List of Famous people who died in 2009

Al Alberts was an American popular singer and composer.

Luis María de Larrea y Legarreta was a Spanish Bishop of the Roman Catholic Church. At the age of 91, he was one of the oldest bishops in the Church.

Åse Carola Wentzel Larsen, née Helmersen was a Norwegian pop singer.

Meir Amit was an Israeli politician and cabinet minister. He served as the Chief Director and the head of global operations for Mossad from 1963 to 1968, before entering into politics and holding two ministerial positions. He was also widely regarded as the most successful intelligence officer and a leading political figure for Israel.

Aleksei Stepanovich Petrov was a Russian cyclist. He competed in the road race and 100 km team time trial at the 1960 and 1964 Summer Olympics. In the time trial he won a bronze medal in 1960 and finished in fifth place in 1964; in the road race he finished 62nd in 1964.

Ernst Benda was a German legal scholar, politician and judge. He served as the fourth president of the Federal Constitutional Court of Germany from 1971 to 1983. Benda briefly served as Minister of the Interior of Germany.

Mohamed M. Atalla was an Egyptian-American engineer, physical chemist, cryptographer, inventor and entrepreneur. He was a semiconductor pioneer who made important contributions to modern electronics. He is best known for inventing the MOSFET in 1959, which along with Atalla's earlier surface passivation and thermal oxidation processes, revolutionized the electronics industry. He is also known as the founder of the data security company Atalla Corporation, founded in 1972. He received the Stuart Ballantine Medal and was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame for his important contributions to semiconductor technology as well as data security.

Charles Gwathmey was an American architect. He was a principal at Gwathmey Siegel & Associates Architects, as well as one of the five architects identified as The New York Five in 1969. Gwathmey was perhaps best known for the 1992 renovation of Frank Lloyd Wright's Guggenheim Museum in New York City.

Lars Reinhold Schmidt was a Swedish theatrical producer, director and publisher. He owned theaters in Paris, France and Sweden. Schmidt was instrumental in bringing American theater to the European stage. He produced and translated numerous post-war American plays in Europe; including A Street Car Named Desire, Cat On A Hot Tin Roof, Oklahoma! and Anne Frank. He is considered one of the most important cultural personalities of the 20th century evolution and commercialization of European theatre. In a 1964 Life magazine article, he was called "Europe's most important theatrical producer." Lars Schmidt married three-time Academy Award-winning film star Ingrid Bergman in December 1958.