List of Famous people who died at 97

George Edwin Mueller, was an American electrical engineer who was an associate administrator at NASA who headed the Office of Manned Space Flight from September 1963 until December 1969. Hailed as one of NASA's "most brilliant and fearless managers", he was instrumental in introducing the all-up testing philosophy for the Saturn V launch vehicle, which ensured the success of the Apollo program in landing a man on the Moon and returning him safely to the Earth by the end of 1969. Mueller also played a key part in the design of Skylab, and championed the space shuttle's development, which earned him the nickname, "the father of the space shuttle."

Jean-Pierre Richard was a French writer and literary critic.

Maria Wittek served in the Polish Army and associated organizations from age 18 and, following retirement, in 1991 became the first Polish woman to be promoted to brigadier-general.

Romesh Chandra was an Indian leader of the Communist Party of India (CPI). He took part in the Indian independence struggle as student leader of CPI after joining it in 1939. He held various posts within the party. He became president of the World Peace Council in 1977.

Prince Alexander Golitzen (Golitsyn), was a Russian-born American production designer who oversaw art direction on more than 300 movies.

Horst Schulze was a German actor and opera singer. He was born in Dresden and died in Berlin at the age of 97.

Susan E. Cernyak-Spatz was an Austrian-born professor of German language and literature at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. She was a Holocaust survivor. Her memoir, Protective Custody: Prisoner 34042, was published in 2005.

Ivan Vidav was a Slovenian mathematician.

Maya Kuliyeva was a Turkmeni operatic soprano and actress of the Soviet era.

Luis Manuel Miquilena Hernández was a Venezuelan politician. He was involved in politics in the 1940s, and again after the 1958 restoration of democracy, but retired from politics in 1964 until the early 1990s, pursuing a career in business. He was then an early supporter of Hugo Chávez' post-1992 political career, and was the Venezuelan Minister of Interior and Justice from 2001 to 2002, when he resigned.