List of heads of state and government who died in office

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This is a list of heads of state and government who died in office.

Such deaths have most often been from natural causes, but there are also cases of assassination, execution, suicide and accident.

The list is in chronological order. The name is listed first, followed by the year of death, the country, the name of the office the person held at the time of death, and the cause of death.

It should not contain offices where the normal term limit is life (monarchs, popes, etc.).

Prior to 1850

Name Year Country Title Cause of death
Spencer Compton, Earl of Wilmington 1743  Great Britain Prime Minister
Henry Pelham 1754  Great Britain Prime Minister
Charles Watson-Wentworth, Marquess of Rockingham 1782  Great Britain Prime Minister Illness – influenza
William Pitt the Younger 1806  United Kingdom Prime Minister Illness
Spencer Perceval 1812  United Kingdom Prime Minister Assassination – shooting
George Canning 1827  United Kingdom Prime Minister Illness
José Tomás Ovalle 1831  Chile Acting President Illness – tuberculosis
Ioannis Kapodistrias 1831  Greece Governor Assassination – shooting and stabbing
Casimir Pierre Périer 1832  France Prime Minister Illness – cholera
William Henry Harrison 1841  United States President Illness – enteric fever
Philippe Guerrier 1845  Haiti President Assassination – shooting and stabbing
Jean-Baptiste Riché 1847  Haiti President

1850–1899

Name Year Country Title Cause of death
Zachary Taylor 1850  United States President Illness – stomach disease
Prince Felix of Schwarzenberg 1852  Austria Minister-President Stroke
Josef Munzinger 1855   Switzerland Member of the Federal Council
Henri Druey 1855   Switzerland Member of the Federal Council
Stefano Franscini 1857   Switzerland Member of the Federal Council
Carl Edvard Rotwitt 1860  Denmark Prime Minister
Camillo Benso, Count of Cavour 1861  Italy Prime Minister Illness – malaria
Jonas Furrer 1861   Switzerland Member of the Federal Council Illness – kidney disease
José Santos Guardiola 1862  Honduras President Assassination – shooting
Barbu Catargiu 1862  Romania Prime Minister Assassination – shooting
Carlos Antonio López 1862  Paraguay President
Abraham Lincoln 1865  United States President Assassination – shooting
Henry Temple, Viscount Palmerston 1865  United Kingdom Prime Minister Illness
Marcos Paz 1868  Argentina Interim President Cholera
Victor Ruffy 1869   Switzerland Member of the Federal Council
Francisco Solano López 1870  Paraguay President Killed in action
Johan Rudolph Thorbecke 1872  Netherlands Prime Minister Illness
Benito Juárez 1872  Mexico President Heart attack
Adolfo Ballivián 1874  Bolivia President Cancer of the stomach
Barthélémy de Theux de Meylandt 1874  Belgium Prime Minister
Gabriel García Moreno 1875  Ecuador President Assassination – shooting and stabbing
Juan Bautista Gill 1877  Paraguay President Assassination – shooting
Konstantinos Kanaris 1877  Greece Prime Minister
Francisco Linares Alcántara 1878  Venezuela President Assassination – poisoning
Johann Jakob Scherer 1878   Switzerland Member of the Federal Council Illness – appendicitis
Cándido Bareiro 1880  Paraguay President Stroke
James A. Garfield 1881  United States President Assassination – shooting and medical ineptitude
Tomás Guardia Gutiérrez 1882  Costa Rica President Illness – tuberculosis
Francisco Javier Zaldúa 1885  Colombia President
Próspero Fernández Oreamuno 1885  Costa Rica President
Agostino Depretis 1887  Italy Prime Minister Illness – gout
Wilhelm Hertenstein 1888   Switzerland President of the Confederation Illness
John A. Macdonald 1891  Canada Prime Minister Stroke
Louis Ruchonnet 1893   Switzerland Member of the Federal Council Heart attack
Remigio Morales Bermúdez 1894  Peru President Illness – appendicitis
Marie François Sadi Carnot 1894  France President Assassination – stabbing
John Sparrow David Thompson 1894  Canada Prime Minister Heart attack
Karl Schenk 1895   Switzerland Member of the Federal Council Accident – struck by carriage
Joseph James Cheeseman 1896  Liberia President
Florvil Hyppolite 1896  Haiti President Illness
Antonio Cánovas del Castillo 1897  Spain Prime Minister Assassination – shooting
Juan Idiarte Borda 1897  Uruguay President Assassination
José María Reina Barrios 1898  Guatemala President Assassination – shooting
Félix Faure 1899  France President Stroke
Ulises Heureaux 1899  Dominican Republic President Assassination

1900–1949

Name Year Country Title Cause of death
William McKinley 1901  United States President Assassination – shooting
Federico Errázuriz Echaurren 1901  Chile President Illness – cerebral thrombosis
Ramon Riu i Cabanes 1901  Andorra Co-Prince
Walter Hauser 1902   Switzerland Member of the Federal Council
Manuel Candamo 1904  Peru President Heart attack
Theodoros Deligiannis 1905  Greece Prime Minister Assassination – stabbing
Manuel Quintana 1906  Argentina President Illness
Richard Seddon 1906  New Zealand Prime Minister Heart attack
Dimitar Petkov 1907  Bulgaria Prime Minister Assassination
Jules de Trooz 1907  Belgium Cabinet Chief
Afonso Pena 1909  Brazil President
Pedro Montt 1910  Chile President Stroke
Elías Fernández Albano 1910  Chile Acting President Heart attack
Boutros Ghali 1910  Egypt Prime Minister Assassination – shooting
Ernst Brenner 1911   Switzerland Member of the Federal Council
Pyotr Stolypin 1911  Russia Prime Minister Assassination – shooting
Ramón Cáceres 1911  Dominican Republic President Assassination – shooting
Emilio Estrada Carmona 1911  Ecuador President Heart attack
José Canalejas 1912  Spain Prime Minister Assassination – shooting
Cincinnatus Leconte 1912  Haiti President Accident – explosion
Adolf Deucher 1912   Switzerland Member of the Federal Council
Tancrède Auguste 1913  Haiti President Illness
Roque Sáenz Peña 1914  Argentina President Illness
Paul Eyschen 1915  Luxembourg Prime Minister
Yuan Shikai 1916  China President Illness – uraemia
Sidónio Pais 1918  Portugal President Assassination – shooting
Francisco de Paula Rodrigues Alves 1919  Brazil President-elect Illness – Spanish flu epidemic
Manuel Franco 1919  Paraguay President Heart attack
Eduard Müller 1919   Switzerland Member of the Federal Council
Yakov Sverdlov 1919  RSFSR Chairman of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee Illness – Spanish flu epidemic
Venustiano Carranza 1920  Mexico President Assassination – shooting
Hara Takashi 1921  Japan Prime Minister Assassination – stabbing
Giacomo De Martino 1921  Libya Governor of Cyrenaica
Arthur Griffith 1922  Ireland President of the Dáil Illness – cerebral haemorrhage
Michael Collins 1922  Ireland Chairman of the Provisional Government Assassination – shooting
Gabriel Narutowicz 1922  Poland President Assassination – shooting
Warren G. Harding 1923  United States President Heart attack
Vladimir Lenin 1924  Soviet Union Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars Stroke
Friedrich Ebert 1925  Germany President Illness – septic shock
William Ferguson Massey 1925  New Zealand Prime Minister Illness – cancer
Sun Yat-sen 1925  China Generalissimo of the National Government Illness – gall bladder cancer
Jón Magnússon 1926  Iceland Prime Minister
Count Katō Takaaki 1926  Japan Prime Minister Illness – pneumonia
Jānis Čakste 1927  Latvia President
Peder Kolstad 1932  Norway Prime Minister Illness
Inukai Tsuyoshi 1932  Japan Prime Minister Assassination – shooting
Paul Doumer 1932  France President Assassination – shooting
Luis Miguel Sánchez Cerro 1933  Peru President Assassination – shooting
Ion G. Duca 1933  Romania Prime Minister Assassination – shooting
Engelbert Dollfuss 1934  Austria Chancellor Assassination – shooting
Paul von Hindenburg 1934  Germany President Illness – lung cancer
Juan Vicente Gómez 1935  Venezuela President
Józef Piłsudski 1935  Poland Chief of State Illness – liver cancer
Konstantinos Demertzis 1936  Greece Prime Minister Heart attack
Gyula Gömbös 1936  Hungary Prime Minister Illness – testicular cancer
Kemal Atatürk 1938  Turkey President Illness – liver cirrhosis
Joseph Lyons 1939  Australia Prime Minister Heart attack
Patriarch Miron 1939  Romania Prime Minister Illness – pneumonia
Aurelio Mosquera 1939  Ecuador President
Armand Călinescu 1939  Romania Prime Minister Assassination – shooting
Justí Guitart i Vilardebó 1940  Andorra Co-Prince
Giuseppe Motta 1940   Switzerland Member of the Federal Council
Michael Joseph Savage 1940  New Zealand Prime Minister Illness – colon cancer
Kyösti Kallio 1940  Finland President
Italo Balbo 1940  Libya Governor-General Killed in action
Jacinto Peynado 1940  Dominican Republic President
José Félix Estigarribia 1940  Paraguay President Accident – plane crashed on ground
Hassan Sabry Pasha 1940  Egypt Prime Minister
Pedro Aguirre Cerda 1941  Chile President Illness – tuberculosis
Ioannis Metaxas 1941  Greece Prime Minister Illness – toxaemia
Alexandros Koryzis 1941  Greece Prime Minister Suicide
Count Pál Teleki 1941  Hungary Prime Minister Suicide
Thorvald Stauning 1942  Denmark Prime Minister
Lin Sen 1943  Republic of China Chairman of the National Government Stroke
Władysław Sikorski 1943  Poland Prime Minister Accident – plane crashed into sea
Manuel L. Quezon 1944  Philippines President Illness – tuberculosis
Wang Jingwei 1944  Republic of China Chairman of the National Government (at Nanjing)
Ahmad Mahir Pasha 1945  Egypt Prime Minister Assassination – shooting
John Curtin 1945  Australia Prime Minister Heart attack
Franklin D. Roosevelt 1945  United States President Illness – cerebral haemorrhage
Benito Mussolini 1945  Italy Duce Execution by firing squad
Adolf Hitler 1945  Nazi Germany Führer Suicide
Joseph Goebbels 1945  Nazi Germany Chancellor Suicide
Per Albin Hansson 1946  Sweden Prime Minister Heart attack
Juan Antonio Ríos 1946  Chile President Illness – cancer
Gualberto Villarroel 1946  Bolivia President Assassination – shooting
Nguyen Van Thinh 1946  Cochinchina President of the Provisional Government Suicide
Aung San 1947  Burma Premier Assassination
Tomás Berreta 1947  Uruguay President Illness – prostate cancer
Manuel Roxas 1948  Philippines President Heart attack
Muhammad Ali Jinnah 1948  Pakistan Governor-General Illness – tuberculosis
Mahmoud an-Nukrashi Pasha 1948  Egypt Prime Minister Assassination – shooting
Georgi Dimitrov 1949  Bulgaria Chairman of the Council of Ministers Illness
Themistoklis Sophoulis 1949  Greece Prime Minister
Domingo Díaz Arosemena 1949  Panama President Heart attack
Husni al-Za'im 1949  Syria President Execution by firing squad
Muhsin al-Barazi 1949  Syria Prime Minister Execution by firing squad

1950–1999

Name Year Country Title Cause of death
Vasil Kolarov 1950  Bulgaria Prime Minister
Enrico Mizzi 1950  Malta Prime Minister
Víctor Manuel Román y Reyes 1950  Nicaragua President Heart attack
Carlos Delgado Chalbaud 1950  Venezuela President Assassination
Karl Renner 1950  Austria President Stroke
Óscar Carmona 1951  Portugal President
Prince Rangsit Prayurasakdi 1951  Thailand Regent Heart attack
Haj Ali Razmara 1951  Iran Prime Minister Assassination – shooting
Liaquat Ali Khan 1951  Pakistan Prime Minister Assassination – shooting
D. S. Senanayake 1952  Ceylon Prime Minister Accident – fell off horse
Khorloogiin Choibalsan 1952  Mongolia Chairman of the Council of Ministers Illness – kidney cancer
Sveinn Björnsson 1952  Iceland President Illness
Chaim Weizmann 1952  Israel President Illness
Adrian Alberga 1952  Suriname Prime Minister
Pierre Dupong 1953  Luxembourg Prime Minister
Joseph Stalin 1953  Soviet Union Chairman of the Council of Ministers Illness – cerebral haemorrhage
Klement Gottwald 1953  Czechoslovakia President Heart attack
Gonchigiin Bumtsend 1953  Mongolia Chairman of the Presidium of the State Little Khural (head of state)
Getúlio Vargas 1954  Brazil President Suicide
José Antonio Remón Cantera 1955  Panama President Assassination – shooting
Hans Hedtoft 1955  Denmark Prime Minister Heart attack
Alexandros Papagos 1955  Greece Prime Minister Illness – lung haemorrhage
Anastasio Somoza García 1956  Nicaragua President Assassination – shooting
Bolesław Bierut 1956  Poland General Secretary of the United Workers' Party (de facto leader)
Theodor Körner 1957  Austria President Stroke
Antonín Zápotocký 1957  Czechoslovakia President
Carlos Castillo Armas 1957  Guatemala President Assassination – shooting
Ramón Magsaysay 1957  Philippines President Accident – plane crashed on ground
Daniel Ouezzin Coulibaly 1958  Upper Volta President of the Government Council
Barthélemy Boganda 1958  Central African Republic Prime Minister Accident – plane exploded and crashed on ground
Petru Groza 1958  Romania President of the Presidium of the Great National Assembly (head of state) Illness – stomach complications
Markus Feldmann 1958   Switzerland Member of the Federal Council
Georgi Damyanov 1958  Bulgaria Chairman of the Presidium of the National Assembly (head of state)
Johannes Gerhardus Strijdom 1958  South Africa Prime Minister Illness – cancer
Ernest George Jansen 1959  South Africa Governor-General
Pierre Frieden 1959  Luxembourg Prime Minister
S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike 1959  Ceylon Prime Minister Assassination – shooting
Hans Christian Hansen 1960  Denmark Prime Minister Illness – cancer
Wilhelm Pieck 1960  East Germany President Stroke
Hazza' al-Majali 1960  Jordan Prime Minister Assassination – bombing
Abebe Aregai 1960  Ethiopia Prime Minister Assassination – shooting
Prince Louis Rwagasore 1961  Rwanda Prime Minister Assassination – shooting
Cardinal Nicola Canali 1961  Vatican City President of the Governorate & President of the Pontifical Commission Illness – pneumonia
William Morrison, Viscount Dunrossil 1961  Australia Governor-General Illness – pulmonary embolism
Rafael Trujillo 1961  Dominican Republic de facto leader Assassination – shooting
Sylvanus Olympio 1963  Togo President Assassination – shooting
Yitzhak Ben-Zvi 1963  Israel President
John F. Kennedy 1963  United States President Assassination – shooting
Sarit Thanarat 1963  Thailand Prime Minister Illness – liver failure
Ngo Dinh Diem 1963  South Vietnam President Assassination – shooting
Dimitar Ganev 1964  Bulgaria Chairman of the Presidium of the National Assembly (head of state)
Jigme Palden Dorji 1964  Bhutan Prime Minister Assassination – shooting
Otto Grotewohl 1964  East Germany Chairman of the Council of Ministers Illness – brain haemorrhage
Sir Milton Margai 1964  Sierra Leone Prime Minister
Jawaharlal Nehru 1964  India Prime Minister Stroke
Aleksander Zawadzki 1964  Poland Chairman of the Council of State (head of state) Illness – cancer
Luis Giannattasio 1965  Uruguay President
Hassan Ali Mansur 1965  Iran Prime Minister Assassination – shooting
Pierre Ngendandumwe 1965  Burundi Prime Minister Assassination – shooting
Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej 1965  Romania President of the State Council (head of state) Illness – lung cancer
Adolf Schärf 1965  Austria President
Abdul Salam Arif 1966  Iraq President Accident – plane crashed on ground
Chris Soumokil 1966 South Maluku (unrecognised state) President Execution by firing squad
Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa 1966  Nigeria Prime Minister Assassination – shooting
Lal Bahadur Shastri 1966  India Prime Minister
Hendrik Verwoerd 1966  South Africa Prime Minister Assassination – stabbing
René Schick 1966  Nicaragua President Heart attack
Óscar Diego Gestido 1967  Uruguay President Heart attack
Georges Vanier 1967  Canada Governor General Illness
Léon M'ba 1967  Gabon President Illness – cancer
Sir Donald Burns Sangster 1967  Jamaica Prime Minister Illness – subarachnoid haemorrhage
Harold Holt 1967  Australia Prime Minister Drowning
Peter Mohr Dam 1968  Faroe Islands Prime Minister
Levi Eshkol 1969  Israel Prime Minister Illness
Ho Chi Minh 1969  North Vietnam Chairman of the Workers' Party (supreme leader) and President Heart attack
Abdirashid Ali Shermarke 1969  Somalia President Assassination – shooting
René Barrientos 1969  Bolivia President Accident – helicopter crashed on ground
Zakir Husain 1969  India President
Sir David Rose 1969  Guyana Governor-General Accident
Bjarni Benediktsson 1970  Iceland Prime Minister Accident – fire
Saïd Mohamed Cheikh 1970  Comoros President of the Government Council Heart attack
Yusof bin Ishak 1970  Singapore President Heart attack
Gamal Abdel Nasser 1970  Egypt President and Prime Minister Heart attack
François Duvalier 1971  Haiti President
Wasfi al-Tal 1971  Jordan Prime Minister Assassination – shooting
William Tubman 1971  Liberia President
Jamsrangiin Sambuu 1972  Mongolia Chairman of the Presidium of the People's Great Khural (head of state) Illness – cancer
Sir Leonard Williams 1972  Mauritius Governor-General
Salvador Allende 1973  Chile President Suicide
Luis Carrero Blanco 1973  Spain Prime Minister Assassination – bombing
Richard Sharples 1973  Bermuda Governor Assassination – shooting
Walter Ulbricht 1973  East Germany Chairman of the State Council (head of state) Stroke
Erskine Hamilton Childers 1974  Ireland President Heart attack
Franz Jonas 1974  Austria President
Norman Eric Kirk 1974  New Zealand Prime Minister Illness – pulmonary embolism
Juan Perón 1974  Argentina President Heart attack
Georges Pompidou 1974  France President (also Co-Prince of Andorra) Illness – macroglobulinemia
Chiang Kai-shek 1975  Republic of China President Heart attack
Long Boret 1975  Khmer Republic Prime Minister Execution by firing squad
Fiame Mata'afa Faumuina Mulinu'u II 1975  Western Samoa Prime Minister
Sheikh Mujibur Rahman 1975  Bangladesh Prime Minister Assassination – shooting
Richard Ratsimandrava 1975  Madagascar President Assassination – shooting
François Tombalbaye 1975  Chad President and Prime Minister Assassination – shooting
Francisco Franco 1975  Spain Head of State (dictator) Illness – heart failure
Abdul Razak Hussein 1976  Malaysia Prime Minister Illness
Murtala Mohammed 1976  Nigeria Head of the Federal Military Government (head of state) Assassination – shooting
Joël Rakotomalala 1976  Madagascar Prime Minister Accident – helicopter crashed on ground
El-Ouali Mustapha Sayed 1976  Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (unrecognised state) President Died in combat
Sir Arleigh Winston Scott 1976  Barbados Governor-General
Zhou Enlai 1976  China Premier Illness – cancer
Mao Zedong 1976  China Chairman of the Central Committee (de facto leader) Heart attack
Zhu De 1976  China Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (head of state)
Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed 1977  India President Heart attack
Tafari Benti 1977  Ethiopia Chairman of the Provisional Military Administrative Council (head of state) Execution by firing squad
Ibrahim al-Hamdi 1977  North Yemen President Assassination – shooting
Džemal Bijedić 1977  Yugoslavia President of the Federal Executive Council (head of government) Accident – plane crashed into mountain
Makarios III 1977  Cyprus President Heart attack
Marien Ngouabi 1977  Republic of Congo President Assassination
Mohammed Daoud Khan 1978  Afghanistan President Assassination – shooting
Ahmad al-Ghashmi 1978  North Yemen President Assassination – bombing
Houari Boumediene 1978  Algeria President Illness – macroglobulinemia
Francisco Mendes 1978  Guinea Bissau Prime Minister Accident – car crashed on road
John Wrathall 1978  Rhodesia President Heart attack
Salim Rubai Ali 1978  South Yemen President Execution
Robert Llewellyn Bradshaw 1978  Saint Christopher-Nevis-Anguilla Premier Illness – prostate cancer
Nicolaas Johannes Diederichs 1978  South Africa State President Heart attack
Jomo Kenyatta 1978  Kenya President Heart attack
Botha Sigcau 1978  Transkei (unrecognised state) President Heart attack
Sir Milo Butler 1979  The Bahamas Governor-General
Cardinal Jean-Marie Villot 1979  Holy See Cardinal Secretary of State Illness – bronchopneumonia
Agostinho Neto 1979  Angola President
Mashiur Rahman 1979  Bangladesh Chief Minister
Nur Muhammad Taraki 1979  Afghanistan President Assassination
Hafizullah Amin 1979  Afghanistan Chairman of the Presidium of the Revolutionary Council (head of state) and Chairman of the Council of Ministers Assassination
Park Chung-hee 1979  South Korea President Assassination – shooting
Maphevu Dlamini 1979  Swaziland Prime Minister
Paul Southwell 1979  Saint Christopher-Nevis-Anguilla Premier Heart attack
Sir Seretse Khama 1980  Botswana President Illness – pancreatic cancer
Tôn Đức Thắng 1980  Vietnam President Illness – respiratory failure
Josip Broz Tito 1980  Yugoslavia President Illness – peripheral artery disease
James Alexander George Smith McCartney 1980  Turks and Caicos Islands Chief Minister Accident – plane crashed
Masayoshi Ōhira 1980  Japan Prime Minister Heart attack
William R. Tolbert, Jr. 1980  Liberia President Execution
Abdelhamid Sharaf 1980  Jordan Prime Minister Heart attack
Francisco de Sá Carneiro 1980  Portugal Prime Minister Accident – plane crashed on ground
Benjamin Henry Sheares 1981  Singapore President Illness – lung cancer
Mehmet Shehu 1981  Albania Chairman of the Council of Ministers Suicide (disputed)
Jaime Roldós Aguilera 1981  Ecuador President Accident – plane crashed into mountain
Omar Torrijos 1981  Panama de facto leader Accident – plane crashed into mountain
Ziaur Rahman 1981  Bangladesh President Assassination – shooting
Eric Williams 1981  Trinidad and Tobago Prime Minister
Anwar Sadat 1981  Egypt President and Prime Minister Assassination – shooting
Mohammad-Ali Rajai 1981  Iran President Assassination – bombing
Mohammad-Javad Bahonar 1981  Iran Prime Minister Assassination – bombing
Antonio Guzmán Fernández 1982  Dominican Republic President Suicide
Leonid Brezhnev 1982  Soviet Union General Secretary of the Communist Party (de facto leader), and Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet (head of state) Heart attack
Willi Ritschard 1983   Switzerland Member of the Federal Council
Sir Deighton Lisle Ward 1984  Barbados Governor-General
Yuri Andropov 1984  Soviet Union General Secretary of the Communist Party (de facto leader), and Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet (head of state) Illness – kidney failure
Edward Sokoine 1984  Tanzania Prime Minister Accident – car crashed on road
Chan Sy 1984  People's Republic of Kampuchea Chairman of the Council of Ministers Heart attack
Ahmad Fuad Mohieddin 1984  Egypt Prime Minister
Indira Gandhi 1984  India Prime Minister Assassination – shooting
Ahmed Sékou Touré 1984  Guinea President Heart attack
Tom Adams 1985  Barbados Prime Minister Heart attack
Enver Hoxha 1985  Albania First Secretary of the Party of Labour (de facto leader) Illness
Forbes Burnham 1985  Guyana President Illness – throat infection
Haruo Remeliik 1985  Palau President Assassination – shooting
Konstantin Chernenko 1985  Soviet Union General Secretary of the Communist Party (de facto leader), and Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet (head of state) Illness – heart failure, emphysema, and liver cirrhosis
Tancredo Neves 1985  Brazil President-elect Illness – diverticulitis
Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam 1985  Mauritius Governor-General
Olof Palme 1986  Sweden Prime Minister Assassination – shooting
Lê Duẩn 1986  Vietnam General Secretary of the Communist Party (de facto leader) Illness
Samora Machel 1986  Mozambique President Accident – plane crashed on ground
Errol Barrow 1987  Barbados Prime Minister
Rashid Karami 1987  Lebanon Prime Minister Assassination – bombing
Seyni Kountché 1987  Niger President of the Supreme Military Council Illness – brain tumour
Cedric Phatudi 1987  KaNgwane (unrecognised state) Chief Minister
Thomas Sankara 1987  Burkina Faso President Assassination – shooting
Chiang Ching-kuo 1988  Republic of China President
Patrick Mphephu 1988  Venda (unrecognised state) President
Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq 1988  Pakistan President Accident – plane crashed on ground
Lazarus Salii 1988  Palau President Suicide
Phạm Hùng 1988  Vietnam Prime Minister
Herbert Blaize 1989  Grenada Prime Minister Illness – prostate cancer
Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini 1989  Iran Supreme Leader Heart attack
Ahmed Abdallah 1989  Comoros President Assassination – shooting
René Moawad 1989  Lebanon President Assassination – bombing
Sir Ignatius Kilage 1989  Papua New Guinea Governor-General
Samuel Doe 1990  Liberia President Execution
Sheikh Rashid bin Saeed Al Maktoum 1990  United Arab Emirates Prime Minister
Nasirdin Isanov 1991  Tajikistan Prime Minister Accident – car crashed on road
Artur Mkrtchyan 1992  Nagorno-Karabakh (unrecognised state) Chairman of Parliament (head of state) Assassination – shooting
Mohamed Boudiaf 1992  Algeria Chairman of the High Council of State Assassination – shooting
Kaysone Phomvihane 1992  Laos President
Sir Robert Rex 1992  Niue Premier
József Antall 1993  Hungary Prime Minister Illness – cancer
Ranasinghe Premadasa 1993  Sri Lanka President Assassination – bombing
Ratu Sir Penaia Ganilau 1993  Fiji President
Félix Houphouët-Boigny 1993  Côte d'Ivoire President Illness – prostate cancer
Melchior Ndadaye 1993  Burundi President Assassination – shooting
Turgut Özal 1993  Turkey President Suspected poisoning
Zhiuli Shartava 1993  Abkhazia (unrecognised state) Prime Minister Assassination – shooting
Juvénal Habyarimana 1994  Rwanda President Assassination – plane shot down by two missiles[1]
Cyprien Ntaryamira 1994  Burundi President
Agathe Uwilingiyimana 1994  Rwanda Prime Minister Assassination – shooting
Kim Il-sung 1994  North Korea General Secretary of the Workers' Party (supreme leader) and President Heart attack[2]
Yitzhak Rabin 1995  Israel Prime Minister Assassination – shooting
Dame Nita Barrow 1995  Barbados Governor-General
Hamilton Lavity Stoutt 1995  British Virgin Islands Chief Minister
Amata Kabua 1996  Marshall Islands President Illness
Dzhokhar Dudayev 1996  Chechen Republic of Ichkeria

(unrecognised state)

President Assassination – shooting
Cheddi Jagan 1997  Guyana President Heart attack
Abdul Rahim Ghafoorzai 1997  Afghanistan Prime Minister Accident – plane crashed on ground
Sani Abacha 1998  Nigeria Chairman of the Provisional Ruling Council Heart attack
Mohamed Taki Abdoulkarim 1998  Comoros President
Ibrahim Baré Maïnassara 1999  Niger President Assassination – shooting
Jumabek Ibraimov 1999  Kyrgyzstan Prime Minister Illness – stomach cancer
Franjo Tuđman 1999  Croatia President Illness – cancer
Vazgen Sargsyan 1999  Armenia Prime Minister Assassination – shooting

2000–present

Name Year Country Title Cause of death
Rosie Douglas 2000  Dominica Prime Minister
Ionatana Ionatana 2000  Tuvalu Prime Minister
Laurent-Désiré Kabila 2001  Democratic Republic of Congo President Assassination – shooting
Sir Charles Antrobus 2002  Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Governor-General
Muhammad Haji Ibrahim Egal 2002  Somaliland (unrecognised state) President
Bernard Dowiyogo 2003  Nauru President Illness – complications from diabetes
Zoran Đinđić 2003  Serbia Prime Minister Assassination – shooting
Yasser Arafat 2004  Palestine President Disputed
Pierre Charles 2004  Dominica Prime Minister Heart attack
Ezzedine Salim 2004  Iraq President of the Governing Council Assassination – bombing
Thomas Klestil 2004  Austria President Heart attack
Boris Trajkovski 2004  Macedonia President Accident – plane crashed into mountain
Gnassingbé Eyadéma 2005  Togo President Heart attack
Zurab Zhvania 2005  Georgia Prime Minister Accident – poisoning
Sheikh Maktoum bin Rashid Al Maktoum 2006  United Arab Emirates Prime Minister Heart attack
Ibrahim Rugova 2006  Kosovo President Illness – lung cancer
Pascal Yoadimnadji 2007  Chad Prime Minister Heart attack
Andranik Markaryan 2007  Armenia Prime Minister Heart attack
Sir John Compton 2007  Saint Lucia Prime Minister Stroke
Soe Win 2007  Burma Prime Minister Illness – leukaemia
Levy Mwanawasa 2008  Zambia President Stroke
Lansana Conté 2008  Guinea President Illness
Omar Bongo 2009  Gabon President Heart attack
João Bernardo Vieira 2009  Guinea-Bissau President Assassination – shooting
Lech Kaczyński 2010  Poland President Accident – plane crashed on ground
Umaru Musa Yar'Adua 2010  Nigeria President Illness – pericarditis
David Thompson 2010  Barbados Prime Minister Illness – pancreatic cancer
Sergey Bagapsh 2011  Abkhazia(unrecognised state) President Illness – complications from surgery
Muammar Gaddafi 2011  Libya Brotherly Leader and Guide of the Revolution Assassination – shooting
Kim Jong-il 2011  North Korea General Secretary of the Workers' Party (supreme leader) Heart attack[3]
Malam Bacai Sanhá 2012  Guinea-Bissau President Illness
Bingu wa Mutharika 2012  Malawi President Heart attack
John Atta Mills 2012  Ghana President Stroke
Meles Zenawi 2012  Ethiopia Prime Minister Illness
Hugo Chávez 2013  Venezuela President Illness – unspecified form of cancer
Zillur Rahman 2013  Bangladesh President Illness – lung problems
Michael Sata 2014  Zambia President Illness
Mohamed Abdelaziz 2016  Western Sahara (unrecognised state) President Lung cancer
Islam Karimov 2016  Uzbekistan President Stroke
Sir Michael Ogio 2017  Papua New Guinea Governor-General
Baldwin Lonsdale 2017  Vanuatu President Heart attack
Alexander Zakharchenko 2018  Donetsk People's Republic (unrecognised state) Head of the Republic and Prime Minister Assassination – bombing
Gennadi Gagulia 2018  Abkhazia (unrecognised state) Prime Minister Accident – car crashed on road
Trần Đại Quang 2018  Vietnam President Illness – viral infection
Beji Caid Essebsi 2019  Tunisia President Serious illness
ʻAkilisi Pōhiva 2019  Tonga Prime Minister Illness – pneumonia
Pierre Nkurunziza 2020  Burundi President Illness – cardiac arrest
Amadou Gon Coulibaly 2020  Ivory Coast Prime Minister

See also

References

  1. ^ Diamond, Jared (2005). Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Survive. Penguin Books. p. 315. ISBN 0-140-27951-2.
  2. ^ Demick, Barbara (2010). Nothing To Envy: Real Lives In North Korea. London: Granta Publications. p. 128. ISBN 978-1-84708-337-1.
  3. ^ "North Korean leader Kim Jong-il dies 'of heart attack'". BBC News. 19 December 2011. Retrieved 19 December 2011.
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