1979 deaths

Marcel Jouhandeau (July 26, 1888 Guéret – April 7, 1979) was a French writer.

Kurt Jooss (12 January 1901 – 22 May 1979) was a famous German ballet dancer and choreographer mixing classical ballet with theatre; he is also widely regarded as the founder of Tanztheater. Jooss is noted for establishing several dance companies, including most notably, the Folkwang Tanztheater, in Essen.

Robert Boulin (20 July 1920 – 30 October 1979) was a French politician who served as Minister of Labour in the French Cabinet and was at the centre of a major real-estate scandal that ended only with his death in mysterious circumstances. At the time of his death he was the longest serving minister in post-revolution French history; only Louis XIV's Colbert served longer.

Yvonne Charlotte Anne-Marie de Gaulle (née Vendroux; 22 May 1900 – 8 November 1979) was the wife of Charles de Gaulle. The couple had three children: Philippe (b. 1921), Élisabeth (1924–2013), and Anne (1928–1948), who was born with Down syndrome. Yvonne de Gaulle, along with her husband, set up a charity, La fondation Anne-de-Gaulle, to help children with disabilities.
Yvonne and Charles were married on 6 April 1921. She is known for the quote, "The presidency is temporary—but the family is permanent." She and her husband narrowly escaped an assassination attempt on 22 August 1962, when their Citroën DS was targeted by machine gun fire arranged by Jean Bastien-Thiry at the Petit-Clamart.Like her husband, Yvonne de Gaulle was a conservative Catholic, and campaigned against prostitution, the sale of pornography in newsstands, and the televised display of nudity and sex, which was echoed in her famous nickname, Tante Yvonne (“Auntie Yvonne”). Later, she unsuccessfully tried to persuade de Gaulle to outlaw miniskirts in France.Yvonne was reputed to be very discreet; as such, despite numerous appearances, she never gave any radio or televised interviews, and the broader public never learned the sound of her voice.

Maurizio Arena (26 December 1933 – 21 November 1979) was an Italian film actor. He appeared in more than 70 films between 1952 and 1978.

Ida Pauline Rolf (May 19, 1896 – March 19, 1979) was a biochemist and the creator of Structural Integration or "Rolfing", a pseudoscientific alternative medicine practice.

Louis Edmond Durey (French: [dyʁɛ]; 27 May 1888 – 3 July 1979) was a French composer. He was among the Les Six group of composers.

Rachele Guidi (Italian pronunciation: [raˈkɛːle ˈɡwiːdi]; 11 April 1890 – 30 October 1979), also known (particularly in Italy) as Donna Rachele (Italian for "Lady Rachel") and incorrectly as Rachele Mussolini in the English-speaking world, was the second wife of Italian dictator and fascist leader Benito Mussolini.