List of Famous people who died in 1972

Louis Joel Mordell was an American-born British mathematician, known for pioneering research in number theory. He was born in Philadelphia, United States, in a Jewish family of Lithuanian extraction.

Joseph Cornell was an American artist and film maker, one of the pioneers and most celebrated exponents of assemblage. Influenced by the Surrealists, he was also an avant-garde experimental filmmaker. He was largely self-taught in his artistic efforts, and improvised his own original style incorporating cast-off and discarded artifacts. He lived most of his life in relative physical isolation, caring for his mother and his disabled brother at home, but remained aware of and in contact with other contemporary artists.

Pradhana Shiromani Sir Nyapathi Madhava Rau, CIE was an Indian civil servant and administrator who served as the Diwan of Mysore from 1941 to 1945. He was a member of the Drafting Committee of the Indian Constitution.

Victor Milner, A.S.C. was an American cinematographer. He was nominated for ten cinematography Academy Awards, winning once for 1934 Cleopatra. Milner worked on more than 130 films, including dramas, comedies, film noir, and Westerns. He worked for large production companies like Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Universal, and Paramount during his film career.