Politics

Presidents, prime ministers, ministers and campaigners who shaped the countries they served. 394 people are remembered here. Light a candle, read their story, and add a memory of your own.

• 
  Janet Howell

  1944 – 2026 · Politician

  Virginia senator for 32 years and the first woman to chair its Finance Committee.

  5 candles · 1 tributes
• 
  Lionel Jospin

  1937 – 2026 · French Socialist politician

  The rigorous Prime Minister of the plural left who gave France the 35-hour week, the CMU and the PACS.

  5 candles · 1 tributes
• 
  Khaleda Zia

  1946 – 2025 · Politician

  Bangladesh's first woman prime minister, remembered as an uncompromising fighter for democracy

  5 candles · 1 tributes
• 
  Cuauhtémoc Cárdenas

  1934 – 2026 · Civil engineer and politician

  Son of a president who never became one, he broke the PRI's grip, founded the PRD and led Mexico toward democracy.

  4 candles · 1 tributes
• 
  Chandrasekhar Mishra

  † 2026 · Politician

  A lifelong party worker who gave Jamshedpur's BJP and his neighbourhood decades of service.

  4 candles · 1 tributes
• 
  Cristina Calero García

  † 2026 · Politician

  Lanzarote deputy remembered for her enthusiasm and her love for her island.

  4 candles · 1 tributes
• 
  Pius Osunyikanmi

  1971 – 2026 · Politician and public administrator

  Ondo's education commissioner who led Nigeria's Technical Aid Corps for a decade.

  4 candles · 1 tributes
• 
  Arlene Lesewski

  1936 – 2026 · Politician

  Marshall insurance agent who spent a decade speaking for rural southwestern Minnesota.

  4 candles · 1 tributes
• 
  Yasuo Fukuda

  1936 – 2026 · Politician

  Japan's 91st prime minister, who worked quietly for peace with his neighbours.

  4 candles · 1 tributes
• 
  Charles Matovu

  1985 – 2026 · Politician and electrical engineer

  He carried Busiro South for the opposition and fought for it to the very end.

  4 candles · 1 tributes
• 
  Gianfranco Morgando

  1949 – 2026 · Italian politician

  A patient builder of Catholic democratic politics, from Borgiallo to Rome and back.

  4 candles · 1 tributes
• 
  Sardar Nisar Ali Hazara

  † 2026 · Politician and Hazara tribal elder

  Hazara elder and Balochistan education minister who survived an assassin's bullets to keep serving his people.

  4 candles · 1 tributes
• 
  Mehdi Khanbaba Tehrani

  1934 – 2026 · Political activist and memoirist

  A lifelong fighter on Iran's left who lived to question it, and argued to the end for democracy.

  4 candles · 1 tributes
• 
  Sönke Hartlef

  1962 – 2026 · Mayor of Stade

  A village councillor who became mayor of Stade and served his home town with all his heart.

  4 candles · 1 tributes
• 
  Ibrahima Sory Sow

  1941 – 2026 · Politician and diplomat

  Leipzig-trained scholar who served Guinea as health minister and as ambassador in Berlin and Beijing.

  4 candles · 1 tributes
• 
  Georg Moesta

  1963 – 2026 · Lawyer

  Rhineland-Palatinate constitutional judge and Mayen-Koblenz CDU leader.

  4 candles · 1 tributes
• 
  John Packer

  1946 – 2026 · Politician

  Bishop of Ripon and Leeds, champion of asylum seekers and the vulnerable in the House of Lords.

  4 candles · 1 tributes
• 
  Xosé Manuel Beiras

  1936 – 2026 · Economist

  Economist, writer and the defining voice of modern Galician nationalism.

  4 candles · 1 tributes
• 
  Virjibhai Thummar

  1959 – 2026 · Politician

  A farmers' leader from Amreli who never let a day pass without raising his voice for the people.

  4 candles · 1 tributes
• 
  Michel de Guillenchmidt

  1941 – 2026 · Civil servant

  Conseiller d'État, Paris lawyer and law dean who defended fundamental freedoms at home and abroad.

  4 candles · 1 tributes
• 
  Hans Egloff

  1959 – 2026 · Swiss SVP politician

  Teacher, judge and lawyer who spent three decades fighting for Swiss homeowners and lived to see the imputed rental tax abolished.

  4 candles · 1 tributes
• 
  Tom J. Dugger

  1948 – 2026 · Politician

  Stillwater accountant, city councilor and state senator who gave his life to public service.

  4 candles · 1 tributes
• 
  Colin Gabelmann

  1944 – 2026 · Politician

  A transformative B.C. Attorney General and champion of the public's right to know.

  4 candles · 1 tributes
• 
  Neil Andrew

  1944 – 2026 · Speaker of the Australian House of Representatives

  Riverland fruit grower and 24th Speaker of the House, who kept the chair fair and never forgot home.

  4 candles · 1 tributes
• 
  Andrea Kdolsky

  1962 – 2026 · Physician (anaesthesiology)

  Austrian physician and health minister who spoke openly about illness and care.

  4 candles · 1 tributes
• 
  Josef Buchner

  1942 – 2026 · Politician

  Upper Austrian green pioneer who fought Linz smog and became Austria's first green mayor.

  4 candles · 1 tributes
• 
  Gabriel Serville

  1959 – 2026 · Politician

  Teacher-turned-CTG president who fought for Guiana's voice, schools, and Caribbean future.

  4 candles · 1 tributes
• 
  Sir William Heseltine

  1930 – 2026 · Civil servant

  Australian Private Secretary to Queen Elizabeth II, 1986-1990; WA-born royal servant.

  4 candles · 1 tributes
• 
  Guruh Sukarnoputra

  1953 – 2026 · Musician

  Sukarno's youngest son: three decades in parliament and a lifetime of Indonesian song and dance.

  4 candles · 1 tributes
• 
  Ahmed El-Zend

  1946 – 2026 · Judge

  Egyptian judge who led the Judges Club and briefly served as Minister of Justice.

  4 candles · 1 tributes
• 
  Milan Panić

  1929 – 2026 · Businessman

  From Belgrade resistance and California labs to Yugoslavia's premiership, a builder who wagered everything on peace.

  4 candles · 1 tributes
• 
  Isao Takeuchi

  1951 – 2026 · Politician

  Three-term Tottori mayor who steered merger, dunes tourism and a brief Diet career.

  4 candles · 1 tributes
• 
  Bachtiar Chamsyah

  1945 – 2026 · Politician

  Indonesian social affairs minister who served PPP cabinets under Megawati and Yudhoyono.

  4 candles · 1 tributes
• 
  Burhan Özfatura

  1943 – 2026 · Politician

  Twice mayor of İzmir who built canals, metro, housing, and Tansaş into the city's modern map.

  4 candles · 1 tributes
• 
  Karim Bujang

  1953 – 2026 · Politician

  Five-term Bongawan assemblyman who helped organise Sabah's BN years.

  4 candles · 1 tributes
• 
  Wes MacAleer

  1944 – 2026 · Politician

  PEI publisher, MLA and cabinet minister; a constant gentleman who kept serving.

  4 candles · 1 tributes
• 
  Kai Dige Bach

  1936 – 2026 · Conservative Folketing member (1987-1998)

  Herlev Conservative who built firms from fuel to Gate Eleven and sat 11 years in the Folketing.

  4 candles · 1 tributes
• 
  Richard Giragosian

  1965 – 2026 · Academic

  Armenian American analyst who built a Yerevan think tank and shaped Caucasus policy debate.

  4 candles · 1 tributes
• 
  Chaudhry Muhammad Hanif

  1963 – 2026 · Politician

  Three-time Punjab MPA from Chichawatni who stayed close to his district.

  4 candles · 1 tributes
• 
  Him Bahadur Shahi

  † 2026 · politician

  Dailekh Congress organiser who carried underground democracy work into Karnali provincial office.

  4 candles · 1 tributes
• 
  René Aphing Kouassi

  1948 – 2026 · Magistrate

  Ivorian Supreme Court president and lifelong servant of justice.

  4 candles · 1 tributes
• 
  Mirosław Różański

  1962 – 2026 · Polish lieutenant general

  A soldier and senator who gave his working life to the security of Poland.

  4 candles · 1 tributes
• 
  Reggie Jones

  1973 – 2026 · mayor

  Dellwood mayor and Boys & Girls Club leader who put North County youth first.

  4 candles · 1 tributes
• 
  Asish Banerjee

  1951 – 2026 · Politician

  Teacher, five-term MLA for Rampurhat and Deputy Speaker of the West Bengal Assembly.

  4 candles · 1 tributes
• 
  Heinz-Peter Gasse

  1952 – 2026 · Trade unionist and politician

  Duisburg steelworker's son of the union who never forgot the works he called home.

  4 candles · 1 tributes
• 
  Josef Deimer

  1936 – 2026 · Politician

  Landshut's lord mayor for 35 years and a fearless voice for Bavaria's towns and cities.

  4 candles · 1 tributes
• 
  Jacques Wallage

  1946 – 2026 · Politician

  Labour leader in the House and a much loved mayor of Groningen.

  4 candles · 1 tributes
• 
  Xaysomphone Phomvihane

  1956 – 2026 · Politician

  Son of the founder of modern Laos, who rose to lead its National Assembly.

  4 candles · 1 tributes