Politics

Presidents, prime ministers, ministers and campaigners who shaped the countries they served. 393 people are remembered here. Light a candle, read their story, and add a memory of your own.

• 
  Alexander Sizov

  1948 – 2026 · Politician

  From the motor plant floor to the State Duma, he spent his life serving Yaroslavl.

  6 candles · 1 tributes
• 
  Nikolay Koshman

  1944 – 2026 · Colonel general

  The railway builder Moscow sent to rebuild Chechnya.

  6 candles · 1 tributes
• 
  Ana Rita Sithole

  † 2026 · Politician

  Inhambane's voice in parliament who led the ACP states' assembly into the Samoa era.

  6 candles · 1 tributes
• 
  Louis-André Dacoury-Tabley

  1945 – 2026 · Politician

  Ivorian politician who co-founded the FPI, negotiated for peace and served his home region of Gagnoa.

  6 candles · 1 tributes
• 
  Abdul-Samed Muhamed Gunu

  1966 – 2026 · Politician and development worker

  First NPP member of Parliament for Savelugu, remembered as humble and kind.

  6 candles · 1 tributes
• 
  Gerald Stebelton

  1939 – 2026 · Lawyer and politician

  Lancaster lawyer and Ohio lawmaker who championed young readers and children with dyslexia.

  6 candles · 1 tributes
• 
  John Margenot

  † 2026 · First Selectman of Greenwich

  Five-term First Selectman who gave his hometown of Greenwich a lifetime of service.

  6 candles · 1 tributes
• 
  James Lindesay-Bethune, 16th Earl of Lindsay

  1955 – 2026 · Politician

  Scottish peer who championed accreditation, heritage, and consumer trust

  6 candles · 1 tributes
• 
  Josep Pinyol i Balasch

  1952 – 2026 · Historian

  A Cornellà historian who gave his life's work to the cause of Catalan independence.

  6 candles · 1 tributes
• 
  Hamid Lounaouci

  1955 – 2026 · Politician

  Co-founder of Algeria's human rights league, lawmaker, transport minister and presidential adviser from Tizi Ouzou.

  6 candles · 1 tributes
• 
  Vitorino Vieira Cavaco

  1932 – 2026 · Parish council president

  First elected Messines parish president after Portugal's democracy.

  6 candles · 1 tributes
• 
  Elmer A. Bietz

  1934 – 2026 · Farmer and politician

  A Tripp farmer who served his neighbours in the South Dakota Senate and on every board that asked.

  6 candles · 1 tributes
• 
  Sandra Bolden Cunningham

  1950 – 2026 · New Jersey State Senator (31st District

  She carried Glenn's legacy to Trenton, then built her own, fighting for second chances, students and the people of Hudson County.

  6 candles · 1 tributes
• 
  James Nelligan

  1929 – 2026 · Politician and accountant

  Wilkes-Barre accountant who served his country, his state and the Wyoming Valley in Congress.

  6 candles · 1 tributes
• 
  Vincent M. Battle

  1940 – 2026 · Diplomat

  An American ambassador who loved Lebanon so much that he made it his home.

  6 candles · 1 tributes
• 
  Burudi Nabwera

  1927 – 2026 · Diplomat and politician

  Kenya's first ambassador to Washington, who carried a new nation's voice to the world.

  6 candles · 1 tributes
• 
  Don Wing

  1938 – 2026 · Politician

  Independent Tasmanian MLC and Launceston mayor who led the Legislative Council.

  6 candles · 1 tributes
• 
  Adrian Rurawhe

  1961 – 2026 · Speaker of the New Zealand House of Representatives

  Second Māori Speaker of New Zealand's House; Labour MP for Te Tai Hauāuru.

  6 candles · 1 tributes
• 
  Pat Saiki

  1930 – 2026 · Politician

  Hilo teacher who became Hawaii's first Republican U.S. representative since statehood.

  6 candles · 1 tributes
• 
  Ramón Luis Rivera Rivera

  1929 – 2026 · Politician

  Bayamón mayor for 24 years and a pillar of the New Progressive Party.

  6 candles · 1 tributes
• 
  Colin McKerral

  † 2026 · Community advocate and municipal council candidate

  Greater Sudbury Ward 12 candidate and Louis Street housing advocate who pressed leaders to see tenants' lives firsthand.

  6 candles · 1 tributes
• 
  Tokushin Yamauchi

  1935 – 2026 · Politician

  Yomitan mayor and Diet member who fought for base return and local autonomy in Okinawa.

  6 candles · 1 tributes
• 
  Chhotelal Verma

  1953 – 2026 · Politician

  Four-term Fatehabad MLA, called Babuji, who kept winning Agra's rural seat for three decades.

  6 candles · 1 tributes
• 
  Richard Mulcahey

  1935 – 2026 · Politician

  Northwest Illinois legislator, teacher, Marine and deacon who served for decades.

  6 candles · 1 tributes
• 
  David Hollister

  1942 – 2026 · Mayor of Lansing

  The mayor who kept GM in Lansing and rebuilt its downtown.

  6 candles · 1 tributes
• 
  Edward Rogalski

  1942 – 2026 · University president

  St. Ambrose president who built a university through people and relationships.

  6 candles · 1 tributes
• 
  Josef Kalbáč

  1940 – 2026 · Agronomist

  Czech senator and Klaus adviser who kept faith with Strakonicko farming country and its folk songs.

  6 candles · 1 tributes
• 
  Carolyn J. B. Howard

  1938 – 2026 · Politician

  Longtime Prince George's voice in the Maryland House; educator turned Deputy Speaker Pro Tem.

  6 candles · 1 tributes
• 
  Susy Aponte Polo

  † 2026 · Investigative journalist

  Digital journalist and Áncash candidate who kept reporting after threats.

  6 candles · 1 tributes
• 
  Jerry Thomas Howard

  1936 – 2026 · Missouri state senator and representative

  Dexter farmer-legislator who served Missouri's 25th District and never left the land.

  6 candles · 1 tributes
• B
  Bhairav Dutt Kharkwal (B.D. Kharkwal)

  † 2026 · IPS officer

  Former Assam DGP remembered with military honours in Haldwani.

  6 candles · 1 tributes
• 
  Chung Ho-yong

  1932 – 2026 · Army general

  Four-star general and defense minister whose career was bound to South Korea's Fifth Republic reckoning.

  6 candles · 1 tributes
• 
  Nikolay Podgornov

  1949 – 2026 · Politician

  First post-Soviet head of Vologda Oblast, from farm director to regional governor.

  6 candles · 1 tributes
• 
  Bhagat Chunni Lal

  1932 – 2026 · Politician

  From Sialkot to Jalandhar West, a six decade servant of party and city.

  6 candles · 1 tributes
• 
  Takao Jinnouchi

  1933 – 2026 · Politician

  Saga councillor and Obuchi-era justice minister who rose from the construction bureaucracy.

  6 candles · 1 tributes
• 
  Thomas Graham Jr.

  1933 – 2026 · Diplomat

  He spent his life talking nations back from the nuclear brink, and helped make the NPT permanent.

  6 candles · 1 tributes
• 
  Joan Phillip

  1952 – 2026 · Canadian politician

  Amshen, a fearless First Nations leader who carried a lifetime of activism into the legislature.

  6 candles · 1 tributes
• 
  Stefanos Manos

  1939 – 2026 · Greek politician

  A liberal reformer who argued for a leaner Greek state long before it was fashionable.

  6 candles · 1 tributes
• 
  Marcel Neven

  1943 – 2026 · Politician

  Burgomaster of Visé for nearly thirty years, a teacher, legislator and lifelong champion of local sport.

  6 candles · 1 tributes
• 
  James G. Roche

  1939 – 2026 · Secretary of the Air Force and naval officer

  Navy captain and Air Force secretary who led the service through the years after 9/11.

  6 candles · 1 tributes
• 
  Ioannis Varvitsiotis

  1933 – 2026 · Lawyer and politician

  Twice Greece's defence minister, he died at home on his 93rd birthday.

  6 candles · 1 tributes
• 
  Kazimira Prunskienė

  1943 – 2026 · Economist and politician

  First prime minister of restored Lithuania, who carried a small nation's case for freedom to the world's capitals.

  6 candles · 1 tributes
• 
  Ajit Pawar

  1959 – 2026 · Politician

  Ajit Dada of Baramati, Maharashtra's longest-serving Deputy Chief Minister, always at his desk by dawn.

  6 candles · 1 tributes
• 
  Fátima Báñez

  1967 – 2026 · Politician

  Spain's first woman employment minister, who steered the country through its jobs crisis.

  5 candles · 1 tributes
• 
  Frank Portelli

  1944 – 2026 · Doctor and politician

  A Maltese doctor who served his party and Parliament, and never stopped arguing his case.

  5 candles · 1 tributes
• 
  Fathan Subchi

  1970 – 2026 · Politician and state auditor

  A PMII organiser who rose to parliament and the Audit Board, and kept faith with his roots in Demak.

  5 candles · 1 tributes
• 
  Slavi Binev

  1965 – 2026 · Taekwondo champion

  European taekwondo champion, MEP and federation president who saw Bulgaria win its first Olympic taekwondo medal.

  5 candles · 1 tributes
• 
  Widodo Adi Sutjipto

  1944 – 2026 · Naval officer and politician

  The first admiral to lead Indonesia's armed forces, who steered them out of politics.

  5 candles · 1 tributes