List of Famous people who died at 79

Abderrahim Lahjouji was a Moroccan businessman and politician. He was the founding president of the Citizens' Forces party and President of Sotravo, a construction firm.

Maurice Paul Nivat was a French computer scientist. His research in computer science spanned the areas of formal languages, programming language semantics, and discrete geometry. A 2006 citation for an honorary doctorate (Ph.D.) called Nivat one of the fathers of theoretical computer science. He was a Professor at the University Paris Diderot until 2001.

Edgar Faure was a French politician, essayist, historian, and memoirist.

Yolanda Varela was a Mexican actress. Born in Mexico City on 30 March 1930, she started acting at a very early age. She studied ballet in the National Institute of the Performing Arts. Varela was the leading actress in many Mexican films and some Spanish/Mexican co-productions.

Li Kwan-ha, CBE, QPM, CPM was the first ethnic Chinese to be the Commissioner of Police in Hong Kong, serving from 1989 to 1994.

Rudolf Carnap was a German-language philosopher who was active in Europe before 1935 and in the United States thereafter. He was a major member of the Vienna Circle and an advocate of logical positivism. He is considered "one of the giants among twentieth-century philosophers."

Javier Bernardo Usabiaga Arroyo was a Mexican businessman and politician from the National Action Party who served as Secretary of Agriculture during part of Vicente Fox's government. From 2009 to 2012 he served as Deputy of the LXI Legislature of the Mexican Congress representing Guanajuato.

Ugo Colombo was an Italian racing cyclist. He rode the Giro d'Italia in 1964–1974 with Filotex, with the best result of third place in 1971, and the Tour de France in 1966–1968, placing tenth in 1968.

John Stalker was a British police officer who served as Deputy Chief Constable of Greater Manchester Police. He headed the Stalker Inquiry that investigated the shooting of suspected members of the Provisional Irish Republican Army in 1982. He also had a television and literary career.

Hayao Kawai (1928–2007) was a Japanese Jungian psychologist who has been described as "the founder of Japanese Analytical and Clinical Psychology". He introduced the sandplay therapy concept to Japanese psychology. He participated in Eranos from 1982. Kawai was the director of the International Research Center for Japanese Studies from 1995 to 2001. As chief of the Agency for Cultural Affairs from 2002 to 2007, he oversaw the popular Nihon no Uta Hyakusen song selection, as well as the "Kokoro no Note" ethics textbook now used in all Japanese primary schools. He died in Tenri Hospital following a stroke.