List of Famous people who died in 2002

Lionel Poilâne was a French baker and entrepreneur whose commitment to crafting quality bread earned him worldwide renown. His father, Pierre Poilâne started a baking business in 1932, creating bread using stone-ground flour, natural fermentation and a wood-fired oven. Lionel took over the bakery in 1970, continuing the traditional methods.

Zeid Ibn Shaker, GBE, CVO served as commander-in-chief of the Jordanian military for more than twelve years and Prime Minister of Jordan three times. King Hussein awarded him the non-hereditary title prince on 4 February 1996.

John Justin was a British stage and film actor.

James Tobin was an American economist who served on the Council of Economic Advisers and consulted with the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, and taught at Harvard and Yale Universities. He developed the ideas of Keynesian economics, and advocated government intervention to stabilize output and avoid recessions. His academic work included pioneering contributions to the study of investment, monetary and fiscal policy and financial markets. He also proposed an econometric model for censored dependent variables, the well-known Tobit model.

Osman Bölükbaşı was a Turkish politician and political party leader.

Vicente Nebrada was a Venezuelan dancer and choreographer. Born in Caracas, Nebrada began his career as a dancer with the National Ballet of Venezuela, Alicia Alonso's National Ballet of Cuba, with Roland Petit in Paris, and with the Joffrey Ballet (1959). Nebrada was a founding member of the Harkness Ballet, where he created his first ballet Percussion for Six Men, in 1969.

Hans Paetsch was a German actor. He appeared in 52 films between 1939 and 2002. He is most notable for his voice acting, especially as a narrator of fairy tales and audio dramas.

Douglas Glenn Colvin, known professionally as Dee Dee Ramone, was an American musician, singer, rapper, and songwriter best known for being a founding member of the punk rock band the Ramones, in which he played bass. Throughout the band's existence, Dee Dee was the band's most prolific lyricist and composer, writing many of their best-known songs, such as "53rd & 3rd", "Commando", "Wart Hog", "Rockaway Beach", "Poison Heart" and "Bonzo Goes To Bitburg". The latter won the New York Music Award for best independent single of the year in 1986, while Animal Boy, which the song is from, won for best album.

Odete Cipriano Serpa, better known as Yara Cortes was a Brazilian actress.

Kōki Ishii was a Japanese politician of the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) born in Setagaya, Tokyo. A lifelong reformist, he was murdered under suspicious circumstances.