List of Famous people who died in 2009

Takiko Mizunoe , born Umeko Miura , was a Japanese actress, film producer, and radio and TV presenter. She was born in Otaru, Hokkaido, and began her career by acting in Shochiku's musical theatre troupe. Later she became one of Japan’s first female film producers, working with the actors Yujiro Ishihara and Masumi Okada and the director Koreyoshi Kurahara at Nikkatsu during the studio’s golden age. Films she produced include Season of the Sun and Crazed Fruit. She also twice hosted the New Year’s Eve music show Kōhaku Uta Gassen.

Willibrordus Surendra Broto Rendra, widely known as Rendra or W. S. Rendra, was an Indonesian dramatist, poet, activist, performer, actor and director.

Valentin Ivanovich Varennikov was a Soviet/Russian Army general and politician, best known for being one of the planners and leaders of the Soviet–Afghan War, as well as one of the instigators of the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt.

Saim Gazanfer Özcan was a Turkish actor.

Kaoru Kurimoto was the pen name of Sumiyo Imaoka , a Japanese novelist. Imaoka also used the pen name Azusa Nakajima to write criticism and music. She was known for her record-breaking 130-volume Guin Saga series, which has been translated into English, German, French, Italian and Russian. Her style has been described as being part of the New Wave science fiction movement. Outside of her literary endeavors, she was a playwright, composer, and pianist who performed with her own jazz ensemble, the Azusa Nakajima Trio.

Alicia de Larrocha y de la Calle was a Spanish pianist and composer. She was considered one of the great piano legends of the 20th century. Reuters called her "the greatest Spanish pianist in history", Time "one of the world's most outstanding pianists", and The Guardian "the leading Spanish pianist of her time".

Chen Wentong, better known by his pen name Liang Yusheng, was a Chinese writer. Credited as the pioneer of the "New School" (新派) of the wuxia genre in the 20th century, Chen was one of the best known wuxia writers in the later half of the century, alongside Jin Yong and Gu Long.

Hideyuki Fujisawa , also known as Shuko Fujisawa, was a Japanese professional Go player. A younger uncle of another professional, Hosai Fujisawa and grandfather of professional Go player Hideyuki Fujisawa.

Shingo Sawada is a Japanese professional shogi player ranked 7-dan.

Hans-Joachim Bohlmann was a German serial vandal who primarily targeted artworks at public exhibitions. Between 1977 and 2006, he damaged over 50 paintings worth more than 270 million Deutsche Marks by such artists as Rubens, Rembrandt and Dürer.