VADIM BAKATIN, aged 84
A Soviet businessman turned politician, he was appointed the last ever head of the KGB, reforming it – and making himself unpopular with the authorities.
ADOLFO KAMINSKY, aged 97
An amateur chemist who narrowly avoided the Holocaust, he became the Resistance’s master forger – the man the Nazis couldn’t catch. He saved thousands of lives.
ALLA OSIPENKO, aged 92
A great ballerina, she challenged the authority of the Soviet Union and was subsequently ostracised. She was a dancing partner of both Nureyev and Baryshnikov.
VADIM BAKATIN, aged 84
A Soviet businessman turned politician, he was appointed the last ever head of the KGB, reforming it – and making himself unpopular with the authorities.
ADOLFO KAMINSKY, aged 97
An amateur chemist who narrowly avoided the Holocaust, he became the Resistance’s master forger – the man the Nazis couldn’t catch. He saved thousands of lives.
ALLA OSIPENKO, aged 92
A great ballerina, she challenged the authority of the Soviet Union and was subsequently ostracised. She was a dancing partner of both Nureyev and Baryshnikov.
MARTHE COHN, aged 105
A Jewish nurse who became a French spy in Nazi Germany, putting her life in danger and taking enormous risks – but sending vital information to the Allies.
OLEG GORDIEVSKY, aged 86
A KGB officer, he became a double agent in the Cold War, spying for Britain. His escape from the USSR was audacious – but the Russians kept trying to kill him.
VALERIE ANDRE, aged 102
A trained doctor, she joined the French army and learned to fly helicopters, treating injured soldiers in battle. She was also the first female French general.
MADELEINE RIFFAUD, aged 100
A French resistance fighter who was tortured by the Gestapo, she played a key role in the liberation. She later served as a journalist in various war zones.
GRETA ANDERSEN, aged 95
A swimmer she won a gold medal at the Olympic Games but the nearly drowned. She then became an endurance swimmer holding many records that stand to this day.
KIKI HAKANSSON, aged 95
A model who won the first Miss World, facing the wrath of the Pope. She inadvertently caused a celebrity marriage and was an advocate for women’s rights.
JOACHIM AUERBACH, aged 93
Fleeing the Nazis as a child, he made a life in Britain, but always worked to help other people in a similar situation to his younger self.
Latest Posts
