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.

• 
  Carola von Braun

  1942 – 2026 · Politician

  Berlin's first Women's Representative, a liberal who built bridges for women across party lines.

  4 candles · 1 tributes
• 
  Philip Ruppe

  1926 – 2026 · U.S. Representative (Michigan 11th District

  Moderate Michigan congressman who carried Copper Country and Great Lakes concerns to Washington for twelve years.

  4 candles · 1 tributes
• 
  Dick Cheney

  1941 – 2025 · 46th Vice President of the United States

  46th Vice President of the United States. Husband of Lynne for 61 years, father, grandfather and fly fisherman.

  4 candles · 1 tributes
• 
  Georgina Beyer

  1957 – 2023 · Politician

  World's first openly transgender mayor and MP, she proved rural New Zealand could lead the world on dignity.

  4 candles · 1 tributes
• 
  Liu Yandong

  1945 – 2026 · Politician

  Chemist turned Vice Premier, the most senior woman in Chinese politics of her generation.

  3 candles · 1 tributes
• 
  Alfredo Sánchez Monteseirín

  1957 – 2026 · Politician and doctor

  The mayor who gave Seville back to its people, its cyclists and its walkers.

  3 candles · 1 tributes
• 
  Horst Gramlich

  1938 – 2026 · Politician

  Potsdam's first mayor after the Wende, who rebuilt the city's government in the years of reunification.

  3 candles · 1 tributes
• 
  Michèle Barzach

  1943 – 2026 · Politician and physician

  The health minister who first gave France a public answer to AIDS.

  3 candles · 1 tributes
• 
  Kwame Dzokoto

  † 2026 · Politician

  Judge Koboo of Efiewura and the warm voice of Edziban, who made Ghana laugh and taste its own food.

  3 candles · 1 tributes
• 
  Gnénéma Mamadou Coulibaly

  1962 – 2026 · Magistrate and politician

  Magistrate, minister and storyteller; he helped rebuild Ivorian justice after the crisis.

  3 candles · 1 tributes
• 
  Giannis Koutsogiannis

  1933 – 2026 · Army officer and politician

  An officer tortured by the junta who helped found PASOK and served Argos in parliament.

  3 candles · 1 tributes
• 
  Oba Enoch Akinyemi

  † 2026 · Owa-Ooye of Imesi-Ile (traditional ruler) and electrical engineer

  Engineer who came home from London to reign as Owa-Ooye of Imesi-Ile for 21 years.

  3 candles · 1 tributes
• 
  Dündar Ziya Gültekin

  † 2026 · Acting mayor / local politician

  Üsküdar's acting mayor whose life of local public service ended on the road to Ankara.

  3 candles · 1 tributes
• 
  Md. Abdul Hai

  1949 – 2026 · Politician

  Freedom fighter, five-time MP and BNP stalwart of Munshiganj.

  3 candles · 1 tributes
• 
  Aloys "Al" John Schwinghamer

  1938 – 2026 · Civil engineer and mayor of Moose Jaw

  Engineer, councillor and two-term mayor who spent 35 years building and serving Moose Jaw.

  3 candles · 1 tributes
• 
  Salahuddin Ahmed

  † 2026 · Politician

  A three-time Dhaka MP who spent his life in the BNP and in the old city he represented.

  3 candles · 1 tributes
• 
  Sardar Harbans Singh

  † 2026 · Politician

  A National Conference stalwart from Jammu who served in the cabinet from 1996 to 2002.

  3 candles · 1 tributes
• 
  Dr. Vijay Poudel

  † 2026 · Politician

  Nepali former MP and CPN (United) leader, lifelong figure of the left.

  3 candles · 1 tributes
• 
  Eddie Osborne

  † 2026 · Labor leader and politician

  A Newark labor leader who served his city on the council and the housing authority.

  3 candles · 1 tributes
• 
  René-Pierre Signé

  1930 – 2026 · Politician and general practitioner

  Country doctor of the Morvan who followed Mitterrand at Château-Chinon and served the Nièvre for forty years.

  3 candles · 1 tributes
• 
  Denis Halliday

  1941 – 2026 · Peace activist

  The UN official who resigned rather than administer sanctions he believed were killing Iraq's children.

  3 candles · 1 tributes
• 
  Hans Bulte

  1937 – 2026 · Politician (mayor) and teacher

  North Holland mayor who brought calm to Volendam after the 2001 café fire.

  3 candles · 1 tributes
• 
  Jean Massillon

  † 2026 · Interim executive agent (mayor) of Kenscoff

  The mayor who stayed. He never stopped speaking for Kenscoff so it would never be abandoned.

  3 candles · 1 tributes
• 
  Michael Canavan

  † 2026 · Politician and businessman

  Derry businessman and civil rights campaigner who helped John Hume found the credit union and the SDLP.

  3 candles · 1 tributes
• 
  Samuel Odoi-Sykes

  1928 – 2026 · Politician

  A lawyer and diplomat who led Ghana's opposition in Parliament and chaired the NPP to victory.

  3 candles · 1 tributes
• 
  Sergey Mikhalyov

  1953 – 2026 · Politician

  Rostov mining engineer and first deputy speaker who helped rescue forty-six trapped miners in 2003.

  3 candles · 1 tributes
• 
  Cesar Virata

  1930 – 2026 · Statesman

  Prime minister and long-serving finance chief who shaped Philippine economic policy across four decades.

  3 candles · 1 tributes
• 
  Nobutaka Tsutsui

  1944 – 2026 · Politician

  Five-term Niigata Diet member and agriculture vice minister who won a landmark libel judgment.

  3 candles · 1 tributes
• 
  Ramón Luis Rivera

  1929 – 2026 · Puerto Rican politician

  Mayor of Bayamón for 24 years. PNP leader and lifelong champion of Puerto Rican statehood.

  3 candles · 1 tributes
• 
  Jérôme Bignon

  1949 – 2026 · Avocat and politician

  Somme avocat and parliamentarian who championed France's coasts and wetlands.

  3 candles · 1 tributes
• 
  Juan Carlos Pagotto

  1952 – 2026 · Lawyer and politician

  Riojano senator and lawyer who chaired Justice and Agreements for La Libertad Avanza.

  3 candles · 1 tributes
• 
  Julián García Vargas

  1945 – 2026 · Economist

  Economist and statesman who built Spain's universal health system and modernized its Armed Forces.

  3 candles · 1 tributes
• 
  Michel Soucy

  1951 – 2026 · Mayor

  Longtime mayor of Atholville and Campbellton, remembered for decades of community service in Restigouche.

  3 candles · 1 tributes
• 
  Javier Delgado Barrio

  1932 – 2026 · Judge

  Spanish Supreme Court and judiciary president who later served on the Constitutional Court.

  3 candles · 1 tributes
• 
  Garnet Coleman

  1961 – 2026 · Texas state representative

  Houston's Third Ward champion who spent 30 years expanding care and fighting for people left out.

  3 candles · 1 tributes
• 
  Mama Fatma Karume

  1929 – 2026 · First Lady of Zanzibar

  Zanzibar's first First Lady, suffrage pioneer and keeper of the islands' living memory.

  3 candles · 1 tributes
• 
  Jun Gato

  1959 – 2026 · Physician (ENT)

  Physician-congressman who carried the voice of Batanes into Manila.

  3 candles · 1 tributes
• 
  Etukuri Krishnamurthy

  1922 – 2026 · Freedom fighter

  A freedom fighter who carried the struggle into a second century of life.

  3 candles · 1 tributes
• 
  Danny Setiawan

  1945 – 2026 · Politician

  West Java governor and lifelong civil servant.

  3 candles · 1 tributes
• 
  Claude Bachand

  1951 – 2026 · Politician

  Grounded Bloc MP who put Saint-Jean first for nearly two decades

  3 candles · 1 tributes
• 
  Naseer al-Chaderchi

  1933 – 2026 · Lawyer and politician

  Lawyer, democrat and son of Baghdad who carried his father's civic ideals into a new Iraq.

  3 candles · 1 tributes
• 
  Mahmood Bashir Virk

  1937 – 2026 · Politician

  Gujranwala five-term MNA and former federal law minister for the PML-N.

  3 candles · 1 tributes
• 
  Tomás Solís

  1934 – 2026 · teacher

  Chilean teacher and first mayor of Chiguayante who rebuilt civic life after exile.

  3 candles · 1 tributes
• 
  Tolofuaivalelei Falemoe Leiʻataua

  1950 – 2026 · Politician

  Speaker of Samoa's Parliament, son of Leulumoega, devoted husband, father and man of faith.

  3 candles · 1 tributes
• 
  Monowar Hossain Chowdhury

  1948 – 2026 · Civil engineer

  Engineer, public servant and twice the voice of Gobindaganj in parliament.

  3 candles · 1 tributes
• 
  Nancy Wyman

  1946 – 2026 · Connecticut politician

  Connecticut's first woman comptroller and lieutenant governor who fought with a smile and red high heels.

  3 candles · 1 tributes
• 
  Juan Manuel Escobar

  1950 – 2026 · Politician and judge

  Marine, Border Patrol agent and Texas lawmaker who served South Texas all his life.

  3 candles · 1 tributes
• 
  Giles Chichester

  1946 – 2026 · Politician and publisher

  Sir Francis Chichester's son, who spent 20 years speaking for the South West in Europe.

  3 candles · 1 tributes