List of Famous people who died at 87

Jiří Kolář Czech pronunciation (help·info) was a Czech poet, writer, painter and translator. His work included both literary and visual art.

Gisela Trowe was a German actress and voice actress.

Gu Jiegang was a Chinese historian best known for his seven-volume work Gushi Bian. He was a co-founder and the leading force of the Doubting Antiquity School, and was highly influential in the 20th century development of Chinese history.

Cesare Rubini was an Italian professional basketball player and coach, and a water polo player. He was considered to be one of the greatest European basketball coaches of all time, Rubini was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1994, making him the first, and to this day, just one of three Italian basketball figures to receive such an honour, alongside Dino Meneghin and Sandro Gamba. He was also inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame in 2000.

Elizabeth Montague Ryan was an American-British tennis player who was born in Anaheim, California, but lived most of her life in the United Kingdom. Ryan won 26 Grand Slam titles, 19 in women's doubles and mixed doubles at Wimbledon, an all-time record for those two events. Twelve of her Wimbledon titles were in women's doubles and seven were in mixed doubles. Ryan also won four women's doubles titles at the French Championships, as well as one women's doubles title and two mixed-doubles titles at the U.S. Championships.

Therese Zenz was a Saar-born German sprint canoer. She took part in the 1952, 1956 and 1960 Olympics and won three silver medals for the United Team of Germany in 1956 and 1960. At the 1952 games she competed for Saar and finished ninth in the K-1 500 metres event. She later became a coach for the West German team.

Francisco da Costa Gomes, ComTE, GOA was a Portuguese military officer and politician, the 15th President of the Portuguese Republic.

Georg Eder was an Austrian Roman Catholic bishop. Because of his strict conservatism, reported one obituary, he was frequently the center of public controversy.

Korkut Özal was a Turkish engineer and politician. He was the brother of Turkish President Turgut Özal and Yusuf Bozkurt Özal.

Augusto Roa Bastos was a Paraguayan novelist and short story writer. As a teenager he fought in the Chaco War between Paraguay and Bolivia, and he later worked as a journalist, screenwriter and professor. He is best known for his complex novel Yo el Supremo and for winning the Premio Miguel de Cervantes in 1989, Spanish literature's most prestigious prize. Yo el Supremo explores the dictations and inner thoughts of José Gaspar Rodríguez de Francia, the eccentric dictator of Paraguay who ruled with an iron fist, from 1814 until his death in 1840.