List of Famous people who died at 81

Ljubomir "Ljuba" Popović was a Serbian surrealist painter. He is renowned for his many erotic and unconventionally juxtaposed subject matters.

Field Marshal Phin Choonhavan was a Thai military leader and Deputy Prime Minister of Thailand. Phin was a leader of several coups against the government, most notably the 1947 coup. During the Second World War, he commanded the Phayap Army's 3rd Division before being made military governor of the Shan States, which Thailand had occupied during the Burma Campaign.

Luis Federico Leloir was an Argentine physician and biochemist who received the 1970 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his discovery of the metabolic pathways in lactose. Although born in France, Leloir received the majority of his education at the University of Buenos Aires and was director of the private research group Fundación Instituto Campomar until his death in 1987. His research into sugar nucleotides, carbohydrate metabolism, and renal hypertension garnered international attention and led to significant progress in understanding, diagnosing and treating the congenital disease galactosemia. Luis Leloir is buried in La Recoleta Cemetery, Buenos Aires.

Karol Cyryl Modzelewski was a Polish historian, writer, politician and academic of Russian origin, one of the leading figures of the democratic opposition in the Polish People's Republic from the 1960s to the 1980s.

Werner Milch was a German lawyer.

Erwin Strittmatter was a German writer. Strittmatter was one of the most famous writers in the GDR.

Mohamed Salah Dembri was an Algerian politician. He was Minister of Foreign Affairs of Algeria from 1993 to 1996.

Joaquín Capilla Pérez, was a Mexican diver who won the largest number of Olympic medals among Mexican athletes. Together with his elder brother Alberto he competed in the 3 m springboard and 10 m platform at the 1948, 1952 and 1956 Olympics and won one gold, one silver and two bronze medals, finishing fourth in the two remaining competitions. He also won four medals at the Pan American Games, in 1951 and 1955. After retiring from competitions Capilla descended into poverty, chain smoking and alcoholism, eventually losing his family and home. He recovered owing to religion and later earned a degree in theology. In 2009 he was awarded the National Sports Award. He died the next year as a result of cardiac arrest.

Joseph Gourmelon was a French politician who served as a Deputy.

István Csom was a Hungarian chess player who held the FIDE titles of Grandmaster and International Arbiter. FIDE awarded him the International Master title in 1967 and the Grandmaster title in 1973. He was Hungarian Champion in 1972 and 1973 (jointly). His tournament victories include Olot 1973, Cleveland 1975, Olot 1975, Pula Zonal 1975, Berlin 1979, Copenhagen 1983, Järvenpää 1985 and Delhi 1987.