List of Famous people who died in 1972

Sir Basil Ferdinand Jamieson Schonland OMG CBE FRS was noted for his research on lightning, his involvement in the development of radar during World War II and for being the first president of the South African Council for Scientific and Industrial Research.

George Ramsay Acland Mills was a British preparatory schoolmaster and an author of children's adventure stories. His whimsical tales often revolve around boys' preparatory schools in Great Britain and often involve sports like cricket, pranks, and mysteries, as well as a beloved pet bulldog, Uggles. He was born in Bude, Cornwall and died in Devonshire.

Ivar Rooth was a Swedish lawyer and economist. He served as Governor of the Swedish National Bank from 1929 to 1948 and as the second head of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) from 1951 to 1956. He was also a member of the board of directors of the Bank of International Settlements.

Maurice Thiriet was a French composer of classical and film music.

Kenneth Essex Edgeworth was an Army officer, engineer, economist and independent theoretical astronomer. He was born 26 February 1880 in Street, County Westmeath. Edgeworth is best known for proposing the existence of a disc of bodies beyond the orbit of Neptune in the 1930s. Observations later confirmed the existence of the Edgeworth-Kuiper belt in 1992. Today those distant solar system bodies including Pluto, Eris, and Makemake, are grouped into the Edgeworth-Kuiper belt, or Kuiper belt.