General Bipin Rawat to Puneeth Rajkumar: 10 personalities we lost in 2021

Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat died in a chopper crash in Tamil Nadu’s Coonor town in December. His wife and 12 other officers were also killed. Political leaders and people across the country mourned the deaths. (Image credit: AFP)

Legendary actor Mohammed Yousuf Khan, professionally known as Dilip Kumar, died in July after a prolonged illness. With a career spanning five decades, he was one of the last surviving stars of the Hindi film industry's “Golden Age”. (File photo)

Kannada actor Puneeth Rajkumar, 46, died in October after suffering a cardiac arrest. Lakhs of fans of the actor had gathered in Bengaluru to pay tributes to him. (Image credit: Facebook)

Journalist Vinod Dua, a pioneer in broadcast journalism, died in December. He had been unwell since May -- when he was hospitalised for Covid-19. (Image credit: Twitter)

Feminist icon and author Kamla Bhasin died in September. The 75-year-old had been battling liver cancer. (Image credit: Nurunnaby Chowdhury (Hasive) / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 4.0)

Human rights activist and author Gail Omvedt died at the age of 81 in August. Omvedt had written extensively on gender and caste-based discrimination. (Image tweeted by @Prksh_Ambedkar)

South Africa's anti-apartheid icon Desmond Tutu died on December 26. World leaders and millions of people across the world mourned his death. . (John Stillwell, Pool Photo via AP, File)

Prince Philip, the husband of Queen Elizabeth, died in April this year. He was the longest-reigning consort in the history of the British royal family. (Image credit: AP)

Joan Didian, an acclaimed American and journalist writer, died on December 23. She is known for works like 'The Year of Magical Thinking' and 'Slouching Towards Bethlehem'. (Image: AP)

American feminist author and social activist Gloria Jean Watkins, known by her pen name bell hooks, died on December 15. She wrote several books on politics, race, gender. (Image credit: bell hooks Institute)