1909 births

Bernard Cornut-Gentille (26 July 1909 – 21 January 1992) was a French administrator and politician.
Born in Brest, Finistère, Cornut-Gentille studied at the École Libre des Sciences Politiques. In 1943 he was appointed as the Subprefect of Reims, but resigned to assist the Free French delegate Émile Bollaert. Following the Liberation of France he served as Prefect of Ille-et-Vilaine, of the Somme, and of the Bas-Rhin. In 1948 he was appointed High Commissioner in French Equatorial Africa then, from 1951 to 1956, High Commissioner in French West Africa.After this, he served as France's permanent representative to the United Nations Security Council, and in 1957 as ambassador to Argentina.Standing for the Gaullist Party, the UNR, he was elected to represent Alpes-Maritimes in the 1958 election to the National Assembly of France. He had been minister without portfolio in June 1958, then Minister of Overseas France from 3 June 1958 to 8 January 1959 in the governments of Charles de Gaulle. Under Michel Debré he served as Minister of Posts, Telegraphs, and Telephones from 8 January 1959 to 5 February 1960. He resigned ministerial office at the same time as Jacques Soustelle, over the handling of the affair of the barricades in Algiers and broke with the Gaullists.
He sat in the National Assembly as an independent (French: non-inscrit) until 1968 and again from 1973 to 1978. Locally, he served as mayor of Cannes from 1959 to 1978. Here he initiated a programme of redevelopment and renovation.
His nephew François Cornut-Gentille has served as representative of the Haute-Marne department since 1993 and mayor of Saint-Dizier since 1995.

Marcel Henri Vandernotte (29 July 1909 – 15 December 1993) was a French rower who competed in the 1932 Summer Olympics and in the 1936 Summer Olympics.
He was born in Nantes. He was the younger brother of Fernand Vandernotte and the uncle of Noël Vandernotte. In 1932 he was eliminated with his brother Fernand in the repechage of the coxed pair event. Four years later he won the bronze medal as crew member of the French boat in the coxed four competition.

Robert Défossé (19 June 1909 – 30 August 1973) was a French footballer who played as a goalkeeper.

Helmut Dörner (26 June 1909 in Mönchengladbach – 11 February 1945 in Budapest) was a German commander in the Waffen-SS of Nazi Germany during World War II. He was a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords. During World War II, he was awarded both classes of the Iron Cross during the Battle of France.
Dörner stayed with the Polizei division until late 1943, and was then transferred to Greece. When Karl Schümers (divisional commander) was killed, Dörner took over the command until the arrival of the new commander. In September 1944 the 4th SS Polizei Division was sent to Rumania and Hungary. During the siege of Budapest, he became the commander of a mixed battle group and died during a breakthrough attempt.

Eduard Deisenhofer (27 June 1909 – MIA 31 January 1945) was a German commander in the Waffen-SS of Nazi Germany. He was an early member in the SS, and served with the Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler and at the Dachau concentration camp in 1930s. During World War II, Deisenhofer served with several combat divisions on both the Eastern and Western fronts, earning the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross. He held a PhD in political economy.

Robert Ramillon was a French professional tennis player of the 1930s and was the winner of French Pro in 1932. He also played in the finals in 1931 and 1936.

Olin Chaddock Wilson (January 13, 1909 – July 13, 1994) was an American astronomer best known for his work as a stellar spectroscopist.Born in San Francisco, California as the son of a lawyer, Wilson showed an interest in physics at an early age. He studied astronomy and physics at the University of California, Berkeley and wrote his first scientific paper in 1932 on the subject of the speed of light. He received his PhD from the California Institute of Technology in 1934.
Wilson was a staff member of Mount Wilson Observatory (not named after Olin Wilson) for most of his research career where he studied stellar chromospheres. He was the first scientist to discover activity cycles, similar to the solar 11-year sunspot cycle, in other stars. In collaboration with Vainu Bappu, an Indian astronomer, he also showed that there was a correlation between the width of the Ca II lines in stellar spectra and the star's luminosity, the Wilson–Bappu effect.He gave the Henry Norris Russell Lectureship in 1977 and won the Bruce Medal in 1984.

Robert Kemsley (Robin) Orr (2 June 1909 – 9 April 2006) was a Scottish organist and composer.

Robert Schantz Oelman (June 9, 1909 – May 10, 2007) was an American executive who served as president of NCR Corporation for 17 years as they switched to electronic cash registers.
Oelman graduated from Dartmouth College in 1931, before attending University of Vienna, where he met his wife Mary Coolidge. He joined the National Cash Register Company in 1933 as a file clerk, became president in 1957, and later chairman and chief executive. Oelman retired from NCR in 1974 but remained on in an advisory capacity until 1980.
He was also a founder of Wright State University in 1967.
In 1968, Oelman became Ohio Republican chairman for the unsuccessful presidential campaign of Nelson Rockefeller, a fellow Dartmouth College alumnus.
Oelman also served as chairman of the finance committee of Ford Motor Company, and in 1978 was asked by Henry Ford II to try resolve a conflict with president of the company Lee Iacocca. This was never achieved and Iacocca went on to become president of Chrysler.
Oelman died in Delray Beach, Florida.

Philleo Nash (October 25, 1909 – October 12, 1987) was an American government official, anthropologist, and politician. A member of the Democratic Party, he was Commissioner of the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs (1961–1966) during the presidencies of John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson. Previously, he was the 33rd Lieutenant Governor of Wisconsin (1959–1961) and was chairman of the Democratic Party of Wisconsin (1955–1957).
Earlier in his career, he served more than 10 years as a political appointee in the Franklin D. Roosevelt and Harry S. Truman administrations, including as Special Assistant directly to President Harry S. Truman (1946–1952), influencing his policy on desegregation of the armed forces and federal government, as well as policy related to Native Americans and other minorities.His wife, Edith Nash, was a poet and activist for human rights and civil rights.