List of Famous people who died in 1978

Dr. Rudolf Paul was a German politician. He studied law in Berlin and Leipzig and practiced as a lawyer in Gera. He was a member of the German Democratic Party until its dissolution in 1933. Under the Nazi Regime, he was banned from his profession. Paul was appointed as mayor of Gera on May 7, 1945 by the American city commander. After the American retreat from Thuringia, the Soviet military administration appointed him as first Minister-President of the state on July 16, 1945. He became a member of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany in 1946. On September 1, 1947, he fled into the American occupation zone.

Léon Lommel was a Luxembourgian prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as Bishop of Luxembourg from 1956 to 1971.

Luther Wallace Youngdahl was the 27th governor of Minnesota and a United States District Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia.

Costante Girardengo was an Italian professional road bicycle racer, considered by many to be one of the finest riders in the history of the sport. He was the first rider to be declared a "Campionissimo" or "champion of champions" by the Italian media and fans. At the height of his popularity in the 1920s he was said to be more popular than Mussolini and it was decreed that all express trains should stop in his home town Novi Ligure, an honour only normally awarded to heads of state.

Queenie Smith was an American stage, television, and film actress.