands, which often served as stepping stones for up-and-coming talent, his versatility on several instruments, and his ability to play in a high register.

Colonel Hiromichi Yahara was the senior staff officer in charge of operations of the 32nd Japanese Army at Okinawa during the American invasion of that island during World War II.

Viktor Fogarassy was an Austrian merchant, managing partner of the Kastner & Öhler department stores, and an art collector, especially of works by Egon Schiele. The state of Styria named a prize for the support of contemporary art after him, the Viktor-Fogarassy-Preis.

Miki Sawada was a Japanese social worker popularly known as the mother of 2,000 American Japanese mixed orphans.

Nurnaningsih was an Indonesian actress. She has been described as Indonesia's first sex bomb.

Vladimir Afanasyevich Kasatonov was a Soviet military leader, fleet admiral, and Hero of the Soviet Union.

James Graham Ballard was an English novelist, short story writer, satirist, and essayist who first became associated with the New Wave of science fiction for his post-apocalyptic novels such as The Drowned World (1962). In the late 1960s, he produced a variety of experimental short stories, such as those collected in the controversial The Atrocity Exhibition (1970). In the mid 1970s, Ballard published several novels, among them the highly controversial Crash (1973), a story about symphorophilia and car crash fetishism, and High-Rise (1975), a depiction of a luxury apartment building's descent into violent chaos.

Takeo Kamachi was a Japanese sports shooter and Olympic champion, born in Manchukuo. He won a gold medal in the 25 metre rapid fire pistol at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles.

Luís Severino de Almeida Cabral was a Bissau-Guinean politician who was the first President of Guinea-Bissau. He served from 1974 to 1980, when a military coup d'état led by João Bernardo Vieira deposed him. Luís Cabral was a half-brother of Amílcar Cabral, with whom he co-founded the African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde (PAIGC) in 1956.

Mohamed Gueddiche was a Tunisian cardiologist, who also held a senior military rank. His national significance in Tunusia was based in part on his position as the personal physician to President Ben Ali, and previous to that as a physician for Ben Ali's predecessor, Habib Bourguiba.