List of Famous people who died in 2017

Hinrich Lehmann-Grube was a German politician. He served as Mayor of Leipzig from 1990 through 1998. He was a member of the Social Democratic Party of Germany. He was born in Königsberg.

Ed Whitlock was an English-born Canadian long-distance runner, and the first person over 70 years old to run a marathon in less than three hours with a time of 2:59:10 in 2003.

Robert Elsie was a Canadian-born German scholar who specialized in Albanian literature and folklore.

Akiko Akazome , born Akiko Seino , was a Japanese writer. Akazome won the 143rd Akutagawa Prize and the 99th Bungakukai Prize before her death in 2017.

Talvin Wayne Cochran was an American soul singer, known for his outlandish outfits and white pompadour hairstyle. He was sometimes referred to as The White Knight of Soul. Cochran is best known today for writing the song "Last Kiss", which he performed with the C.C. Riders.

Redha Malek was Prime Minister of Algeria from 21 August 1993 to April 1994. During his short term of office, which came in the early years of the Algerian Civil War, he pursued a hardline anti-Islamist policy and successfully negotiated debt relief with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), following the implementation of an IMF reform plan.

Alfred Gadenne was a Belgian politician for the Centre démocrate humaniste and mayor of Mouscron in Hainaut until his death in September 2017.

Engin Cezzar was a Turkish director, and stage, movie and TV actor.

Harry Mathews was an American writer, the author of various novels, volumes of poetry and short fiction, and essays. Mathews was also a translator of the French language.

Kevin Bryant Mahogany was an American jazz vocalist who became prominent in the 1990s. He was known for his scat singing, and his singing style has been compared with jazz singers Billy Eckstine, Joe Williams and Johnny Hartman.