List of Famous people who died in 1997

Andrés Rodríguez Pedotti was a Paraguayan military officer who served as the President of Paraguay from February 3, 1989, to August 15, 1993. He assumed the presidency in a coup d'état against the 35-year dictator Alfredo Stroessner.

Manfred von Ardenne was a German researcher and applied physicist and inventor. He took out approximately 600 patents in fields including electron microscopy, medical technology, nuclear technology, plasma physics, and radio and television technology. From 1928 to 1945, he directed his private research laboratory Forschungslaboratorium für Elektronenphysik. For ten years after World War II, he worked in the Soviet Union on their atomic bomb project and was awarded a Stalin Prize. Upon his return to the then East Germany, he started another private laboratory, Forschungsinstitut Manfred von Ardenne.

Martin Kippenberger was a German artist and sculptor known for his extremely prolific output in a wide range of styles and media, superfiction as well as his provocative, jocular and hard-drinking public persona.

Volker Prechtel was a German actor. He appeared in 52 films and television shows between 1974 and 1997.

Brendan Smyth O.Praem was a Catholic priest from Belfast, Northern Ireland, who became notorious as a child molester, using his position in the Catholic Church to obtain access to his victims. During a period of over 40 years, Smyth sexually abused and indecently assaulted at least 143 children in parishes in Belfast, Dublin and the United States. His actions were frequently hidden from police and the public by Roman Catholic officials. Controversy surrounding his case contributed to the downfall of the government of Republic of Ireland in December 1994.

Gunpei Yokoi , sometimes transliterated Gumpei Yokoi, was a Japanese video game designer. He was a long-time Nintendo employee, best known as creator of the Game & Watch handheld system, inventor of the "cross" shaped Control Pad, the original designer of the Game Boy, and producer of a few long-running and critically acclaimed video game franchises, such as Metroid and Kid Icarus.

Füreya Koral is one of the pioneering ceramics artists in Turkey. Known for her wall panels, Koral worked in a variety of media such as tiles, statuettes, plates, and also created household items. She started working on ceramics after she was diagnosed with tuberculosis, while receiving treatment at a sanatorium in Switzerland. She was a self-taught artist and her works were mostly ignored during her lifetime. Seeking to push the limits of ceramics beyond its function, she was inspired by the art of ancient civilizations of Turkey, Mexico and East Asia—Japan in particular. Her work is commonly known to carry a mix of Western and Eastern artistic elements.

Sviatoslav Teofilovich Richter was a Soviet and Russian pianist who is generally regarded as one of the greatest pianists of all time. He is known for the "depth of his interpretations, his virtuoso technique, and his vast repertoire."

Masuo Ikeda was a Japanese painter, printmaker, illustrator, sculptor, ceramist, novelist, and film director from Nagano Prefecture.

Yevgeni Alexeyevich Lebedev was a Soviet and Russian film and theater actor, and teacher. People's Artist of the USSR (1968).