List of Famous people who died at 81

Valentine "Valya" Bargmann was a German-American mathematician and theoretical physicist.

Mario Vegetti was an Italian historian of philosophy.

George Axelrod was an American screenwriter, producer, playwright and film director, best known for his play The Seven Year Itch (1952), which was adapted into a film of the same name starring Marilyn Monroe. Axelrod was nominated for an Academy Award for his 1961 adaptation of Truman Capote's Breakfast at Tiffany's and also adapted Richard Condon's The Manchurian Candidate (1962).

Justas Paleckis was a Lithuanian journalist and politician. He was nominal acting president of Lithuania after the Soviet invasion while Lithuania was still ostensibly independent, in office from 17 June to 3 August 1940. He then remained as the nominal head of state of the Lithuanian SSR until 1967.

Kurt Schaffenberger was an American comics artist. He was best known for his work on Captain Marvel and the Marvel Family during both the Golden Age and Bronze Age of comics, as well as his work on the title Superman's Girl Friend, Lois Lane during the 1950s and 1960s.

Zeng Liansong was the designer of the Flag of the People's Republic of China. He was from Rui'an, Wenzhou, Zhejiang province.