List of Famous people who died at 81

Kateryna Lohvynivna Yushchenko was a Ukrainian computer and information research scientist, corresponding member of USSR Academy of Sciences (1976), and member of The International Academy of Computer Science. She developed one of the world's first high-level languages with indirect address in programming, called the Address programming language. Over the period of her academic career, Yushchenko supervised 45 Ph.D students. Further professional achievements include Yushchenko being awarded two USSR State Prizes, The USSR Council of Ministers Prize, The Academician Glushkov Prize, and The Order of Princess Olga. Yushchenko was the first woman in the USSR to become a Doctor of Physical and Mathematical Sciences in programming.

Inge Aicher-Scholl, born in present-day Crailsheim, Germany, was the daughter of Robert Scholl, mayor of Forchtenberg, and elder sister of Hans and Sophie Scholl, who studied at the University of Munich in 1942, and were core members of the White Rose student resistance movement in Nazi Germany. Inge Scholl wrote several books about the White Rose after the war.

James Oliver Eastland was an American politician from the state of Mississippi who served in the United States Senate as a Senator in 1941; and again from 1943 until his resignation on December 27, 1978. He has been called the "Voice of the White South" and the "Godfather of Mississippi Politics." A Democrat, Eastland was known as the symbol of Southern resistance to racial integration during the civil rights era, often speaking of blacks as "an inferior race."

Eric George Harrison was an English professional football player and coach. He played in midfield for several teams, including notable spells at Halifax Town and Barrow. Harrison became a football coach and worked at Everton before he was brought to Manchester United by Ron Atkinson in 1981 to manage the youth team. Under Alex Ferguson, Harrison developed "one of the best crops of young players in the English game" – the so-called Fergie's Fledglings – which included David Beckham, Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes and Gary Neville.

René Donoyan was a French football player and manager. He played as a goalkeeper, notably for AS Saint-Étienne, FC Sochaux-Montbéliard, and FC Nantes. Throughout his career, he played 61 matches in Division 1, 222 matches in Division 2, and one match in the UEFA Cup.

William Orville Douglas was an American jurist and politician who served as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. Nominated by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, Douglas was confirmed at the age of 40, one of the youngest justices appointed to the court. His term, lasting 36 years and 211 days (1939–75), is the longest in the history of the Supreme Court. In 1975, Time magazine called Douglas "the most doctrinaire and committed civil libertarian ever to sit on the court".

Daniel Yves Alfred Gélin was a French film and television actor.

Nabaneeta Dev Sen was an Indian writer and academic. After studying arts and comparative literature, she moved to US where she studied further. She returned to India and taught at several universities and institutes as well as served on various positions in literary institutes. She published more than 80 books in Bengali: poetry, novels, short stories, plays, literary criticism, personal essays, travelogues, humour writing, translations and children's literature. She was awarded the Padma Shri in 2000 and the Sahitya Akademi Award in 1999.

Aleksandr Neumyvakin was a Russian politician. A member of the Communist Party, he served on the Congress of People's Deputies of the Soviet Union from 1989 to 1991.

Mary Olive Byrne, known professionally as Olive Richard, was the domestic partner of William Moulton Marston and Elizabeth Holloway Marston. She has been credited as an inspiration for the comic book character Wonder Woman.