The following is a list of deaths in October 2009.
Entries for each day are listed alphabetically by surname. A typical entry lists information in the following sequence:
Name, age, country of citizenship at birth, subsequent country of citizenship (if applicable), reason for notability, cause of death (if known), and reference.
October 2009
1
Otar Chiladze, 76, Georgian writer, heart failure. André-Philippe Futa, 66, Congolese politician, Minister of the Economy and Foreign Trade (since 2002). Gunnar Haarberg, 92, Norwegian television presenter. Syed Kamal, 72, Pakistani actor. Lou Moro, 91, Canadian soccer player and coach. V. M. Muddiah, 80, Indian cricketer, stroke. Bhandit Rittakol, 58, Thai film director, producer and screenwriter, heart failure. Cintio Vitier, 88, Cuban poet.
2
Alain Bernheim, 86, French-born American film producer, complications from dialysis. Marek Edelman, 86, Polish political and social activist, cardiologist, last surviving leader of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising. Jack Evans, 80, Australian politician, Senator (1983–1984), co-founder of the Australian Democrats, cancer. Nat Finkelstein, 76, American photographer and photojournalist. Jørgen Jensen, 65, Danish Olympic runner. John "Mr. Magic" Rivas, 53, American radio personality, heart attack. Saleh Meki, 61, Eritrean cabinet minister and politician, heart attack. Peg Mullen, 92, American author, subject of film Friendly Fire. Desmond Plummer, Baron Plummer of St. Marylebone, 95, British politician, leader of Greater London Council (1967–1973). Rolf Rüssmann, 58, German football manager, prostate cancer. Herman D. Stein, 92, American professor (Case Western Reserve University). Harvey Veniot, 93, Canadian MLA for Pictou West (1956–1974), Speaker of the Nova Scotia House of Assembly (1961–1968). Shaun Wylie, 96, British mathematician and World War II codebreaker.
3
Alexander Basilaia, 67, Georgian composer. Vladimir Beekman, 80, Estonian writer and translator. Fernando Caldeiro, 51, Argentine-born American astronaut, brain cancer. Fatima of Libya, 98, Libyan Queen of Libya (1951–1969), widow of King Idris I. Robert Kirby, 61, British folk rock arranger. Ernie Lopez, 64, American boxer, complications from dementia. Reinhard Mohn, 88, German entrepreneur and publisher, founder of Bertelsmann Foundation. Michel Nédélec, 69, French Olympic cyclist. Vasile Louis Puscas, 94, American Bishop of St George's in Canton in the Romanian Catholic Church. Frank Zoppetti, 93, American football player.
4
Koichi Haraguchi, 68, Japanese chief of staff, Imperial House of Japan, heart attack. Veikko Huovinen, 82, Finnish writer. Fred Kaan, 80, Dutch-born British clergyman and hymn writer. Grace Keagy, 87, American actress, ovarian cancer. Ernő Kolczonay, 56, Hungarian Olympic silver medal-winning fencer (1980, 1992). *James Lin Xili, 91, Chinese underground first Bishop of Wenzhou (since 1992), Alzheimer's disease. Shōichi Nakagawa, 56, Japanese politician, Minister of Finance (2008–2009). Nikiforos, 78, Greek bishop of Didymoteicho. Günther Rall, 91, German Luftwaffe flying ace during World War II, heart attack. Mercedes Sosa, 74, Argentinian folk singer, liver failure. Bronisław Żurakowski, 98, Polish aerospace engineer.
5
Armando Acosta Cordero, 88, Cuban guerrilla. Mike Alexander, 32, British bassist (Evile), pulmonary embolism. Tommy Capel, 87, English footballer (Nottingham Forest). Leon Clarke, 76, American football player (Los Angeles Rams), pancreatitis. James Duesenberry, 91, American economist. Israel Gelfand, 96, Russian mathematician. Gino Giugni, 82, Italian minister of labor and social security (1993–1994). Giselher Klebe, 84, German composer. David Lake, 66, American winemaker. Sir Hugh Lloyd-Jones, 87, British classical scholar. Brian Powell, 35, American baseball player, suicide by gunshot. René Sommer, 58, Swiss inventor, co-inventor of the computer mouse. Johnny Williams, 77, English rugby union player.