List of Famous people who died in 1972

Georg Hans Madelung was a German academic and aeronautical engineer. Madelung studied at several German Technical Universities before his service as a pilot in the First World War. After the war he lectured and worked in Germany and the United States, working on a number of significant aeronautical achievements. Madelung joined the Nazi Party in 1937, and during the Second World War was involved with aeronautical warfare research, including work with Wernher von Braun's rocket program. After the cessation of hostilities, Madelung resumed academic work in both Germany and the USA. Madelung's research at the Naval Medical Research Institute, Bethesda, Maryland included the effects of high acceleration on the human body. He permanently returned to live in Germany from 1954 until his death in 1972. The second son of his marriage to Elisabeth Emma née Messerschmidt is Wilferd Madelung, a noted scholar in Islamic studies.

Robert Theodor Camillo Dinesen was a Danish film actor and director. He is buried with his third wife, German actress Margarete Schön, at the Friedhof Heerstraße cemetery in Berlin-Westend.

Franco Indovina was an Italian film director and screenwriter. In 1959, he was assistant of Michelangelo Antonioni on the set of L'Avventura. He directed six films between 1965 and 1971.

Julian Haynes Steward was an American anthropologist best known for his role in developing "the concept and method" of cultural ecology, as well as a scientific theory of culture change.

Pierre Lazareff (1907–1972) was a French newspaper editor and publisher.

Mieczysława Ćwiklińska-Steinsberg was a Polish film actress, stage actor, and singer. She was often nicknamed Lińska or Amiette.

Rostom Sipan Bagdasarian, known professionally by his stage name David Seville, was an American singer-songwriter, record producer, and actor, best known for creating the cartoon band Alvin and the Chipmunks. Initially a stage and film actor, he rose to prominence in 1958 with the songs "Witch Doctor" and "The Chipmunk Song ", which both became Billboard number-one singles. He produced and directed The Alvin Show, which aired on CBS in 1961–62.