List of Famous people who died in 2020

Maxwell James Merritt was a New Zealand-born singer-songwriter and guitarist who was renowned as an interpreter of soul music and R&B. As leader of Max Merritt & The Meteors his best known hits are "Slippin' Away", which reached No. 2 on the 1976 Australian singles charts, and "Hey, Western Union Man" which reached No. 13. Merritt rose to prominence in New Zealand from 1958 and relocated to Sydney, Australia, in December 1964. Merritt was acknowledged as one of the best local performers of the 1960s and 1970s and his influence did much to popularise soul music / R&B and rock in New Zealand and Australia.

Amala Shankar was an Indian danseuse. She was the wife of dancer and choreographer Uday Shankar and mother of musician Ananda Shankar and dancer Mamata Shankar and sister-in-law of musician and composer Ravi Shankar. Amala Shankar acted in the film Kalpana written, co-produced and directed by husband Uday Shankar. She died on Friday, July 24, 2020 in West Bengal’s Kolkata, India. She was 101 years old.

Fernando Morán López was a Spanish diplomat and politician who served as Minister of Foreign Affairs from 1982 to 1985 in the first government of Felipe González. After completing his studies in Madrid, Paris and London, Morán pursued a career as a diplomat. A member of the Group of Salamanca around Enrique Tierno Galván, in 1967 he was a co-founder of the Socialist Party of the Interior, that would become the People's Socialist Party in 1974.

Olivier Royant was a French journalist. He directed the weekly magazine Paris Match.

Lieutenant General Manvel Sektori Grigoryan was an Armenian military and a member of the National Assembly of Armenia. At one point he was one of the highest-ranking officials in the Armenian Army, becoming Deputy Defense Minister in 2000.

Somendra Nath Mitra, popularly known as Somen Mitra, was an Indian politician. He was a member of the 15th Lok Sabha, elected from the Diamond Harbour constituency in West Bengal state in 2009 as a Trinamool Congress candidate. He was a member of the West Bengal Legislative Assembly from Sealdah from 1972 to 2006. He was the president of the state unit of the Indian National Congress. In July 2008, he left the Indian National Congress and formed a new party, named, Pragatisheel Indira Congress. In October 2009, the political party founded by him was officially merged with the All India Trinamool Congress. He rejoined his parent party Congress in January, 2014, before that he resigned from his MP post. He became the president of West Bengal Pradesh Congress Committee for the second time on 22 September 2018 and served till his death on July 30th 2020.

David Dean Andahl was an American politician, rancher, land developer and driver. In the 2020 election, Andahl defeated longtime incumbent Jeff Delzer in the Republican primary for a seat in the North Dakota House of Representatives, but died a month before the November general election due to complications from COVID-19. Andahl remained on the ballot and was elected posthumously.

Mariko Miyagi was a Japanese actress, singer, and advocate for children with disabilities. She founded the Kusunoki Gakuen, a school for disabled children.

Nur Hassan Hussein, popularly known as Nur Adde, was a Somali politician, who served as Prime Minister of Somalia from November 2007 to February 2009. He was from Mogadishu and part of the Abgaal sub-clan of the Hawiye.

Frank John Cullotta was an American mobster for the Chicago Outfit and a member of the Hole in the Wall Gang burglary ring in Las Vegas with friend and mobster Tony Spilotro. After his arrest in 1982, he became a government witness and entered the witness protection program. Cullotta later became an author and a tour guide. He died on August 20, 2020, from complications related to COVID-19.