Famous Deaths for 9th February 2026

1802 – Thomas Graves, 1st Baron Graves, British admiral (Seven Years’ War, American War of Independence), dies at 76
1875 – Cecil De Vere, English chess player (1st official British chess champion (1866), dies from tuberculosis at 28
1943 – World War II: Dutch fascist official Hermannus Reydon and his wife are shot by resistance members, his wife dies immediately and he dies six months later
1949 – Poul Schierbeck, Danish organist and composer, dies at 60
1994 – Jarmila Novotná, Czech-American soprano (Metropolitan Opera, 1940-56), and actress (The Search), dies at 86
2010 – Chaskel Besser, Polish-American Orthodox rabbi, dies at 86
2013 – Kåre Valebrokk, Norwegian journalist and director of TV 2, dies at cancer at 72
2018 – Jóhann Jóhannsson, Icelandic theatre, dance, and film score composer (The Theory of Everything), dies from a combination of cocaine and prescription medication at 48
2019 – Patricia Nell Warren, American novelist (The Front Runner, The Fancy Dancer), dies of cancer at 82
2023 – Lewis Spratlan, American classical composer and Pulitzer Prize winner (Life Is A Dream), dies at 82

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