List of Famous people who died in 2017

Denis Mack Smith CBE FBA FRSL was an English historian who specialized in the history of Italy from the Risorgimento onwards. He is best known for his biographies of Garibaldi, Cavour and Mussolini, and for his single-volume Modern Italy: A Political History. He was named Grand Official of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic in 1996.

Pierre Guénin was a French journalist and gay rights activist. He was an early publisher of LGBT magazines in the late 1960s and the 1970s, and the founder of the LGBT film awards in France. He was the founder of the eponymous Prix Pierre Guénin for LGBT activists.

Francesco Leonetti was an Italian poet, novelist, art critic, teacher and political activist.

Saleh bin Abdullah Al-Qadhi is current Mayor of 'Asir Region, Saudi Arabia. He is the former Acting Mayor of Medina and previously served in the 'Asir Region communal council.

Z'EV was an American poet, percussionist, and sound artist. After studying various world music traditions at CalArts, he began creating his own percussion sounds out of industrial materials for a variety of record labels. He is regarded as a pioneer of industrial music.

Yisrael Rosen was an Orthodox Israeli rabbi. He founded the office for conversion to Judaism in the Chief Rabbinate of Israel and he was a judge there. He was also director of the Zomet Institute for the interface of halakhah and technology and the editor-in-chief of the annual journal Techumin published by that institute. He edited the weekly newsletter Shabbat B'Shabbato and wrote a weekly column therein. He wrote commentaries about the Rabbinic interpretations of Tanakh.

Daniela Porzio, also known by her married name Daniela Marzano, was a professional tennis player from Italy who was active in the 1970s.

Julian Stanczak was a Polish-born American painter and printmaker. The artist lived and worked in Seven Hills, Ohio with his wife, the sculptor Barbara Stanczak.

Jay Woodson Dickey, Jr., was a Republican U.S. Representative for Arkansas' 4th congressional district from 1993 to 2001. The amendment known as the Dickey Amendment (1996) blocks the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention from funding injury prevention research that might promote gun control, and the Dickey-Wicker Amendment (1995) prohibits federal funds to be spent on research that involves the destruction of a human embryo. After the 2012 Aurora, Colorado shooting, former congressman Dickey said that he regretted his role in blocking the CDC from researching gun violence.