List of Famous people who died at 81

Frank L. Marocco was an American piano-accordionist, arranger and composer. He was recognized as one of the most recorded accordionists in the world.

Angelo Brignole was an Italian racing cyclist. He was an active cyclist between 1946 and 1950. He rode in the 1949 Tour de France.

Viswanatha Satyanarayana was a 20th-century Telugu writer. His works included poetry, novels, dramatic play, short stories and speeches, covering a wide range of subjects such as analysis of history, philosophy, religion, sociology, political science, linguistics, psychology and consciousness studies, epistemology, aesthetics and spiritualism. He was a student of the illustrious Telugu writer Chellapilla Venkata Sastry, of the Tirupati Venkata Kavulu duo. Viswanatha's wrote in both a modern and classical style, in complex modes. His popular works include Ramayana Kalpa Vrukshamu, Kinnersani Patalu and the novel Veyipadagalu. Among many awards, he was awarded the Jnanpith Award in 1970, the first for a Telugu writer, and Padma Bhushan in 1971.

Nino Terzo was an Italian actor.

Muḥsin Sayyid Mahdī was an Iraqi-American Islamologist and Arabist. He was a leading authority on Arabian history, philology, and philosophy. His best-known work was the first critical edition of the One Thousand and One Nights.