List of Famous people who died in 1979

Bolesław Szabelski was a Polish composer of modern classical music. While his style shifted and varied over the course of his life, he is best known for his atonal work composed during the 1950s and 1960s.

Louis Gerhardus Dunn (1908-1979) was a South African-born engineer who played a key role in the development of early American missiles and launch vehicles.

Lt. Col. Ahmed Ould Bouceif was a Mauritanian military and political leader. In April 1979, he seized power in a coup d'état together with Col. Mohamed Khouna Ould Haidallah and other officers, ousting Col. Mustafa Ould Salek from power. He became the 2nd Prime Minister of Mauritania in the new government. He was killed the following month in an airplane crash off the coast of Dakar, Senegal, at which point Haidallah emerged as the regime's main strongman.