List of Famous people who died in 1998

Tully Filmus was an American realist painter.

René Andrieu was a French Communist Resistance fighter, journalist and politician. He served in the Francs-Tireurs et Partisans during World War II, and headed the Communist newspaper l'Humanité from 1958 to 1984. He was also part of the Central Committee of the French Communist Party.

Aisha Abd al-Rahman was an Egyptian author and professor of literature who published under the pen name Bint al-Shaṭiʾ.

Gelena Martselievna Velikanova was a Soviet traditional pop performer, popular in the 1950s and 1960s, best remembered for her 1959 hit "Landyshi". Honoured with the People's Artist of Russia title in 1992, Velikanova then lost her voice due to incompetent medical treatment and had to stop performing. She died in 1998, two hours before her farewell concert in Moscow.

Gilbert Favre was a clarinetist from Geneva, Switzerland. He trained at the Conservatory of Geneva, and also played jazz clarinet. In South America, he discovered the quena, and when he moved to Bolivia, he traded in his clarinet. In La Paz, he created the musical cabaret La Pena de Naira at the Place San Francisco featuring indigenous music. The club became a hub for the diplomatic corps stationed in La Paz, as well as a favorite for Bolivians. Gilbert was the founding member of the popular Bolivian folk group Los Jairas. Favre was commonly referred to as "El Gringo" by the Bolivian public. Favre traveled from Geneva to South America as assistant to the Swiss anthropologist Jean Christian Spahni. In Santiago, Favre met celebrated Chilean folk singer Violeta Parra and fell in love. Favre played quena with Violeta and her son Angel Parra. He appears on recordings as "El Tocador Afuerino". Favre eventually left for Bolivia, where he created La Pena de Naira and started experimenting with Andean music playing alongside virtuoso guitar player Alfredo Dominguez and renowned charango player Ernesto Cavour. Parra appeared several times at La Pena. Favre returned to Geneva in the early 1960s together with Parra; after a few years in Europe, they returned to South America. As the Trio Domínguez-Favre-Cavour gained media attention and became increasingly popular for their "neofolklore", Favre decided not to move back to Chile and left Parra for good; she would later write "Run Run Se Fue Pa'l Norte," dedicated to her lover. Violetta Parra would later commit suicide. Their relationship was portrayed in the award-winning film Violeta Went to Heaven (2011), in which Favre was played by Thomas Durand.

Born in Indiana and a dive shop pioneer in California, Mel Fisher was an American treasure hunter best known for finding the 1622 wreck of the Nuestra Señora de Atocha in Florida waters. Diving became a family business. He lost his son and daughter-in-law when their boat capsized and sank in 1975.

Alfred Garrievich Schnittke was a Soviet and German composer. Schnittke's early music shows the strong influence of Dmitri Shostakovich. He developed a polystylistic technique in works such as the epic Symphony No. 1 (1969–1972) and his first concerto grosso (1977). In the 1980s, Schnittke's music began to become more widely known abroad with the publication of his second (1980) and third (1983) string quartets and the String Trio (1985); the ballet Peer Gynt (1985–1987); the third (1981), fourth (1984), and fifth (1988) symphonies; and the viola concerto (1985) and first cello concerto (1985–1986). As his health deteriorated, Schnittke's music started to abandon much of the extroversion of his polystylism and retreated into a more withdrawn, bleak style.

Ricardo Tormo Blaya was a Spanish Grand Prix motorcycle road racer.

André Dewavrin DSO, MC was a French officer who served with Free French Forces intelligence services during World War II.

Wade Dominguez was an American actor, model, singer, and dancer best known for his role as Emilio Ramírez in Dangerous Minds.