List of Famous people who died at 78

Louis John Papan was a Democratic California politician. He was known as the "Dean of the Assembly" for his 20 years in the California State Assembly.

Cheo Feliciano was a Puerto Rican singer and composer of salsa and bolero music. Feliciano was the owner of a recording company called "Coche Records". He was the first tropical singer to perform at the "Amira de la Rosa Theater" in Barranquilla, Colombia, and in 1987 he played the role of Roberto Clemente's father in the musical Clemente.

Werner Kaegi (1901–1979) was a Swiss historian. He is best known for a single work, a biography of Jacob Burkhardt. This appeared in seven volumes, from 1947 to 1982.

Sarvepalli Gopal was a well-known Indian historian. The son of S. Radhakrishnan, he is the author of his father's biography Radhakrishnan: A Biography and Jawaharlal Nehru: A Biography.

Sergio Bonelli was an Italian comic book writer and publisher. He is best known as creator of Zagor (1961) and Mister No (1975), as well as a comics publisher through the publishing house Sergio Bonelli Editore.

David Dalrymple Butler was a Scottish writer of numerous screenplays and teleplays who won a Primetime Emmy Award and was nominated for an Academy Award and a Golden Globe Award.