List of Famous people who died in 2017

Surjit Singh Barnala was an Indian politician who served as the chief minister of Punjab state from 1985 to 1987. Following that he served as the governor of Tamil Nadu, Uttarakhand, Andhra Pradesh and Andaman and Nicobar Islands and a Union Minister on handling various portfolios.

Brunhilde Pomsel was a personal secretary to Joseph Goebbels, the Reich Minister of Propaganda of Nazi Germany. She started work at the ministry's offices in the Ordenspalais opposite the Reich Chancellery in Berlin in 1942. In 2016, aged 105, she gave a series of interviews for a film documentary entitled A German Life, in which she discusses "her lack of remorse and the private side of her monstrous boss".

Abis Hasan Rizvi was an Indian businessman, CEO of real estate company Rizvi Builders and film producer.

Hiep Thi Le was a Vietnamese-American actress and restaurateur. She is best known for her portrayal of Le Ly in the film Heaven & Earth (1993).

Xavier Beulin was a French agribusiness executive and lobbyist. He was the chairman of the Avril Group from 2000 to 2017, and chairman of the Fédération nationale des syndicats d'exploitants agricoles from 2010 to 2017.

Holger Czukay was a German musician, probably best known as a co-founder of the krautrock group Can. Described as "successfully bridg[ing] the gap between pop and the avant-garde", Czukay was also notable for having created early important examples of ambient music, for having explored "world music" well before the term was coined, and for having been a pioneer of sampling.

Udo Ulfkotte was a German journalist who maintained that journalists and leading newspapers published material that had been fed to them, or bought, by the CIA and other Western intelligence and propaganda agencies. He was an assistant editor for a German main daily newspaper, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ) for several years until 2003. Between 1997 and his death he published a dozen books, including a number with populist themes.

Emmanuèle Bernheim was a French writer. She was the daughter of art collector André Bernheim and sculptress Claude de Soria. In 1993 she won the Prix Médicis with her book Sa femme. She wrote the screenplay of feature films Swimming Pool (2003) and 5x2 (2004), both directed by François Ozon. She lived in Paris and also worked for television. In 1998 she wrote Vendredi soir, a novel that was adapted into film by Claire Denis in 2002. She also worked with Michel Houellebecq on a film adaptation of his novel Platform.

Norman Colin Dexter was an English crime writer known for his Inspector Morse series of novels, which were written between 1975 and 1999 and adapted as an ITV television series, Inspector Morse, from 1987 to 2000. His characters have spawned a sequel series, Lewis, and a prequel series, Endeavour.

Gisèle Casadesus was a French actress, who appeared in numerous theatre and film productions. She was an honorary member of the Sociétaires of the Comédie-Française, Grand Officer of the Legion of Honor, Officer of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, and Grand-Croix of the National Order of Merit. In a career spanning more than 80 years, Casadesus appeared in more than a dozen films after turning 90.