List of Famous people who died at 86

Marco Pannella was an Italian politician, journalist and activist. He was well known in his country for his nonviolence and civil rights' campaigns, like the right to divorce, the right to abortion, the legalization of cannabis and the definitive abolition of nuclear power. Internationally, he supported human rights and self-determination causes, like the Tibetan independence and persecution of Christians in Vietnam.

Mildred Dresselhaus, known as the "Queen of Carbon Science", was an American nanotechnologist. She was an Institute Professor and Professor Emerita of physics and electrical engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dresselhaus won numerous awards including the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the National Medal of Science, the Enrico Fermi Award and the Vannevar Bush Award.

Shōichi Watanabe was an English scholar and one of Japan’s foremost cultural critics. He was born in Tsuruoka, Yamagata Prefecture. A graduate of Sophia University, where he obtained his Master’s degree, he completed his doctorate at University of Münster in 1958. Two volumes of autobiography on his years in Germany narrate his varied experiences during this period. Returning to his alma mater, he became successively lecturer, assistant professor and full professor, until his retirement. He served as emeritus professor at the same university until his death. A passionate book-collector, he was chairman of the Japan Bibliophile Society. His personal collection of books on English philology was perhaps his most important contribution to the field of English philology in Japan, containing many rare items.

Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau was a German lyric baritone and conductor of classical music, one of the most famous Lieder performers of the post-war period, best known as a singer of Franz Schubert's Lieder, particularly "Winterreise" of which his recordings with accompanist Gerald Moore and Jörg Demus are still critically acclaimed half a century after their release.

Jack Sears was a British race and rally driver, and was one of the principal organisers of the 1968 London-Sydney Marathon.

Umberto Lenzi was an Italian film director, screenwriter, and novelist.

Johann Georg Reißmüller was a German journalist, a co-publisher of the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ). He was a correspondent in Belgrade, then the capital of Yugoslavia, from 1967 to 1971. When the country broke up, he was instrumental in Germany recognizing Croatia and Slovenia.

Stavros Spyrou Niarchos was a billionaire Greek shipping tycoon. Starting in 1952, he had the world's biggest supertankers built for his fleet. Propelled by both the Suez Crisis and an increasing demand for oil, he and rival Aristotle Onassis became giants in global petroleum shipping.

Jean Martin was a French actor of stage and screen. Martin served in the French Resistance during World War II and later fought with the French paratroopers in Indochina. Theatrically, he is perhaps best known for originating two roles in Samuel Beckett's most famous plays: Lucky in Waiting for Godot, and Clov in Endgame. During the 1950s, he was a performer at the Théâtre National Populaire and also worked for radio plays.

Richard Wolfgang Sonnenfeldt was a Jewish American engineer and corporate executive most notable for being the U.S. prosecution team's chief interpreter in 1945 prior to the Nuremberg Trial after World War II.