List of Famous people who died in 2008

Li Ximing was the Communist Party boss in Beijing during the 1989 crackdown on pro-democracy protests in the capital and across the country.

Maharishi Mahesh Yogi was an Indian guru, known for developing the Transcendental Meditation technique and for being the leader and guru of a worldwide organization that has been characterized in multiple ways including as a new religious movement and as non-religious. He became known as Maharishi and Yogi as an adult.

Leopoldo Ramón Pedro Calvo-Sotelo y Bustelo, 1st Marquess of Ría de Ribadeo, usually known as Leopoldo Calvo-Sotelo, was Prime Minister of Spain between 1981 and 1982.

Natalia Igorevna Bessmertnova was a Soviet prima ballerina of the Bolshoi Ballet and a People's Artist of the USSR (1976).

Rubens de Falco da Costa was a Brazilian actor best known for his work in telenovelas, specifically his portrayal as a slave owner in the 1976 telenovela, Escrava Isaura and the 1986 telenovela Sinhá Moça.

Tetsuya Chikushi was a Japanese journalist, TV presenter and news anchor.

Jacques Piccard was a Swiss oceanographer and engineer, known for having developed underwater submarines for studying ocean currents. In the Challenger Deep, he and Lt. Don Walsh of the United States Navy were the first people to explore the deepest known part of the world's ocean, and the deepest known location on the surface of Earth's crust, the Mariana Trench, located in the western North Pacific Ocean.

Heinz Paul Johann Felfe was a German spy.

Lansana Conté was a Guinean politician and military official who served as the second President of Guinea, from 3 April 1984 until his death on 22 December 2008. Conté came to power in the 1984 Guinean coup d'état.

Miyuki Kanbe was a Japanese actress, model and singer. Throughout her career, she starred as Sailor Moon in the Sailor Moon musicals, as well as portraying Hinaka Tachibana in Kamen Rider Hibiki and Kyouko Kakehi in Battle Royale II. In addition to acting, Kanbe also pursued a singing career, where her songs were used as the theme songs to the anime series Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch.