List of Famous people who died in 2016

Lloyd Stowell Shapley was an American mathematician and Nobel Prize-winning economist. He contributed to the fields of mathematical economics and especially game theory. Shapley is generally considered one of the most important contributors to the development of game theory since the work of von Neumann and Morgenstern. With Alvin E. Roth, Shapley won the 2012 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences "for the theory of stable allocations and the practice of market design."

Abner Joseph Mikva was an American politician, federal judge, lawyer and law professor. He was a member of the Democratic Party. Mikva served in the United States House of Representatives representing Illinois's 2nd congressional district (1969–1973) and 10th congressional district (1975–1979). He was appointed as a United States Circuit Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit by President Jimmy Carter, serving from 1979 to 1994. He served as the White House Counsel in 1994-95 during Bill Clinton's presidency. In his later career, Mikva taught law at University of Chicago Law School, Georgetown Law Center and Northwestern University. He mentored future President of the United States Barack Obama during his early years in law. In 2014 Obama honored Mikva with the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

John Bramwell Ridsdel was an English-born Canadian businessman from Calgary, Alberta; kidnapped by Abu Sayyaf militants in the Philippines on 21 September 2015, and beheaded on 25 April 2016. He was 68 years old.

Joseph Isaac Fleishaker was an American character actor best known for his appearances in low-budget cult and horror movies, in particular those produced by New York-based independent film company Troma Entertainment, who have billed Fleishaker as "Troma's biggest action star", humorously alluding to his morbid obesity which surpassed five hundred pounds.

Brian Francis Johns was an Australian company director and journalist, who was managing director of the Special Broadcasting Service (SBS) from 1987 to 1992, and the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) from 1995 to 2000.

Raymond John Patrick Columbus was a New Zealand Benny Award-winning singer and songwriter, television host, music manager and entertainer, with a career spanning six decades. As the lead singer of Ray Columbus & the Invaders, his best-known hit was "She's A Mod".

Ann Atwater was an American civil rights activist in Durham, North Carolina. Throughout her career she helped improve the quality of life in Durham through programs such as Operation Breakthrough, a community organization dedicated to fight the War on Poverty. She became an effective activist and leader when advocating for black rights, such as better private housing. Atwater promoted unity of the working-class African Americans through grassroots organizations.

Jean-Christophe Yoccoz was a French mathematician. He was awarded a Fields Medal in 1994, for his work on dynamical systems.

Jean-Claude Deret, born Claude Breitman, was a French television writer, songwriter, actor, playwright, and author of children's books and detective novels.

Yves Jean Bonnefoy was a French poet and art historian. He also published a number of translations, most notably the plays of William Shakespeare which are considered among the best in French. He was professor at the Collège de France from 1981 to 1993 and is the author of several works on art, art history, and artists including Miró and Giacometti, and a monograph on Paris-based Iranian artist Farhad Ostovani. The Encyclopædia Britannica states that Bonnefoy was ″perhaps the most important French poet of the latter half of the 20th century.″