People who died at the age of 72

• Peter Medawar
• Poul Reichhardt
• Albert Kotin
• Lars Onsager
• Larry Fine (actor)
• George Brunies
• Chic Young
• Yasunari Kawabata
• Erich Maria Remarque
• Yi Un
• Henri Longchambon
• Jean Toomer
• Clarence Williams
• Georges Ohsawa
• J. B. S. Haldane
• Edward Victor Appleton
• Olafur Thors
• Vicki Baum
• Heitor Villa-Lobos
• Louis B. Mayer