28/04/2026
Norwich, GB 6 C
Researching and reporting on the lives of some really interesting people (RIP)

VALERY RYUMIN, aged 82

Initially a rocket engineer he became a cosmonaut, spending a record amount of time in space and being the oldest man in space. He also appeared at the Olympics

ANNE BEAUMANOIR, aged 98

Active in the French Resistance, she saved a number of children. She was then involved in the Algerian Civil War and eventually became a leading neurologist.

PRINCESS IRA von FURSTENBERG, aged 83

An Italian princess who married young, into the jet set, she became an actress, a model, a fashion designer and a renown artist, mixing with the rich, powerful and famous.

MAUREEN SWEENEY, aged 100

An Irish post mistress, she also took weather readings. It was her reports that persuaded D-Day to be postponed because of a storm – thus ensuring its success.

FRANCOISE DELBART, aged 93

A drama student in post-war Paris, a kiss from her boyfriend was captured by a photographer and became one of the most iconic images of the Twentieth Century.

TATJANA PATITZ, aged 56

The first German supermodel, she was the face of the 1990s, appearing on many magazine covers – but became a champion of animal rights and for ageing gracefully.

COUNTESS MARGIT SZECHENYI, aged 96

A Hungarian aristocrat, supported Fascism, married a Count and indulged in big game hunting. She was an ‘Enemy of the People’, constantly resisting communism.

SIR BEN HELFGOTT, aged 93

After just surviving the Holocaust he came to Britain as one of the Windemere Children and went on to represent GB at two Olympic Games as a weightlifter.

JANINE DE GREEF, aged 95

Along with all of her family she was a key member of the Comet Line, getting Allied airmen out of Belgium at great risk to herself.

DAVID DUSHMAN, aged 98

Fencing played a big part in his life. He was the man who liberated Auschwitz – and went on to coach the USSR fencing team in the Olympics.