The Independent

Rubinstein: he couldn't see why people made such a fuss about money

Hilary Rubinstein: Celebrated literary agent and publisher

29 May 2012 12:00 AM

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

29 May 2012 12:00 AM

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

29 May 2012 12:00 AM

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.

London in 2006 at a tribute to the International Brigades. She was a Communist till the end of her life

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

29 May 2012 12:00 AM

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."

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

28 May 2012 12:00 AM

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.

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

28 May 2012 12:00 AM

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.

Dafydd Jenkins: he approached Welsh Nationalism from a left-of-centre point of view; he was also a committed pacifist

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

28 May 2012 12:00 AM

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".

When the Chopper was relaunched in 2004 Oakley was unhappy that it was to be made in Asia rather than Britain

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

26 May 2012 12:00 AM

Oakley had an envelope, his wife said, 'and he just drew this bike on the back of it – and that was it'

Overseas development worker Harold Potter

Dr Harry Potter: Expert in overseas rural development

26 May 2012 12:00 AM

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.

Al Djazairia sings in front of the Bacchus Temple at the Baalbek Festival in the Lebanon in 2008

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

26 May 2012 12:00 AM

Her unusual mix of love songs, folk pieces and odes in praise of the fight for independence attracted attention

John Birch: Celebrated organist and master of choristers

25 May 2012 12:00 AM

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.

Forrest's dashing good looks were matched by his rich, velvety voice

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

25 May 2012 12:00 AM

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"

Polley, inventor of the TV remote control. 'Everything has to be done remotely or forget it,' he said ruefully in later years

Eugene Polley: Inventor of the TV remote control

25 May 2012 12:00 AM

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.

$Askew had a fractious relationship with Rupert Murdoch$

Barry Askew: Newspaper editor who upset the Queen

24 May 2012 12:00 AM

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.

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

24 May 2012 12:00 AM

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.