List of Famous people who died in 1979

Dimitris Psathas was a famous modern Greek satirist and playwright. He was born in Trabzon of Pontos in 1907 and died in Athens in 1979.

Anatoly Arkadyevich Kharlampiyev, was a Russian researcher of various kinds of national wrestling and martial arts, Merited Master of Sports of the USSR, and Honored Coach of Sports of the USSR. He was one of the founders of Sambo, a martial art technique developed in the Soviet Union. Kharlampiyev worked as a physical education trainer at the Communist University of the Toilers of the East, and also was a student of boxing, fencing, acrobatics, and mountaineering. In 1938, Kharlampiyev presented Sambo to the USSR All-Union Sports Committee, which recognized the martial art as an official sport.

Volodymyr Mykhailovych Ivasyuk or Volodymyr Ivasiuk was a Ukrainian songwriter, composer and poet. He is the author and composer of the widely popular song "Chervona Ruta" popularized by Sofia Rotaru in 1971, and later covered by other singers.

Josef Yakovlevich Kotin was a Soviet armored vehicle design engineer, Head of all three Leningrad armor design bureaux (1937–39), Chief Designer of the Narkomat for Tank Industry (1939-1941), Deputy Narkom for the tank industry of the Soviet Union (1941-1943), Director of the VNII-100 Research Institute at Kirov Plant, Deputy Defense Industry Minister of the Soviet Union 1968-1972. He is best known for leading the design of some of the Kliment Voroshilov tanks, IS tank family, T-10 tank, SU-152 self-propelled heavy howitzer, Kirovets K-700 tractor and many other armored vehicles and heavy machinery.

Airey Middleton Sheffield Neave, was a British soldier, lawyer and Member of Parliament.

Hirakushi Denchū or Hiragushi Denchū was a Japanese sculptor. He was noted for his traditional Japanese wood sculptures, especially realistically rendered painted wooden portrait sculptures, often incorporating Buddhist themes. He was appointed to the Imperial Art Academy in 1937 and in 1944 was appointed an Imperial Household Artist. He was named a Person of Cultural Merit in 1954 and in 1962 was awarded the Order of Cultural Merit.

Philippe Louis Edmé Marie François Erulin was a senior officer in the French Army. He came from a family of renowned officers and military traditions.

Princess Adelaide of Savoy-Genoa, was a daughter of Prince Thomas, Duke of Genoa and Princess Isabella of Bavaria.

Fernando Soler was a Mexican actor, director, screenwriter, and producer. He was considered one of the most important figures of the Golden Age of Mexican cinema. In his career spanning over sixty years, Soler appeared as an actor in more than one hundred motion pictures.

Consuelo, comtesse de Saint-Exupéry, was a Salvadoran-French writer and artist, and was married to the French aristocrat, writer and pioneering aviator Antoine de Saint-Exupéry.