- Jan 1 Panuganti Lakshminarasimha Rao, Indian writer and essayist, dies at 74
- Jan 4 Konrad Weiss, German writer and poet (Tantum dic verbo - Heart of Words), dies at 59
- Jan 5 Humbert Wolfe, Italian-British poet (b. 1885)
- Jan 5 Tina Modotti, Italian artist and activist, dies at 45
- Jan 12 Erich R. Jaensch, German psychologist (eidetiek), dies at 56
- Jan 18 Kazimierz Tetmajer, Polish writer and poet (Young Poland), dies at 74
- Jan 19 William E. Borah, American lawyer and politician (Republican U.S. Senator from Idaho), dies at 74
- Jan 20 Omar Bundy, U.S. Army general (Spanish–American War in Cuba), dies at 78
- Jan 24 Emile van Bosch, Belgian revue, operetta and opera singer, dies at 52
- Jan 25 Elias Simojoki, Finnish clergyman and politician (b. 1899)
- Jan 27 Isaak Babel, Russian writer. playwright and journalist (Odessa Stories), executed at 46
- Jan 31 René Schickele, German-French writer, sometimes under nom de plume 'Sascha' (Erbe am Rhein), poet, and magazine editor (Weissen Blätter), dies at 56
- Feb 1 Philip Francis Nowlan, American sci-fi writer, creator of Buck Rogers character (b. 1888)
- Feb 2 Vsevolod Meyerhold [Karl Kasimir Theodor], Russian theatrical director and actor (Houligan), executed during the Great Purge at 65
- Feb 4 Nikolai Yezhov, Soviet Head of Soviet NKVD under Stalin responsible for enacting the Great Purge, executed in secret at 44
- Feb 7 Francis Ford, English cricketer (5 Tests for England v Australia 1894-95), dies at 73
- Feb 11 Gunnar Höckert, Finnish athlete (Olympic gold 5,000m 1936), dies of war wounds at 29
- Feb 11 John Buchan, Scottish politician, Governor-General of Canada (1935-40), writer (The Thirty-Nine Steps) and historian dies at 64
- Feb 25 Mary Mills Patrick, American author and 1st President of Istanbul Woman's College, dies at 89
- Feb 27 Peter Behrens, German architect, dies at 71
- Feb 28 Arnold Dolmetsch, French-Bohemian England-based musician, instrument builder, and promoter of early music, dies at 82
- Feb 28 Johan Braakensiek, Dutch illustrator (Van Allerlei Slag), political cartoonist (De Groene Amsterdammer), and painter, dies at 81
- Feb 29 Edward Frederic Benson, English novelist, dies at 72
- Mar 1 Anton Hansen Tammsaare, Estonian author (Truth and Justice), dies at 62
- Mar 1 Josef Swickard, German actor (The Wizard of Oz; Lost City; A Tale of Two Cities), dies at 73
- Mar 2 Matt Kilroy, American baseball pitcher (MLB single-season record 513 strikeouts 1886; MLB no-hitter 1886; Baltimore Orioles), dies at 73
- Mar 4 Hamlin Garland, American writer (Middle Border), dies at 79
- Mar 5 Cai Yuanpei, Chinese educator (b. 1868)
- Mar 7 Edwin Markham, American poet (1st winner of American Academy of Poets Award 1937), dies at 87
- Mar 7 John Huston Finley, American academic and editor (NY Times 1937-38, President of the American Geographical Society), dies at 76
- Mar 10 Louis de Vries, Dutch actor (Blokkade, Ghetto, Merchant of Venice), dies at 68
- Mar 10 Mikhaïl Boulgakov, Russian writer (b. 1891)
- Mar 15 Alfred Marr, Australian cricketer (Test for Australia 1885, scored 0 & 5), dies at 77
Selma Lagerlöf (1858-1940)
Mar 16 Swedish author and 1st woman to win Nobel Prize for Literature (The Wonderful Adventures of Nils), dies at 81
- Mar 19 Gustaaf Sap, Belgian minister of Economic Affairs, dies at 54
- Mar 20 Alfred Ploetz, German physician, biologist, and eugenicist (b. 1860)
- Mar 25 Ion Nonna Otescu, Romanian composer and educator (Bucharest Conservatory, 1913-40), dies at 51
- Mar 26 Spyridon Louis, Greek athlete who won the 1st modern Olympics marathon in 1896, dies at 67
Michael Joseph Savage (1872-1940)
Mar 27 Australian-born New Zealand politician and first Labour Prime Minister of New Zealand (1935-40), dies of colon cancer at 68
- Mar 29 Alexander Obolensky, Russian prince and English rugby union winger (4 caps; Leicester Tigers RUFC, Oxford Uni RFC), dies in an aircraft training accident for RAF at 24
- Apr 6 Andrés Isasi, Spanish Basque composer, dies at 49
- Apr 9 Mrs Patrick Campbell, English actress (Outcast Lady, Riptide), dies
- Apr 18 Florrie Forde [Flannagan], Australian singer and British music hall performer, dies of a cerebral hemorrhage at 64
- Apr 18 Herbert Albert Laurens Fisher, English historian and politician, dies after being hit by a car during London blackout at 75
- Apr 20 Charles Sumner Tainter, American inventor of sound-recording instruments (graphophone, dictaphone), dies at 85 [1]
- Apr 26 Carl Bosch, German chemist (BASF, IG Farben, Nobel 1931), dies at 65
Henry Ossian Flipper (1856-1940)
May 3 American soldier, former slave and first African American to graduate from the United States Military Academy at West Point, dies at 84 [1]
Emma Goldman (1869-1940)
May 14 Russian-American anarchist, writer (Anarchism and Other Essays; Living My Life), publisher (Mother Earth), and feminist, dies from stroke complications at 70 [1]
- May 14 Jacob van Gelderen, Dutch economist (Kondratiev waves), sociologist and politician, dies at 49
- May 14 Menno ter Braak, Dutch writer (Forum, New Elite), commits suicide at 38
- May 14 Willem Johannes Leyds, Dutch-South Africa lawyer and diplomat (State Secretary of the South African Republic), dies at 81
- May 15 Joseph Limburg, Dutch lawyer and politician, dies at 73
- May 15 Willem Adriaan Bonger, Dutch criminologist (Race & Crime), suicide at 63
- May 20 Amar Singh, Indian cricket all-rounder (7 Tests, 28 wickets; India's first half-century in Test cricket), dies of pneumonia at 29
- May 20 Joris van Severen, Flemish politician and founder of the Alliance of Dietsche National Solidarists, dies at 45
- May 20 Verner von Heidenstam, Swedish poet and novelist (Charles Men, Nobel 1916), dies at 80
- May 23 Paul Nizan, French journalist and writer (Ce Soir/Aden Arabia), dies in combat at 35
- May 25 Joe De Grasse, Canadian film director, dies at 67
- May 28 Friedrich Karl von Hessen (b. 1868)
- May 28 Randle Ayrton, British actor (The Manxman, Nell Gwyn), dies at 70
- May 28 Theodor Streicher, Austrian composer, dies at 65
- May 28 Walter Connolly, American actor (It Happened One Night, Good Earth), dies from a stroke at 53
- May 30 Y de Smit-Rog, oldest citizen of Netherlands, dies at 104
- May 31 Victor Neuberg, English poet and publisher (discovered Dylan Thomas), dies at 57
- Jun 2 Willem Roelofs, Dutch painter and cartoonist, dies at 66
- Jun 6 E. E. Clive, Welsh actor (Night Must Fall, Dark Hour), dies at 56
- Jun 7 James Hall, American actor (Hell's Angels, Four Sons), dies of cirrhosis at 39
- Jun 8 Frederick Converse, American composer (The Pipe of Desire), dies at 69
Marcus Garvey (1887-1940)
Jun 10 Jamaican-born black nationalist who began the back-to-Africa movement among US African Americans, dies at 52
- Jun 16 DuBose Heyward, American writer (Porgy, Star Spangled Virgin), dies at 54
- Jun 16 Vitezslava Kapralova, Czech composer and conductor, dies from typhoid fever at 25
- Jun 17 Arthur Harden, English biochemist (Nobel Prize 1929), dies at 74
- Jun 19 Maurice Jaubert, French composer and soldier, dies a few hours after being fatally wounded in action at 40
- Jun 20 Jehan Alain, French organist and composer, dies fighting for the French Army in WWII Battle of Saumur at 29
- Jun 21 Édouard Vuillard, French painter and graphic artist, dies at 71
- Jun 21 Hendrik Marsman, Dutch poet (Herinnering aan Holland - Remembrance of Holland; Vrees - Fear), drowns in the North Sea when cargo ship he was travelling on explodes at 40
- Jun 21 Smedley Butler, American Marine general, dies at 58
- Jun 21 Walter Hasenclever, German Expressionist writer, dies at 49
- Jun 22 Monty Noble, Australian cricket all-rounder (42 Tests, 1 x 100, HS 133, 121 wickets, BB 7/17; NSW), dies at 67
- Jun 22 Walter Hasenvlever, German writer commits suicide at 49
- Jun 22 Wladimir Köppen [Vladimir Köppen], German meteorologist and climatologist who developed the Köppen climate classification system for the regions of the world, dies at 93
- Jun 28 Italo Balbo, Italian pilot and governor of Libya, dies at 44
- Jun 29 Paul Klee, Swiss-German painter and educator at the Bauhaus, dies at 60
- Jul 2 Ben Turpin, American comic (Saps at Sea, His New Job), dies at 65
- Jul 2 Bertram Shapleigh, composer, dies at 69
- Jul 3 George Shepstone, South African cricket batsman (2 Tests; Transvaal), dies at 64
- Jul 10 Donald Francis Tovey, British musicologist and composer, dies at 64
- Jul 14 Bill Howell, Australian cricket medium pace bowler (18 Tests, 49 wickets, BB 5/81; NSWCA), dies at 70
- Jul 15 Donald Calthrop, British actor (Blackmail, Scrooge, Rome Express), dies from a heart attack at 52
- Jul 15 Eugen Bleuler, Swiss psychiatrist (introduced the term schizophrenia to describe the disorder previously known as dementia praecox), dies at 82
- Jul 15 Robert Wadlow, American who was world's tallest known person (8'11.1"), dies at 22
- Jul 19 Samuel H Chang, US newspaper magnate, murdered in Shanghai
- Jul 20 Y G Van de Peat, Dutch director of employment, commits suicide
- Jul 28 Richard Ohlsson, Swedish composer, dies at 66
- Jul 31 Whitey Krakow [or Krakower], American gangster and hitman (Murder Inc), murdered by "Bugsy" Siegel
- Aug 3 Willard Hershberger, American baseball catcher (Cincinnati Reds), commits suicide at 30
- Aug 4 Vladimir Jabotinsky, founder of Revisionist Zionism, dies
- Aug 5 Frederick Cook, American explorer, claimed to have 1st discovered North Pole, dies at 75
- Aug 8 Johnny Dodds, American early jazz clarinetist, dies at 48
- Aug 11 Alfred Zamara Austrian harpist, composer, and teacher, dies at 77
- Aug 13 George C. Pearce, American actor (The Shadow Sinister, British Agent, Valiant), dies at 75
Henri Desgrange (1865-1940)
Aug 16 French cyclist, journalist and founder of the Tour de France, dies at 75
- Aug 17 Billy Fiske, US RAF pilot and 1st American serviceman killed in action in World War II, dies at 29
Walter Chrysler (1875-1940)
Aug 18 American automotive pioneer (Chrysler Corporation) and thoroughbred breeder, dies at 65
- Aug 21 Ernest Thayer, American poet who wrote the famous baseball poem "Casey", dies at 77
- Aug 21 Hermann Obrecht, Swiss jurist, member of the Swiss Federal Council, dies at 58
Leon Trotsky (1879-1940)
Aug 21 Ukrainian-Russian Marxist revolutionary, political theorist and founder of the Red Army, assassinated at 62 by an ice-pick wielding Ramón Mercader
Édouard Michelin (1859-1940)
Aug 25 French industrialist who founded Michelin, dies at 81
- Aug 29 Arthur De Greef, Belgian composer, dies at 77
J. J. Thomson (1856-1940)
Aug 30 English physicist who discovered the electron (Nobel 1906), dies at 83
- Aug 31 George Gauthier, French Canadian Roman Catholic Bishop of Montreal and rector of the Université de Montréal, dies at 68
- Aug 31 Johanna "Annie" Bakker, Dutch revue-artist, singer and actress, dies at 58
Lillian Wald (1867-1940)
Sep 1 American pioneering nurse and social activist who started American community nursing with the Henry Street Settlement in NYC, dies of a cerebral hemorrhage at 73
- Sep 2 Maude Abbott, Canadian physician (world expert on congenital heart disease), dies at 72 [1]
- Sep 3 Vilhelm Ekelund, Swedish poet and writer (Hafvets Stjorna), dies at 59
- Sep 7 Edmund Rumpler, Austrian automotive and airplane builder (1st Tatra car), dies at 68
- Sep 10 Edward LeSaint, American actor and director (Modern Times, The Dumb Messenger), dies at 69
- Sep 14 Emile Argand, Swiss geologist (Dekbladen Theory), dies at 61
- Sep 15 Dick Ket, Dutch painter and cartoonist, dies at 37
- Sep 25 Marguerite Clark, American silent film actress (Snow White), dies at 57
- Sep 26 William Henry Davies, Welsh poet (Autobiography of a Super Tramp), dies at 69
- Sep 27 Julius Wagner-Jauregg, Austrian psychiatrist (1st psychiatrist to win Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine 1927 for malaria inoculation for dementia paralytica), dies at 83
- Sep 27 Walter Benjamin, German literary critic and philosopher (The Work of Art in the Age of Its Technical Reproducibility), dies trying to escape the Gestapo at 48
- Sep 30 Walter Kollo, German operetta and popular song composer, dies at 62
- Oct 5 Ballington Booth, English Officer in The Salvation Army and co-founder of Volunteers of America
- Oct 5 Lincoln Loy McCandless, American cattle rancher and politician, dies at 81
- Oct 5 Silvestre Revueltas, Mexican classical violinst, conductor, and composer (Cuauhnáhuac; Planos), dies of pneumonia at 40
- Oct 6 Ferdinando Liuzzi, Italian composer and musicologist, dies at 55
- Oct 8 Robert Emden, Swiss astronomer and astrophysicist (Gaskugeln), dies at 78
- Oct 9 Wilfred Grenfell, British medical missionary to Newfoundland and Labrador, dies at 75
- Oct 10 Berton Churchill, Canadian-American actor (I'm Nobody's Sweetheart Now), dies at 63
- Oct 11 Lluís Companys, Spanish politician, 123rd President of the Generalitat of Catalonia (1933-40), shot at 58
- Oct 11 Vito Volterra, Italian mathematician and physicist, dies at 80
- Oct 12 Tom Mix, American silent screen cowboy actor (Texan, Hidden Gold), dies at 60
- Oct 17 George Davis, American Baseball HOF shortstop and manager (New York Giants; World Series 1906 Chicago WS), dies at 70
- Oct 18 Suze Groeneweg, 1st Dutch woman elected to parliament (1918-37), dies at 65
- Oct 20 Gunnar Asplund, Swedish modernist architect (The Woodland Crematorium), dies at 55
- Oct 21 William G. Conley, Governor of West Virginia (b. 1866)
- Oct 24 Pierre Weiss, French physicist (theory of ferromagnetism), dies at 75
- Oct 24 Victor Hollaender, German composer, dies at 74
- Oct 27 Fini Valdemar Henriques, composer, dies at 72
- Oct 28 Andrea d' Angeli, Italian composer, dies at 71
Manuel Azaña (1880-1940)
Nov 4 Prime Minister of Spain (1931-33) and 2nd President of the Spanish Republic (1936-39), dies of a heart attack at 60 while in exile in France
- Nov 9 Stephen Alencastre, Portuguese Roman Catholic prelate, dies at 64
Neville Chamberlain (1869-1940)
Nov 9 British Prime Minister (Conservative: 1937-40), dies of bowel cancer at 71
- Nov 12 Alejandro Garcia Caturla, Cuban composer, dies at 34
- Nov 17 Eric Gill, British sculptor, engraver and typographer (Perpetua, Gill Sans), dies of cancer at 58
- Nov 17 Raymond Pearl, American biologist (b. 1879)
- Nov 19 Charles W. Woodworth, American entomologist, dies at 75
- Nov 21 Geoffrey Legge, cricketer (WWII 196 Eng v NZ Auckland 1930), dies
- Nov 22 Wacław Rawicz [Berent], Polish biologist and writer, dies at 67
- Nov 23 Catharina van Rennes, Dutch composer, dies at 82
- Nov 24 James Craig, 1st Viscount Craigavon, Irish unionist politician and the first Prime Minister of Northern Ireland (1921-1940), dies of natural causes at 69
- Nov 24 Saionji Kinmochi, Japanese politician (Prime Minister of Japan 1906-1908, 1911-1912), dies at 90
- Nov 26 Harold Sidney Harmsworth, 1st Viscount Rothermere, English newspaper (Daily Mail and Daily Mirror), dies at 72
- Nov 28 Nicolae Iorga, Romanian writer, literature historian and Prime Minister of Romania, murdered by fascist at 69
- Nov 30 Fritz Volbach, German conductor, musicologist and composer (Raffael), dies at 78
- Dec 5 Jan Kubelik, Czech composer, dies at 60
- Dec 5 Mordechai Frizis, Jewish Greek military officer (b. 1893)
- Dec 6 Charlie Hime, cricketer (one Test for South Africa 1895), dies
- Dec 8 George Exton Lloyd, Anglican Bishop and theologian (b. 1861)
- Dec 9 Pietro Maletti, Italian major-general, died in battle in North Africa at the age of 60
- Dec 13 Dusty Tapscott, cricket (bro of Doodles, 4&1 in only S Af Test), dies
- Dec 13 George Macaulay, cricketer (took 24 wkts in 8 Tests, Eng 22-33), dies
- Dec 13 George Regas, Greek actor (The Mark of Zorro), dies at 50
- Dec 13 Jacques-Arsène d'Arsonval, French physicist and inventor of the moving-coil D'Arsonval galvanometer, dies at 89
- Dec 13 Wilfred Lucas, Canadian actor (Pardon Us, Chump at Oxford), dies at 69
- Dec 16 Billy Hamilton, American Baseball HOF outfielder (NL batting champion 1891, 93; 5 × NL stolen base leader; KC Cowboys, Philadelphia Phillies), dies at 74
- Dec 16 Eugène Dubois, Dutch palaeontologist who discovered human ancestor Pithecanthropus erectus "Java Man", dies at 82 [1]
- Dec 16 M Eugene F T Dubois, geologist/paleontologist (Wadjakmens), dies
- Dec 16 William Wallace, Scottish composer, dies at 80
- Dec 17 Alicia Boole Stott, Irish mathematician, dies at 80
- Dec 19 Tomas Carrasquilla, Colombian author (Frutos de mi Tierra), dies at 82
F. Scott Fitzgerald (1896-1940)
Dec 21 American author (Great Gatsby, Zelda), dies of a heart attack at 44
- Dec 21 Hal Kemp, American jazz alto saxophonist, clarinetist, arranger and sweet jazz bandleader, dies as a result of a car accident at 36
- Dec 22 Nathanael West, American novelist ("Miss Lonelyhearts"; "The Day of the Locust"), dies at 37 in a car crash after running a stop light
- Dec 24 Rudolf Piskáček, Czech composer, dies at 56
- Dec 25 Agnes Ayres [Hinkle], American silent screen actress (The Sheik; Souls at Sea), dies from a cerebral hemorrhage at 42