1940 births

Maria Giovanna Elmi (born 25 August 1940, in Rome) is an Italian former television announcer, presenter, journalist, actress and singer.
Born in Rome, Italy, Elmi attended the faculty of letter at the university, then in 1968 she was employed by RAI TV as an announcer.
Her popularity raised in early seventies, when she hosted the children show Il dirigibile together with the singer Mal, playing the fairy Azzurrina, from which she inherited the nickname "fatina" (i.e. young fairy in Italian).Elmi hosted two editions of the Sanremo Music Festival (in 1977 and 1978).
She ranked at first place in two public polls of the most appreciated female television personalities in 1970 (Doxa) and in 1981 (Abacus).In 1970 Elmi also became a journalist and publicist, collaborating for three years with the newspaper Il Messaggero and later with a large number of magazines and newspapers. In 2005 she took part to the reality show L'isola dei famosi, ranking third. She considers herself Roman Catholic.

Ivan Della Mea (born Luigi Della Mea, 16 October 1940 – 14 June 2009) was an Italian novelist, journalist, singer-songwriter and political activist. His family name was "Della Mea"

Lorella De Luca (17 September 1940 – 9 January 2014) was an Italian film, television, and voice actress. One of the most recognized ingénues of Italian cinema during the mid-to-late 1950s, she is best known for having played naive young girls in dramas and comedies.
She was born in Florence, Italy, and, following her "discovery" at age 14, made her acting debut in the Federico Fellini film Il bidone (1955). De Luca's breakout role, however, came a year later following her performance in Dino Risi's comedy Poor, But Beautiful (1956) and continued on in the genre, with appearances in Mario Monicelli films A Tailor's Maid (1957) and Doctor and the Healer (1957), as well as in Duccio Tessari's spaghetti Westerns A Pistol for Ringo (1965) and its sequel The Return of Ringo (1965) with Giuliano Gemma.

Antonio Binarelli (16 September 1940 – 12 July 2022) was an Italian magician. He was awarded the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic in the 5th class Knight. Binarelli died on 12 July 2022 of an illness at a hospital in Rome, at the age of 81.

Isabella Biagini, born Concetta Biagini, (8 December 1940 – 14 April 2018) was an Italian actress and showgirl.

Alec Nathan Wildenstein (August 5, 1940 – February 18, 2008) was a French-born American billionaire businessman, art dealer, racehorse owner, and breeder.

Philippe Forquet, vicomte de Dorne (27 September 1940 – 18 February 2020) was a French actor and the son of a wealthy aristocrat Marcius Forquet, vicomte de Dorne.

Just Jaeckin (8 August 1940 – 6 September 2022) was a French film director, photographer, and sculptor.

Adrien Zeller (2 April 1940 – 22 August 2009) was State Secretary of the Social Security in the second Jacques Chirac government from 1986 to 1988. He was the president of the regional council of Alsace from 1996 until 2009. He was a member of the Union for a Popular Movement. He was born in Saverne, and died aged 69 of a heart attack in Haguenau.
He was a graduate of the College of Europe in Bruges (promotion of 1965–1966).

Jacques Auxiette (3 December 1940 – 10 December 2021) was a French politician, and was the Regional Council President for the Pays de la Loire region in France. Auxiette was president between 2004 and 2015, and was re-elected to the office in the March 2010 council elections. He was a member of the Socialist Party.He was one of the strongest opponents of the reunification of Loire-Atlantique to its historical region, Brittany.