List of assassinated people
This is a list of persons that were assassinated for political and other reasons.
By region (chronologically)
Please note the chronological sorting order.
Assassinations in Afghanistan
- Mohammed Nader Shah, (1933), king of Afghanistan since 1929.
- Sardar Mohammed Daud Khan, (1978), president of Afghanistan killed in communist coup.
- Nur Mohammad Taraki, (1979), communist president.
- Hafizullah Amin, (1979), communist prime minister of Afghanistan killed during Soviet invasion.
- Mohammed Najibullah, (1996), president of Afghanistan from 1986 to 1992, killed by the Taliban during the capture of Qabul.
- Ahmed Shah Massoud, (2001), leader of the Northern Alliance
- Abdul Haq, (2001), Northern Alliance commander killed by remnants of the Taliban.
- Abdul Qadir, (2002), vice-president of Afghanistan.
Assassinations in Africa
- Pompey the Great, (48 BC), Roman politician killed in Egypt.
- Shaka, (1828), king of the Zulus.
- Nukrashi Pasha, (1948), Prime Minister of Egypt.
- Patrice Lumumba, (1961), Prime Minister of the Congo.
- Pierre Ngendandumwe, (1965), Burundian prime minister.
- Joseph Bamina, (1965), Burundian prime minister.
- Abubakar Tafawa Balewa, (1966), Prime Minister of Nigeria killed during military coup.
- Hendrik Verwoerd, (1966), Prime Minister of South Africa, stabbed in parliament by Dimitri Tsafendas.
- Ali Shermarke, (1969), president of Somalia.
- Richard Ratsimandrava, (1975), president of Madagascar killed just days after taking power in military coup.
- François Tombalbaye, (1975), president of Chad.
- Murtala Ramat Mohammed, (1976), President of Nigeria.
- Marien Ngouabi, (1977), president of Congo (Brazzaville).
- Ali Soilih, (1978), president of Comoros.
- William R. Tolbert, Jr., (1980), president of Liberia killed in military coup.
- Anwar Sadat, (1981), President of Egypt.
- Thomas Sankara, (1987), military leader of Burkina Faso.
- Ahmed Abdallah, (1989), president of Comoros.
- Samuel Doe, (1990), president of Liberia. A semiliterate army officer who himself overthrew and allowed the assassination of William Tolbert. He was 39 years old when he died, and the instability following it led to the outbreak of full-scale war.
- Muhammad Boudiaf, (1992), president of Algeria.
- Juvénal Habyarimana, (1994), President of Rwanda, and
- Cyprien Ntaryamira, (1994), President of Burundi, killed in mysterious plane crash; the resulting political instability led to the genocide in Rwanda and the outbreak of full-scale war in Burundi..
- Ibrahim Baré Maïnassara, (1999), President of Niger.
- Laurent-Désiré Kabila, (2001), President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo 1997-2001.
- Robert Guei, (2002), military ruler of Côte d'Ivoire from 1999 to 2000.
- Emile Boga Doudou, (2002), interior minister of Côte d'Ivoire killed on the same day as Guei as the country plunged into civil war and street fighting occurred in the cities.
Assassinations in Canada
- Thomas D'Arcy McGee, (1868), Canadian father of Confederation
- Pierre Laporte, (1970), Quebec Minister of Labour, assassinated by FLQ
Assassinations in France
- Henri III, (1589), King of France.
- Henri IV, (1610), King of France.
- Jean-Paul Marat, (1793), revolutionary.
- Marie François Sadi Carnot, (1894), President of France.
- Jean Léon Jaurès, (1914), politician, pacifist.
- Paul Doumer, (1932), President of France.
- Louis Barthou, (1934), foreign minister of France killed along with Alexander of Yugoslavia at Marseilles.
- Georges Besse, (1986), Renault executive.
- René Audran, (1985), General.
- Claude Erignac, (1998), prefect of Corsica.
Assassinations in India
- Mohandas Gandhi, (1948), Independence leader.
- Indira Gandhi, (1984), Indian prime minister.
- Rajiv Gandhi, (1991), former Indian prime minister, son of Indira.
- Beant Singh, (1995), chief minister of Punjab.
- Phoolan Devi, (2001), bandit queen turned politician and activists for people of lower castes.
Assassinations in Iran
- Xerxes, (465 BC), Persian king killed by guards.
- Xerxes II , (424 BC), Persian king killed by his brother Secydianus.
- Nader Shah, (1747), Shah of Persia
- Ali Razmara, (1951), Prime Minister of Iran.
- Hassan Ali Mansur, (1965), Prime Minister of Iran.
- Ayatollah Mohammad Hossein Beheshti, (1981), killed along with over 60 others in bomb.
- Ali Rajai, (1981), president and
- Javid Bahonar, (1981), Prime Minister of Iran respectively, killed 30 August, just weeks after taking office.
- Shahpur Bakhtiar, (1991), Prime Minister of Iran briefly in 1979, stabbed to death at his home in France.
Assassinations in Ireland and the U.K.
- Spencer Perceval, (1812), Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, only British prime minister to be assassinated.
- Charles Lenox Richardson, (1862), English diplomat.
- Lord Frederick Cavendish, (1882), Chief Secretary for Ireland.
- T.H. Burke, (1882), Under Secretary for Ireland.
- Henry Hughes Wilson, (1922), British field marshal, Conservative politician.
- Michael Collins, (1922), President of the Provisional Government.
- Kevin O'Higgins, (1927), Irish politician.
- Christopher Ewart-Biggs, (1976), British ambassador to Ireland.
- Georgi Markov, (1978), Bulgarian dissident.
- Airey Neave, (1979), British Conservative politician.
- Earl Mountbatten, (1979), Vice-admiral, last viceroy of India.
- Rev. Robert Bradford, (1981), Unionist MP in Northern Ireland.
- Ian Gow, (1990), British Conservative politician.
Assassinations in Japan
- Emperor Sushun of Japan, (592), Emperor of Japan.
- The Sogas, (645), Japanese political family.
- Mimura Iechika, daimyo, feudal leader in Japan.
- Matsudaira Hirotada, (1549), feudal leader in Japan.
- Ouchi Yoshitaka, (1551), daimyo, feudal leader in Japan.
- Oda Nobuyuki, (1557), Japanese samurai, younger brother of Oda Nobunaga.
- Ashikaga Yoshiteru, (1565), Shogan, feudal leader in Japan.
- Yamanaka Shikanosuke, (1578), Japanese samurai.
- Oda Nobunaga, (1582), samurai warlord.
- Shimazu Nariaki, (1858), Japanese daimyo in Satsuma, now Kogoshima prefecture.
- Hashimoto Sanai, (1859), Japanese political activist.
- Ii Naosuke, (1860), Japanese politican.
- Tokugawa Nariaki, (1860), Japanese daimyo, a relative of Tokugawa shoguns.
- Serizawa Kamo, (1863), a chief of Shinsen-gumi.
- Yoshida Toyo, (1863), Japanese political activist.
- Ikeuchi Daigaku, (1864), Japanese politican.
- Kusaka Gen'nai, (1864), Japanese politican.
- Sakuma Shozan, (1864), Japanese politican.
- Sakamoto Ryoma, (1867), Japanese author.
- Yokoi Shonai, (1869), Japanese political activist.
- Sirosawa Saneomi, (1871), Japanese political activist.
- Okubo Toshimichi, (1878), Japanese Prime Minister.
- Ito Hirobumi, (1909), Japanese Governor-General of Korea.
- Hara Kei, (1921), Prime Minister of Japan.
- Hamaguchi Osachi. (1931), Japanese prime minister.
- Takuma Dan, (1932), Japanese zaibatsu leader.
- Inukai Tsuyoshi, (1932), Japanese Prime Minister.
- Takahashi Korekiyo, (1936), Japanese author.
- Isoroku Yamamoto, (1943), Admiral.
- Inejiro Asanuma, (1960), Socialist Party of Japan chairman.
Assassinations in Mexico
- Francisco I. Madero, (1913), President of Mexico.
- Emiliano Zapata, (1919), revolutionary.
- Venustiano Carranza, (1920), President of Mexico.
- Francisco "Pancho" Villa, (1923), revolutionary.
- Alvaro Obregón, (1928), President-elect.
- Luis Donaldo Colosio Murrieta, (1994), Presidential candidate.
Assassinations in Russia
- Peter III of Russia, (1762), tsar of Russia.
- Alexander II of Russia, (1881), Tsar of All the Russias.
- Nikolai Ivanovich Bobrikov, (1904), Governor-General of Finland.
- Peter Stolypin, (1911), Russian Prime Minister.
- Grigori Rasputin, (1916), friar, adventurer, mystic wonder-worker.
- Nicholas II of Russia, (1918), deposed Tsar.
- Sergei Kirov, (1934), Bolshevik party leader in Leningrad.
- Leon Trotsky, (1940), Russian communist leader (assassinated in Mexico).
- Valentin Tsvetkov, (2002), governor of Magadan.
Assassinations in the United States
- Henry Heusken, (1861), American diplomat (accompanying Townsend Harris from Amsterdam).
- Abraham Lincoln, (1865), U.S. president.
- Thomas Hindman, (1868), Confederate General.
- Crazy Horse, 1877, Oglala Sioux chief killed by American troops.
- James Garfield, (1881), U.S. president.
- William McKinley, (1901), President of the United States.
- Huey P. Long, (1935), Louisiana senator and former governor.
- John F. Kennedy, (1963), U.S. President.
- Medgar Evers, (1963), civil rights activist.
- Malcolm X, (1965), (El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz, born Malcolm Little), leader.
- Robert F. Kennedy, (1968), U.S. politician.
- Martin Luther King Jr., (1968), U.S. civil rights activist.
- Harvey Milk, (1978), gay rights campaigner and city supervisor of San Francisco, California.
- George Moscone, (1978), mayor of San Francisco killed along with Milk.
- John Lennon, (1980), singer.
Assassinations in Yugoslavia (and successor states)
- King Alexander I of Yugoslavia, (1934).
- Irfan Ljubijankic, (1995), foreign minister of Bosnia.
- Zeljko Raznatovic, (2000), (Arkan) Serb paramilitary leader.
- Pavel Bulatovic, (2000), defense minister of Yugoslavia.
- Bosko Perosevic, (2000), prefect of Vojvodina.
- Zoran Djindjic, (2003), Prime Minister of Serbia killed by organized criminals.
Assassinations in other regions (chronologically backwards)
Political assassinations
Please note the sorting order: chronologically backwards.
Heads of state and government
- Birendra and Aiswary, (2001), King and Queen of Nepal (along with 9 other members of the royal family).
- Vasgen Sarkissian, (1999), Prime Minister of Armenia.
- Yitzhak Rabin, (1995), Prime Minister of Israel (1974-1977 and 1992-1995), shared 1994 Nobel Peace Prize.
- Ranasinghe Premadasa, (1993), President of Sri Lanka.
- René Moawad, (1989), president of Lebanon.
- Rashid Karami, (1987), Prime Minister of Lebanon.
- Olof Palme, (1986), Swedish prime minister.
- Haruo Remeliik, (1985), president of the Pacific island of Palau.
- Zia Ur-Rahman, 1981 president of Bangladesh.
- Park Chung Hee, (1979), President of South Korea.
- Juan Jose Torres, 1976, president of Bolivia from 1970 to 1971.
- Faisal of Saudi Arabia, (1975), king.
- Mujibur Rahman, (1975), president of Bangladesh.
- Luis Carrero Blanco, (1973), Spanish prime minister.
- Sir Richard Sharples, (1973), governor of Bermuda.
- Wasfi at-Tall, (1971), Prime Minister of Jordan.
- Ngo Dinh Diem, (1963), first president of South Vietnam.
- Rafael Trujillo, (1961), Dominican Republic dictator.
- Solomon Bandaranaike, 1959, Sri Lankan socialist prime minister killed by Buddhist monk Talduwe Somarama.
- Faisal I, (1958), King of Iraq.
- Nuri Pasha as-Said, (1958), Iraqi politician.
- Carlos Castillo Armas, (1957), president of Guatemala.
- Anastasio Somoza, (1956), president of Nicaragua.
- Liaquat Ali Khan, (1951), Prime Minister of Pakistan.
- Abdullah I , (1951), King of Jordan.
- Carlos Delgado Chalbaud, 1950, chairman of the military junta of Venezuela.
- Benito Mussolini, (1945), fascist Prime Minister of Italy.
- Armand Calinescu, (1939), Prime Minister of Romania.
- Engelbert Dollfuss, (1934), chancellor of Austria.
- Ion Duca, (1933), prime minister of Romania.
- Gabriel Narutowicz, (1922), President of Poland.
- Karl Graf Stürgkh, (1916), Prime Minister of Austria.
- George I of Greece, (1913), king.
- Charles of Portugal, (1908), king.
- Umberto I of Italy, (1900), king.
- Gabriel Garcia Moreno, 1875 president of Ecuador known for his support of the Catholic church.
- Ioannis Capodistrias, (1831), first president of Greece.
- Pius VIII, (1830), Pope.
- Gustav III, (1792), King of Sweden.
- William I of Orange, (1584), stadtholder.
- Zengi, (1146), ruler of Aleppo and Mosul and founder of the Zengid Dynasty.
- Alexander Severus, (235), Roman emperor.
- Caracalla, (217), Roman emperor.
- Geta, (212), Roman emperor.
- Commodus, (192), Roman emperor.
- Domitian, (96), Roman emperor.
- Caligula, (41), Roman emperor.
- Gaius Julius Caesar, (44 BC), common form of reference to Julius Caesar.
- Antiochus VI Dionysus, (138 BC), Seleucid heir to the throne.
- Alexander Balas, (146 BC), Seleucid king.
- Seleucus IV Philopator, (176 BC), Seleucid king.
- Seleucus III Ceraunus, (223 BC), Seleucid king.
- Antiochus II Theos, (246 BC), Seleucid king.
- Seleucus I Nicator, (281 BC), founder of the Seleucid dynasty.
- Philip II of Macedon, (336 BC), king of Macedon.
- Hipparchus, (514 BC), tyrant of Athens.
Other political assassinations
- Sayed Mohammed Baqir al-Hakim, (2003), ayatollah.
- Sérgio Vieira de Mello, (2003), UN Special Representative in Iraq.
- Mohammed Ahmad al-Rasheed, (2003), Saudi Arabian ambassador to the Ivory Coast.
- Marco Biagi, (2002), Italian Labor Ministry advisor.
- Pim Fortuyn, (2002), Dutch politician.
- Stephen Saunders, (2000), Brigadier and British military attache in Athens.
- Luis María Argaña, (1999), vice president of Paraguay.
- Massimo D'Antona, (1999), advisor of the Italian Minister of Labour.
- Andrey Lukanov, (1996), former Prime Minister of Bulgaria.
- John Newman, (1994), New South Wales state minister and member for Cabramatta.
- Zviad Gamsakhurdia, (1993), former president of Georgia
- Detlev Rohwedder, (1991), Treuhandanstalt Director for former East Germany.
- Abu Iyad, (1991), deputy leader of the PLO killed by Abu Nidal terrorists in Tunis, Tunisia.
- Bernardo Jaramillo Ossa, (1990), Colombian presidential candidate.
- Luis Carlos Galán, (1989), Colombian presidential candidate.
- Alfred Herrhausen, (1989), Deutsche Bank CEO.
- Khalil Wazir, (1988), ("Abu Jihad") military leader of the PLO.
- Karl Heinz Beckurts, (1986), Siemens executive.
- Gerold von Braunmühl, (1986), official in the German Foreign Ministry.
- Ernst Zimmermann, (1985), German industrialist.
- Leamon Hunt, (1984), US chief of the Sinai Multinational Force and Observer Group (assassinated in Rome).
- Benigno Aquino Jr., (1983), opposition senator in the Philippines.
- Bashir Gemayel, (1982), president-elect of Lebanon.
- Anastasio Somoza Debayle, (1980), former president of Nicaragua.
- Adolph Dubs, (1979), U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan.
- Abdul Razak al-Naif, (1978), former Iraqi prime minister.
- Aldo Moro, (1978), former Prime Minister of Italy kidnapped and killed by Red Brigades.
- Hanns-Martin Schleyer, (1977), president of the German employers' organization.
- Siegfried Buback, (1977), German attorney general.
- Kamal Jumblatt, (1977), Lebanese Druze leader.
- Jürgen Ponto, (1977), CEO Dresdner Bank.
- Ross McWhirter, (1975), co-author of the Guinness Book of Records and far right wing political activist.
- Günter von Drenkmann, (1974), Berlin chief justice.
- Folke Bernadotte, (1948), Swedish Middle East peace mediator.
- Reinhard Heydrich, (1942), a General in the Nazi German paramilitary corps and governor of occupied Czechoslovakia.
- Wilhelm Gustloff, (1936), German leader of the Swiss Nazi party.
- Franz Birnecker, (1923), Austrian labour representative at Semperit.
- Franz Ferdinand of Austria, (1914), Archduke of Austria-Hungary.
- Elisabeth, (1898), ("Sisi") empress of Austria and queen of Hungary.
- Conrad of Montferrat, (1192), leader in the Third Crusade.
- Germanicus, (20), Roman military leader, poisoned.
- Alcibiades, (404 BC), Athenian general and politician.
- Ephialtes, (461 BC), leader of the radical democracy movement in Athens.
Assassinations of other well-known persons
Non political, please note the sorting order: chronologically backwards.
- Haing S. Ngor, (1996), actor and doctor.
- Elvis Alvarez, (1994), world champion boxer, murdered.
- Jose Cheito Ruiz, (1993), world champion boxer from Puerto Rico.
- Peter Tosh, (1987), Jamaican reggae singer.
- Alejandro Gonzalez Malave, (1986), famous undercover policeman.
- Luis Vigoreaux, (1983), slain producer, show host.
People who died under suspicious circumstances
Please note the sorting order: chronologically backwards.
- Bison Dele, (2002), NBA player.
- Roberto Calvi, (1982), CEO of Banco Ambrosiano
- Pope John Paul I, (1978).
- Haile Selassie, (1975), Ethiopian emperor who was deposed and imprisoned a year earlier by the military after an eventful reign of over 40 years.
- Salvador Allende, (1973), Chilean president.
- Dag Hammarskjöld, (1961), United Nations Secretary General, killed in plane crash in Zaire.
- King Ananda Mahidol of Thailand, (1946).
- Emperor Komei of Japan, (1840), Emperor of Japan.
- Charles XII, (1718), Swedish king and military commander.
- Pope Alexander VI, (1503), Roman pope of the 15th century.
- Agnès Sorel, (1450), mistress of King Charles VII of France.
- King Jean I of France, (1316).
- King William II of England, 1100, killed by an arrow while hunting.