List of Famous people who died in 1982

Hugh Everett III was an American physicist who first proposed the many-worlds interpretation (MWI) of quantum physics, which he termed his "relative state" formulation. In contrast to the then-dominant Copenhagen interpretation, the MWI posits that the Schrödinger equation never collapses and that all possibilities of a quantum superposition are objectively real.

Adolf Rott was a German theatre director, theatre artistic director, and theatre manager. From 1954 to 1959, he was director of the Vienna Burgtheater.

Anthony Colin Bruce Chapman was an influential English design engineer, inventor, and builder in the automotive industry, and founder of Lotus Cars.

Hans-Joachim von Merkatz was a German politician. He was Federal Minister of Justice from 1956 to 1957. He was a member of the Bundestag from 1949 to 1961. He was a member of the German Party before joining the Christian Democrats in 1960.

William Cameron Townsend was an American Christian missionary-linguist who founded Wycliffe Bible Translators and the Summer Institute of Linguistics, both of which emphasized translation of the Bible into minority languages and the development of literacy and bilingual education programs.