List of Famous people who died in 1961

Ralf Johan Gustaf Törngren was a Finnish politician, born in Oulu. He was the party leader of the Swedish People's Party (1945–1955), a member of the Finnish parliament and the Prime Minister of Finland 5 May – 20 October 1954. In the Finnish presidential elections of 1956, he won 20 electoral votes.

Ferdinand Reinhardt Bie was a Norwegian track and field athlete. At the 1912 Summer Olympics in Stockholm he won the silver medal in pentathlon. On winner Jim Thorpe's subsequent disqualification for professionalism in 1913, Bie was declared Olympic champion, but refused to accept the gold medal from the IOC. In 1982 Thorpe was reinstated as champion by the IOC; however, Bie was still listed as co-champion. He also finished eleventh in the long jump, and competed in 110 metres hurdles and decathlon, but failed to finish. He became Norwegian champion in long jump in 1910 and 1917 and in 110 m hurdles in 1910.

Nicola Canali was an Italian Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as President of the Pontifical Commission for Vatican City State from 1939 and as Major Penitentiary from 1941 until his death, and was elevated to the cardinalate in 1935. He was Grand Master of the Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem, a prestigious papal order of knighthood.

Konstantinos I. Logothetopoulos was a distinguished Greek medical doctor who became Prime Minister of Greece, directing the Greek collaborationist government during the Axis occupation of Greece during World War II.

Shri Krishna Sinha, also known as Shri Babu, was the first chief minister of the Indian state of Bihar (1946–61). Except for the period of World War II, Sinha was the chief minister of Bihar from the time of the first Congress Ministry in 1937 until his death in 1961. Along with the Desh Ratna Rajendra Prasad and Bihar Vibhuti Anugrah Narayan Sinha, Sinha is regarded among the 'Architects of Modern Bihar'. He also led the Dalit entry into the Baidyanath Dham temple, which reflected his commitment towards the upliftment and social empowerment of the Dalits. He was the first chief minister in the country to abolish the zamindari system. He underwent different terms of imprisonment for a total of about eight years in British India. Sinha's mass meetings brought hordes of people to hear him. He was known as Bihar Kesari for his lionlike roars when he rose to address the masses. His close friend and eminent Gandhian Bihar Vibhuti A.N. Sinha in his essay Mere Shri Babu wrote that, "Since 1921, the History of Bihar has been the history of the life of Shri Babu".