List of Famous people who died in 1961

Percy Williams Bridgman was an American physicist who received the 1946 Nobel Prize in Physics for his work on the physics of high pressures. He also wrote extensively on the scientific method and on other aspects of the philosophy of science. The Bridgman effect and the Bridgman–Stockbarger technique are named after him.

Count Jerzy Józef Henryk Potocki was a Polish nobleman, captain of the cavalry and diplomat.

Klébert Balmat was a French skier. He competed at the 1924 Winter Olympics and the 1928 Winter Olympics.

William Kirkpatrick Magee, was an Irish author, editor, and librarian, who as an essayist and poet adopted the pen-name of John Eglinton. He became head librarian of the National Library of Ireland, after opposing the "cultural nationalism" of his time. From 1904 to 1905 he edited the literary journal Dana and was the biographer of George William Russell ("Æ").

Louis Marie Jules Charles Bastien was a French Esperantist and a quartermaster in the French army. In 1899 he married Marguerite Pfulb (1879–1941); the couple had three daughters and two sons. In school he learned mathematics, classical French literature, Latin and Greek and learned to compose Latin verse. After a year of preparatory studies at l'Ecole Sainte-Geneviève in Versailles he entered l'Ecole Polytechnique in 1887 at the age of 17. Not having the maturity of his older classmates, he did not excel in his studies and, on graduation in 1889, had to content himself with a military career.

Dr. Arnold Lucius Gesell was an American clinical psychologist, pediatrician and professor at Yale University known for his research and contributions to the field of child development.