List of Famous people who died in 1998

Karl Schirdewan was a German communist activist who after 1945 became a top East German politician.

Anne Cécile Desclos was a French journalist and novelist who wrote under the pseudonyms Dominique Aury and Pauline Réage, and is best known for her erotic novel Histoire d'O.

Jerome Robbins was an American choreographer, director, dancer, and theater producer who worked in classical ballet, on stage, film, and television. Among his numerous stage productions were On the Town, Peter Pan, High Button Shoes, The King and I, The Pajama Game, Bells Are Ringing, West Side Story, Gypsy, and Fiddler on the Roof. Robbins was a five-time Tony Award-winner and a recipient of the Kennedy Center Honors. He received two Academy Awards, including the 1961 Academy Award for Best Director with Robert Wise for West Side Story.

Vladimir Petrovich Demikhov was a Soviet scientist and organ transplantation pioneer, who performed several transplants in the 1940s and 1950s, including the transplantation of a heart into an animal and a heart–lung replacement in an animal. He is also well known for his dog head transplants, which he conducted during the 1950s, resulting in two-headed dogs. This ultimately led to the head transplants in monkeys by Dr. Robert White, who was inspired by Demikhov's work.

Valeri Semyonovich Frid was a Soviet screenwriter.

Mikio Oda was a Japanese athlete and the first Japanese Olympic gold medalist. He was the first Asian Olympic champion in an individual event.

Gérard Séty (1922–1998) was a French actor.

Patrick de Gayardon was a French skydiver, skysurfer and a BASE jumper.

Dany Bustros was a Lebanese belly dancer, socialite and stage actress. Renown throughout the middle east. She was a member of the Bustros family, a prominent clan in Lebanese society. At the height of her career she was considered to be "Lebanon's Leading Belly dancer" who had successfully combined traditional dance with western dance forms such as Flamenco and Modern.

Niklas Luhmann was a German sociologist, philosopher of social science, and a prominent thinker in systems theory, who is considered one of the most important social theorists of the 20th century.