EVA SCHLOSS, aged 96
Anne Frank’s posthumous stepsister, she hid from the Nazis in Amsterdam but was betrayed. She then survived Auschwitz and spread the word about the Holocaust.
ANGELO GUGEL, aged 90
The invaluable personal attendant to three separate popes, he was present at an assassination attempt and witnessed a miracle, but kept the papal secrets.
ANDREE DUMON, aged 102
A trainee nurse who joined the Comet Line (Belgian Resistance), helping airmen escape. She was captured, tortured and sentenced to die – but didn’t – just.
PHILIPPE DE GAULLE, aged 102
A war hero, admiral and politician who was denied deserved honours , his whole career and life was over shadowed by having an extremely famous father.
IRMA CAPECE MINUTOLO, aged 87?
A beauty queen who had a controversial relationship with an exiled monarch and playboy. She became a failed – then ultimately, a highly successful opera singer.
PAL ENGER, aged 57
A professional footballer who could not resist the call of the criminal world, he stole one of the most famous paintings in the world.
LEON GAUTIER, aged 100
Originally he signed up for the Free French before becoming a marine and part of the only French unit to fight at D-Day. He later became an advocate for peace.
ANGELES FLOREZ PEON, aged 105
Spurred into socialism by the murder of a brother, she was one of the few women to be actively involved in the Spanish Civil War, being imprisoned and tortured.
GERTRUDE WRIGHT, aged 99
A proficient linguist, she survived the bombing of her home city, fled from the Red Army, became a translator and teacher and built a school in the Himalayas.
ILSE NATHAN, aged 98 and RUTH SIEGLER, aged 95
Very close sisters, many of their family died in the Holocaust. They survived a concentration camp and emigrated to the USA, where they told their story.
NICOLA TRAHAN, aged 97
A French schoolgirl who joined the SOE and was regularly parachuted into France, assisting the Resistance in fighting the Nazis. She received the Croix de Guerre.
OLGA FIKOTOVA, aged 91
A gold medal winning Olympic athlete from Czechoslovakia, she broke down Cold War barriers by falling in love with an American – to the fury of her country’s authorities.
ALBERTO ZAMPERLA, aged 71
Part of a showbiz family, he created some of the greatest amusement park rides in the world. He was threatened by the Mafia and stood to be mayor of Venice
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