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Final Goodbye: Notable Deaths in 2022


Throughout this year, many notable individuals have passed away, leaving behind legacies that have shaped the world we live in today.

Queen Elizabeth II's death in September was arguably the most high-profile death this year. One would have to go back hundreds of years to find a monarch who reigned longer than Queen Elizabeth II.

In her 70 years on the throne, she helped modernize the monarchy across decades of enormous social change, royal marriages and births, and family scandals. For most Britons, she was the only monarch they had ever known.

Her death prompted an outpouring of grief and respect for her steady leadership as well as criticism of the monarchy's role in colonialism.

She likely met more people than anyone in history, and her image — on stamps, coins and bank notes — was among the most reproduced in the world.

FILE: Members of the public file past the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II, draped in the Royal Standard with the Imperial State Crown and the Sovereign's orb and sceptre, lying in state on the catafalque in Westminster Hall, at the Palace of Westminster, London, ahead of her funeral on Monday. Picture date: Thursday September 15, 2022.
FILE: Members of the public file past the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II, draped in the Royal Standard with the Imperial State Crown and the Sovereign's orb and sceptre, lying in state on the catafalque in Westminster Hall, at the Palace of Westminster, London, ahead of her funeral on Monday. Picture date: Thursday September 15, 2022.

Other world leaders who died in 2022 include former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, who died in August. His efforts to revitalize the Soviet Union led to the collapse of communism there and the end of the Cold War. He eventually resigned after an attempted coup, just as republics declared independence from the Soviet Union.

FILE: U.S. President George H. W. Bush (L) and Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev shake hands in front of U.S. and Soviet flags at the end of the press conference in Moscow in this file image from July 31, 1991.
FILE: U.S. President George H. W. Bush (L) and Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev shake hands in front of U.S. and Soviet flags at the end of the press conference in Moscow in this file image from July 31, 1991.

The year also saw the assassination of former Japanese Prime Minister, who was fatally shot during a campaign speech in July.

FILE: Flower tributes are left outside Nippon Budokan Hall, where the state funeral for former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was held, in Tokyo, Japan September 27, 2022.
FILE: Flower tributes are left outside Nippon Budokan Hall, where the state funeral for former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was held, in Tokyo, Japan September 27, 2022.

Other political figures who died this year include former U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, who was a highly accomplished diplomat and politician with a long and influential career. She held a variety of positions in the State Department, including serving as the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. In 1997, she was nominated by President Bill Clinton to be the U.S. Secretary of State, making her the first woman to hold this position.

The final days of 2022 saw the loss of some exceptionally notable figures, including Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI. Brazil lost a national hero, football legend Pelé.

FILE - Pope Benedict XVI, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger of Germany, waves from a balcony of St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican after being elected by the conclave of cardinals, April 19, 2005.
FILE - Pope Benedict XVI, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger of Germany, waves from a balcony of St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican after being elected by the conclave of cardinals, April 19, 2005.

Among the entertainers who died this year was groundbreaking actor Sidney Poitier, who played roles with such dignity that it helped change the way Black people are portrayed on screen. Poitier, who died in January, became the first Black actor to win the Academy Award for Best Actor for his role in the 1963 film “Lilies of the Field."

FILE - President Barack Obama presents the 2009 Presidential Medal of Freedom to Sidney Poitier during ceremonies in the East Room at the White House in Washington on, Aug. 12, 2009.
FILE - President Barack Obama presents the 2009 Presidential Medal of Freedom to Sidney Poitier during ceremonies in the East Room at the White House in Washington on, Aug. 12, 2009.

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