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Hilary Rubinstein: Celebrated literary agent and publisher

Mon, 28 May 2012 23:00:01 GMT

Hilary Rubinstein lived during a golden age of publishing, when publishers and literary agents (and he'd been both) were gentlemen, kept their words and always answered your letters. His long and mostly happy life was marked by his enthusiasms: for his family, for good books of every sort, for small, owner-run hotels and for chocolate. He was the youngest of three sons of a very old Anglo-Jewish family. One ancestor, a quill-maker, averted an attempt on the life of George III, and was rewarded with the royal warrant for quills.

Roman Totenberg

Mon, 28 May 2012 23:00:01 GMT

Roman Totenberg, who died of renal failure on 8 May at the age of 101, was a violinist and teacher from Poland whose nine-decade career featured performances before kings and presidents. He also helped nurture dozens of musicians.

Lee Richardson

Mon, 28 May 2012 23:00:01 GMT

Lee Richardson, who was killed in a race crash on 13 May at the age of 33, was a British speedway international. Captain of the Lakeside Hammers team, Richardson rode for Great Britain at senior and under-21 level, and featured in several World Cups. He was a Grand Prix rider from 2003-06.

Lise London: Political activist and veteran of the Spanish Civil War and French Resistance

Mon, 28 May 2012 23:00:01 GMT

When the journalist Jesús Rodríguez, writing for El País, did one of Lise London's last interviews, in December, he asked whether her lifelong political struggle – her fight for the Republic during the Spanish Civil War, her participation in the French Resistance during the Second World War, her hardship and husband's Stalinist show trial in Czechoslovakia, followed by years of campaigning – had been worth it. To which, even at 91, her answer was resounding: "Yes – we were fighting for the freedom of Europe."

Professor Dafydd Jenkins: Barrister and authority on the laws of medieval Wales

Sun, 27 May 2012 23:00:01 GMT

Dafydd Jenkins was the major authority on the laws of the 10th century Hywel ap Cadell, or Hywel Dda, the only king of Wales to be given the epithet "Good".

William Finley: Actor best known for his work with Brian De Palma

Sun, 27 May 2012 23:00:01 GMT

William Finley is best-known for his roles in nine of Brian De Palma's films, a disturbing, lanky, goggle-eyed presence, notably the maniacal, disfigured anti-hero of The Phantom of the Paradise.

Peter David: Long-serving writer on 'The Economist'

Sun, 27 May 2012 23:00:01 GMT

Few who have worked for The Economist can match the 28 years that Peter David gave so outstandingly to that magazine – and fewer still could match the range of his interests or the breadth of what he wrote about.

Dr Harry Potter: Expert in overseas rural development

Fri, 25 May 2012 23:00:01 GMT

Dr Harry Potter, who died suddenly from an aortic rupture aged only 69, was a highly experienced development professional who worked for many years in Africa, Asia and South America.

Alan Oakley: Designer whose Raleigh Chopper bike was a defining image of the 1970s

Fri, 25 May 2012 23:00:01 GMT

It is hardly possible to avoid the term "icon" when referring to the creation of the cycle designer Alan Oakley, for he produced one of the objects which helped define 1970s Britain: the Raleigh Chopper bicycle. It mattered not that some considered the Chopper ungainly and absurd, or that others worried it might be unsafe because it seemed difficult to steer, with a large saddle which sometimes encouraged two kids to clamber aboard. Its shape, at once unorthodox and irresistible, and the cachet that came with it, made it the must-have equipment of its day. It conferred instant cool on its young owners, generating envy among their peers. In effect it was the Apple iPad of its time.

Warda al Djazairia: Singer known as 'The Rose of Algeria'

Fri, 25 May 2012 23:00:01 GMT

Warda al Djazairia, the Rose of Algeria, was perhaps the last great Arab diva of the pre-pop era, a name to rank along with 20th century stars of the languorous, Egyptian-dominated ballad such as Oum Kalsoum and Asmahan. But she was also an emblem and product of the country she was most closely identified with, Algeria, and her death came months from the 50th anniversary of the national independence she so energetically supported. She was given a state funeral in Algiers, and was still massively popular. But although her songs resounded through the Arab Spring uprising in Egypt last year, it is notable that the letters pages of the Algerian press featured dissonant voices among the many eulogies, criticisms that she was a crony of the despots who had ruled the region for too long.

Eugene Polley: Inventor of the TV remote control

Thu, 24 May 2012 23:00:01 GMT

He may not be quite up there with Isaac Newton and Thomas Edison in the pantheon of modern science. But couch potatoes everywhere should give thanks to Eugene Polley. By inventing the first wireless television remote control he changed America's leisure habits and thereby left his mark on modern global civilisation.

John Forrest: Actor, painter and magician who worked with David Lean and Lord Olivier

Thu, 24 May 2012 23:00:01 GMT

John Forrest was a magician before he was an actor. The painter, Stanley Spencer's black-sheep brother Horace, taught him card tricks in a boat on the Thames when he was 10. And "magic" fascinated him for the rest of his life. Or, as he put it, "illusion". "Everything I've done has been to do with illusion," he said in a 1996 Radio 4 documentary: "acting, painting, and making things appear and disappear. Perhaps I couldn't deal with reality"

John Birch: Celebrated organist and master of choristers

Thu, 24 May 2012 23:00:01 GMT

John Birch was organist and master of the choristers at Chichester Cathedral, where he served from 1958-80, then at The Temple Church, London, until 1997, following in the footsteps of George Thalben-Ball, Walford Davies and EJ Hopkins. He was only the fourth organist there since 1841.

Archibald Mackenzie: Diplomat whose work helped establish the United Nations

Wed, 23 May 2012 23:00:01 GMT

Archie Mackenzie was one of Britain's less orthodox diplomatic servants and probably the last surviving delegate to have been at the founding of the United Nations at Dumbarton Oaks and San Francisco in 1945.

Doug Dillard: Musician in the vanguard of the rise of country rock

Wed, 23 May 2012 23:00:01 GMT

As a member of the Dillards, the banjo-player Doug Dillard played an important role in the evolution of bluegrass music, modernising its sound and bringing it into the living rooms of millions of Americans through a series of popular TV appearances. Later he formed a partnership with the former Byrd, Gene Clark, that would help usher in the country rock movement, before becoming an in-demand session musician for acts such as Harry Nilsson, the Monkees and the Beach Boys.

Barry Askew: Newspaper editor who upset the Queen

Wed, 23 May 2012 23:00:01 GMT

When Barry Askew arrived in Fleet Street to rescue the ailing News of the World, his star was in the ascendancy. Eight months later his future was all behind him. His brief stewardship proved to be one of the shortest editorships in journalistic history.

Hal E Chester: Producer of cult hit 'Night of the Demon'

Tue, 22 May 2012 23:00:01 GMT

Hal E Chester had two careers in film, first as an actor and then as a producer. As a teenager he featured in several films in the series dealing with the escapades of an unruly group of juveniles known as "The Little Tough Guys", having made his acting debut on Broadway as one of the "Dead End Kids" in Sidney Kingsley's play Dead End (1935). He was known as Hally Chester in those days, but in 1945 he persuaded the poverty row studio Monogram to let him produce a film, changing his name to the more distinguished Hal E Chester.

Chuck Brown: Musician hailed as the creator of the Latin-tinged genre of funk known as 'Go-Go'

Tue, 22 May 2012 23:00:01 GMT

Known as the "Godfather of Go-Go", the bandleader, guitarist, vocalist and songwriter Chuck Brown was the originator of the infectious, Latin-flavoured, percussive-heavy, call-and-response funk variant from Washington, DC.

Paddy Kelly: Soldier and child protection officer

Tue, 22 May 2012 23:00:01 GMT

Matthew Kelly, known to everyone as Paddy, was born in Dublin on 6 January 1916. His father, Laurence, served with the Machine Gun Corps on the Western Front and was killed at Ypres in 1917. Paddy's mother, Ellen, remarried after the war – and Paddy, one of seven children, spent an idyllic childhood having Huckleberry Finn-style adventures with his brother Terry.

Robin Gibb: Bee Gees singer and songwriter whose work fuelled the disco revolution

Mon, 21 May 2012 23:00:01 GMT

Second only to the Beatles in the annals of popular music, the Bee Gees have sold over 200 million records and scored No 1s as performers and writers across five decades, a feat that is likely to remain unmatched in the digital age. The family group made a masterful transition from Sixties pop balladeers to standard bearers of the Seventies disco phenomenon and soundtracked the lives of several generations of club-goers and radio listeners.

Khalil Dale: Aid worker who spent his career in the world's trouble spots

Mon, 21 May 2012 23:00:01 GMT

Khalil Dale was an English aid worker who for decades devoted himself to humanitarian work in some of the world's most dangerous trouble spots before meeting a brutal death in a Pakistan border town. He was abducted by armed men in January; his body was found on 29 April. His killers coldly explained that they had killed him because their demands for a ransom had not been met.

Abdelbaset al-Megrahi: The only man convicted of involvement in the Lockerbie bombing

Sun, 20 May 2012 23:00:01 GMT

Acres of newsprint have appeared in recent years, covering various rather separate theories about the release of the so-called Lockerbie bomber.

Gunther Kaufmann: Actor who was a favourite of Fassbinder

Sun, 20 May 2012 23:00:01 GMT

The German-American actor Günther Kaufmann was brought to the screen by the director Rainer Werner Fassbinder.

Donna Summer: Singer who led the disco revolution of the Seventies

Fri, 18 May 2012 23:00:01 GMT

In the mid-1970s, when disco ruled the airwaves, the biggest acts were the Bee Gees and Donna Summer. As well as being controversial, the combination of Summer's lubricious voice and Giorgio Moroder's infectious rhythms were appreciated by dancers and non-dancers alike and although most '70s disco records now sound dated, her best work has retained its popularity.

Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau: Baritone hailed as the greatest lieder singer of the 20th century

Fri, 18 May 2012 23:00:01 GMT

Nobody who was present at Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau's British debut will ever forget it. Thomas Beecham, who had a good nose for talent, had sniffed out a young German baritone who was making a name for himself. In England entirely unknown, he appeared on the posters as FISCHER DIESKOW. But he was a superb choice for Delius's A Mass of Life -– in looks somewhere between Tarzan and a Nietzchean übermensch; in voice, ideally sensuous and (as he later confirmed) entirely at home with Delius's idiom. The performance, on 7 June 1951, was a knock-out and next day at the Ritz, Beecham offered his discovery the role of Hans Sachs at Covent Garden. Fischer-Dieskau courteously, and wisely, declined, pointing out that at 27 such an assumption might be premature.