List of Famous people who died in 1956

Cornelius Lott Shear (1865–1956) was an American mycologist and plant pathologist. In 1908 he created the American Phytopathological Society. He was the first to describe the grass Bromus arizonicus.

Marie Laurencin was a French painter and printmaker. She became an important figure in the Parisian avant-garde as a member of the Cubists associated with the Section d'Or.

Baron Ernst Viktor Lorenz von Born was a Finnish lawyer, farmer and politician. He served as Minister of the Interior from March 1931 to December 1932 and from December 1939 to May 1941, Minister without Portfolio in 1939 and Minister of Justice from 8 August to 17 November 1944. He was a member of the Parliament of Finland from 1919 to 1954, representing the Swedish People's Party of Finland (SFP). He was the chairman of the SFP from 1935 to 1945 and again from 1955 to 1956.

Piet or Pieter Ouborg was a Dutch artist. He started out in life as a teacher; this profession was threatened with interruption by the outbreak of World War I when Ouborg was liable to enlistment. He managed to evade military service by taking up a teaching position in the Dutch East Indies. While there, Ouborg took up drawing and painting. Returning to the Netherlands after the war, Ouborg found himself drawn to the work of Vincent van Gogh. In 1923 he began to experiment with painting in the Cubist style. In 1931, Ouborg visited Brussels and found himself drawn towards surrealism. During World War II and its immediate aftermath, Ouborg was drawn increasingly into the circle of the COBRA and its members such as Karel Appel and Corneille.

Pietro Badoglio, 1st Duke of Addis Abeba, 1st Marquess of Sabotino, was an Italian general during both World Wars and the first viceroy of Italian East Africa. With the fall of the Fascist regime in Italy, he became Prime Minister of Italy.