List of Famous people who died at 79

Du Yulu was a Chinese actor best known for portraying historical figures in several films and television series.

René Frédéric Thom was a French mathematician. He made his reputation as a topologist, moving on to aspects of what would be called singularity theory; he became world-famous among the wider academic community and the educated general public for one aspect of this latter interest, his work as founder of catastrophe theory. He received the Fields Medal in 1958.

Wang Mengshu was a Chinese tunnel and railway engineer. He was a key engineer behind China's first subway tunnel and the development of China's high-speed railways. Wang was an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering. He was a deputy to the 11th National People's Congress.

Tahsin Yazıcı was an Ottoman Army officer and later a Turkish Army general and politician.

Ing Chang-ki was a Chinese industrialist, Go player, and Go promoter. He was the founder of the Ing Cup. He is also known for promoting the Ing Rules of Go. He also promoted one of the first digital game clocks to support byoyomi.