January 8, 2017

2017Nicolai Gedda, Swedish operatic tenor (born 1925)^[†]

Harry Gustaf Nikolai Gädda, better known as Nicolai Gedda, was a Swedish operatic tenor. Debuting in 1951, Gedda had a long and successful career in opera until the age of 77 in June 2003, when he made his final operatic recording. Skilled at languages, he performed operas in French, Russian, German, Italian, English, Czech and Swedish, as well as one in Latin. In January 1958, he created the role of Anatol in the world premiere of Samuel Barber's Vanessa at the Metropolitan Opera. Having made some two hundred recordings, Gedda is one of the most widely recorded opera singers in history. His singing is best known for its beauty of tone, vocal control, and musical perception.

2017James Mancham, Seychellois politician, President 1976-77 (born 1939)^[†]

Sir James Richard Marie Mancham KBE was a Seychellois politician who founded the Seychelles Democratic Party and was the first President of Seychelles from 1976 to 1977.

2017Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, Iranian politician (born 1934)^[†]

Akbar Hashemi Bahramani Rafsanjani was an Iranian Shia cleric and politician who was the fourth president of Iran from 1989 to 1997. One of the founding fathers of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Rafsanjani was the head of the Assembly of Experts from 2007 until 2011 when he decided not to nominate himself for the post. He was also the chairman of the Expediency Discernment Council.

2017Peter Sarstedt, Indian-British singer-songwriter and guitarist (born 1941)^[†]

Peter Eardley Sarstedt was a British singer-songwriter and instrumentalist. He was the brother of singers Eden Kane, a teenage pop idol and Clive Sarstedt, with both of whom he also recorded and performed as The Sarstedt Brothers. The Sarstedts had the distinction of being the only family from which three siblings separately attained chart success without any of them ever charting as a combined act.