List of Famous people who died in 1978

Olaf Christian Ditlev-Simonsen Jr. was a Norwegian footballer, sports administrator and businessperson.

Edward Oswald Gabriel Turville-Petre was an English philologist who specialized in Old Norse studies.

Dalal Mughrabi was a Palestinian militant who was a member of the Fatah faction of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and participated in the 1978 Coastal Road massacre in Israel. The attack resulted in the death of 38 Israeli civilians, including 13 children. Mughrabi and eight other militants were also killed in the course of the operation. While she has been hailed as a martyr and a national hero among many Palestinians, Israel and the United Nations have described her as a terrorist.

Chi Che Wang, also known as Wang Chi-Lian, was a Chinese biochemist and college professor. Wang was one of the first Chinese women to make a career in American higher education and scientific research.

Bengt Ronnie Peterson was a Swedish racing driver. Known by the nickname 'SuperSwede', he was a two-time runner-up in the Formula One World Drivers' Championship.

Josette Day was a French film actress.

Geertruida Wijsmuller-Meijer was a Dutch resistance fighter who brought Jewish children and adults into safety before and during the Second World War. Together with other people involved in the pre-war Kindertransport, she saved the lives of more than 10,000 Jewish children, fleeing anti-Semitism. She was honored as Righteous among the Nations by Yad Vashem. After the war she served on the Amsterdam city council.

Vera Petrovna Maretskaya was a Soviet and Russian stage and film actress. People's Artist of the USSR (1949) and Hero of Socialist Labour (1976).

Gürsel Aksel, was a Turkish former footballer who played as a midfielder. Aksel spent his entire professional career with Göztepe, and is their most capped player in their history. He had 3 caps with the Turkey national football team, and after retiring was briefly a manager before his untimely death in 1978.

Ivan Terentyevich Peresypkin was a Soviet General, statesman and wartime leader.