List of Famous people who died at 79

Michel Poniatowski was a French politician, member of the senior branch of Poland's princely Poniatowski family. He was a founder of the Independent Republicans and a part of the administration for President Valéry Giscard d'Estaing. Poniatowski served as Minister of Health from 1973 to 1974 and Minister of the Interior in the Giscard d'Estaing government from 1974 to 1977. He was a founder and honorary president of the Union for French Democracy.

José Ángel Nápoles, nicknamed Mantequilla, was a Cuban-born Mexican boxer and a World Welterweight Champion. He is frequently ranked as one of the greatest fighters of all time in that division and is a member of the International Boxing Hall of Fame. His record of the most wins in unified championship bouts in boxing history, shared with Muhammad Ali, was unbeaten for 40 years. After debuting professionally in Cuba, he fought out of Mexico and became a Mexican citizen.

Alan Hodgkinson MBE was an English professional football goalkeeper and goalkeeping coach.

Robert Mohr was an interrogation specialist of the Gestapo. He headed the special commission responsible for the search and arrest of the White Rose, part of the German Resistance to Nazism.

Marcel Hillaire was a German-born character actor who had a lengthy career, appearing on stage, in films and on television. Hillaire was recognizable by his gaunt appearance and his accent, which seemed to be a combination of French and German.

Henri Van Herwegen, known by the pseudonym Panamarenko, was a prominent assemblagist Belgian sculptor. Famous for his work with aeroplanes as theme; none of which are able nor constructed to actually leave the ground.

Josep Maria Benet i Jornet, also known as "Papitu", was one of the most renowned Catalan playwrights, considered one of the main renewers of Catalan theater.

Marcel Adios Breuer, was a Hungarian-born modernist architect, and furniture designer. At the Bauhaus he designed the Wassily Chair and the Cesca Chair which is “among the 10 most important chairs of the 20^th century.” Breuer extended the sculpture vocabulary he had developed in the carpentry shop at the Bauhaus into a personal architecture that made him one of the world's most popular architects at the peak of 20th-century design. His work includes art museums, libraries, college buildings, office buildings, and residences. Many are in a Brutalist architecture style, including the former IBM Research and Development facility which was the birthplace of the first personal computer.

Gerhard Schröder was a West German politician and member of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party. He served as Federal Minister of the Interior from 1953 to 1961, as Foreign Minister from 1961 to 1966, and as Minister of Defence from 1966 until 1969. In the 1969 election he ran for President of the Federal Republic of Germany but was outpolled by Gustav Heinemann.

Dominique Davray was a French actress. She performed in more than ninety films from 1942 to 1983.