List of Famous people who died in 2017

Maria Ruth dos Santos Escobar, known professionally as Ruth Escobar was a Portuguese-born Brazilian film and television actress, businesswoman, and politician. A prominent icon in Brazilian theater, Escobar was one of the country's leading cultural producers and activists for the arts.

Mohamed Talbi, was a Tunisian historian and professor. He was the author of many books about Islam.

Harold A. Rosen was an American electrical engineer, known as "the father of the geostationary satellite", and "father of the communications satellite". He formed and led the team that designed and built the first geosynchronous communications satellite, Syncom, for Hughes Aircraft Company.

Yamin Abou-Zand, better known by his nom de guerre Abu Umar al-Almani, was a prominent German commander of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant. He gained notoriety by appearing in the first German ISIL propaganda video in 2015, and went on to fight for the militant organization until 2017, when he was killed in action against the Syrian Democratic Forces.

Hein-Direck Neu was a German discus thrower who competed in the 1968 Summer Olympics, in the 1972 Summer Olympics, and in the 1976 Summer Olympics.

Dionigi Tettamanzi was an Italian prelate of the Roman Catholic Church, who was named a cardinal in 1998. He was Archbishop of Genoa from 1995 to 2002 and Archbishop of Milan from 2002 to 2011.

Jiří Bělohlávek, was a Czech conductor. He was a leading interpreter of Czech classical music, and became chief conductor of the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra in 1990, a role he would serve on two occasions during a combined span of seven years. He also served a six-year tenure as the chief conductor of the BBC Symphony Orchestra from 2006 to 2012. He gained international renown and repute for his performances of the works of Czech composers such as Antonín Dvořák and Bohuslav Martinů, and was credited as "the most profound proponent of Czech orchestral music" by Czech music specialist Professor Michael Beckerman.

Pierre Arpaillange was a French author, senior judge and Government Minister.

Hugh Swynnerton Thomas, Baron Thomas of Swynnerton was an English historian and writer, best known for his book The Spanish Civil War.

Yelena Arkadyevna Naimushina was a Soviet gymnast.