List of Famous people who died in 1983

Pol F. Swings was a Belgian astrophysicist who was known for his studies of the composition and structure of stars and comets. He used spectroscopy to identify the elements in astronomical bodies, and, in particular, comets. Swings studied at the University of Liège, where he was professor of spectroscopy and astrophysics from 1932 to 1975. He was also a visiting professor at the University of Chicago in the United States.

Karl Johann Freudenberg was a German chemist who did early seminal work on the absolute configurations to carbohydrates, terpenes, and steroids, and on the structure of cellulose and other polysaccharides, and on the nature, structure, and biosynthesis of lignin. The Research Institute for the Chemistry of Wood and Polysaccharides at the University of Heidelberg was created for him in the mid to late 1930s, and he led this until 1969.

Otto Hermann Leopold Heckmann was a German astronomer.

Michael Witney was an American film and television actor.

Xavier Zubiri was a Spanish philosopher.

Gustav Sandgren was a Swedish author.

Nikolai Alexandrovich Kozyrev was a Soviet astronomer/astrophysicist.

Katherine Cassavetes was a Greek American actress. She was the mother of actor-director John Cassavetes and mother-in-law of actress Gena Rowlands. Her grandchildren are actor-directors Nick Cassavetes, Zoe Cassavetes, and Alexandra Cassavetes. She appeared in four films, three of which were written and directed by her son, including Minnie and Moskowitz (1971).