List of Famous people who died in 1978

Sheikh Abdel-Halim Mahmoud served as Grand Imam of al-Azhar from 1973 until his death in 1978. Called “avuncular and beloved” by some, he was known for his modernizing approach to teaching at Al-Azhar University, preaching moderation and embracing modern science as a religious duty.

Diana Budisavljević was an Austrian humanitarian who led a major relief effort in Yugoslavia during World War II. From October 1941, on her initiative and involving many co-workers, she organized and provided assistance to mostly Serbian Orthodox women and children detained in the Ustaše camps in the Independent State of Croatia, a Nazi puppet state established in occupied Yugoslavia. The operation, known as "Action Diana Budisavljević", succeeded in saving around 10,000 children. Budisavljević described the course of the Action in a diary, starting with 23 October 1941 and the final entry on 7 February 1947. The diary was released in Croatian in 2003. After her story was better publicized in 2012, she received substantial posthumous recognition.

Anna Helena Margaretha (Annie) Romein-Verschoor was a Dutch author and historian. She received the Constantijn Huygens Prize in 1970.

Wadie Haddad, also known as Abu Hani, was a Palestinian leader of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine's armed wing. He was responsible for organizing several civilian airplane hijackings in support of the Palestinian cause in the 1960s and 1970s.

Kurt Arthur Benno Student was a German general in the Luftwaffe during World War II. An early pioneer of airborne forces, Student was in overall command of developing a paratrooper force to be known as the Fallschirmjäger, and as the most senior member of the Fallschirmjäger, commanded it throughout the war. Student led the first major airborne attack in history, the Battle for The Hague in May 1940. He also commanded the Fallschirmjägers in its last major airborne operation, the invasion of Crete in May 1941. The operation was a success despite German losses, and led the Allies to hasten the training and development of their own airborne units.

Francisco Luis Bernárdez was an Argentine poet, born in Buenos Aires.

Emilio Cándido Portes Gil was President of Mexico from 1928 to 1930, one of three to serve out the six-year term of President-elect General Álvaro Obregón, who had been assassinated in 1928. Since the Mexican Constitution of 1917 forbade re-election of a serving president, incumbent President Plutarco Elías Calles could not formally retain the presidency. Portes Gil replaced him, but Calles, the "Jefe Máximo", retained effective political power during what is known as the Maximato.

Antoine Frangieh, better known by his diminutive, Tony Frangieh, طوني فرنجية ) was a Lebanese politician and militia commander during the early years of the Lebanese Civil War. He was the son of Suleiman Frangieh, a former Lebanese president.

Prince Roman Petrovich of Russia was a member of the House of Romanov.

Lina Carstens was a German film and theater actress. On stage she appeared in plays by Gerhart Hauptmann, Arthur Schnitzler, and August Strindberg, and in her old age she starred in the film Lina Braake directed by Bernhard Sinkel.