2017 deaths

Knut_Kleve

Knut Kleve (24 February 1926 – 11 February 2017) was a Norwegian classical philologist and a professor at the University of Bergen and at the University of Oslo. He was particularly known for his efforts on restoration of papyrus fragments from the ancient Roman town Herculaneum.

Richard_E._Cavazos

Richard Edward Cavazos (January 31, 1929 – October 29, 2017) was a United States Army 4-star general. He was a Korean War recipient of the Distinguished Service Cross as a first lieutenant and advanced in rank to become the United States Army's first Hispanic four-star general. During the Vietnam War, as a lieutenant colonel, Cavazos was awarded a second Distinguished Service Cross. In 1976, Cavazos became the first Mexican-American to reach the rank of brigadier general in the United States Army. Cavazos served for 33 years, with his final command as head of the United States Army Forces Command. On May 25, 2022, The Naming Commission recommended that Fort Hood be renamed to Fort Cavazos, in recognition of Gen. Cavazos' military service. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin ordered the renaming on October 6, 2022. The re-designation as Fort Cavazos occurred on May 9, 2023.

Gavin_Laird

Sir Gavin Harry Laird (14 March 1933 – 26 October 2017) was a Scottish trade unionist, who became General Secretary of the Amalgamated Engineering and Electrical Union (AEEU) and a Member of the Court of the Bank of England.
Growing up in Clydebank he attended a local high school then began working for Singer. He became an Amalgamated Engineering Union (AEU) shop steward there, then convenor.Three years after taking up a full-time position with the union, he was elected to the AEU executive and later elected AEU general secretary, remaining in that position after the merger which created the AEEU. He addressed the Confederation of British Industry annual conference in 1986 – an unusual move for a trade unionist at the time.He appeared as a castaway on the BBC Radio programme Desert Island Discs on 25 October 1992, received an Honorary Doctorate from Heriot-Watt University in 1994, was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) under Margaret Thatcher's government and knighted in 1995 at the behest of Tony Blair.He retired from the AEEU in 1995 and died in October 2017 at the age of 84 after a long illness.

Bab_Christensen

Barbra Karine "Bab" Christensen (8 January 1928 – 10 April 2017) was a Norwegian actress.
She was born in Kristiania as a daughter of actors Gerda Ring and Halfdan Christensen and younger sister of actor Pelle Christensen. She made her stage debut in 1947 at the National Theatre, and was employed at Den Nationale Scene from 1949, the National Theatre from 1952, Trøndelag Teater from 1963, Fjernsynsteatret from and Det Norske Teatret from 1970. She appeared in a small number of films.She was married to Lasse Kolstad (1922–2012). She was a sister-in-law of Henki Kolstad and Knut Kolstad.
Christensen died on 10 April 2017 in Oslo, aged 89.

Frank_Slay

Frank Conley Slay Jr. (July 8, 1930 – September 30, 2017) was an American songwriter, A&R director, record producer, and record label owner. He wrote with Bob Crewe in the late 1950s and early 1960s, the partnership's most successful songs including "Silhouettes", a hit for several artists including The Rays and Herman's Hermits, "Daddy Cool", and "Tallahassee Lassie". As a producer, his biggest hit was "Incense and Peppermints" by the Strawberry Alarm Clock.

Lando_Fiorini

Lando Fiorini (born Leopoldo Fiorini; 27 January 1938 – 9 December 2017) was an Italian actor and singer, known primarily for having sung folk songs from Rome in Italian and Romanesco.His career started in 1961, when he took part to the musical festival Cantagiro and was noted by the duo of playwrights Garinei & Giovannini, who chose him for the role of the cantastorie in the successful musical Rugantino. He was the founder and artistic director of a cabaret nightclub, Puff, where he launched the career of several comedians, notably Lino Banfi, Enrico Montesano and Leo Gullotta.His cabaret show, Ma ‘ndo vai se il decoder non-ce l’hai, satirized Italian television.

Emma_Morano

Emma Martina Luigia Morano (29 November 1899 – 15 April 2017) was an Italian supercentenarian. She was the world's oldest living person from 13 May 2016 until her death on 15 April 2017, aged 117 years and 137 days. At the time of her death, she was also the last living person verified to have been born in the 1800s. She is the oldest Italian person ever and the third-oldest European person ever behind Jeanne Calment (1875–1997) and Lucile Randon (1904–2023).