AIDS, a disease caused by the human immunodeficiency (HIV) is a life-threatening disease that has affected millions of people around the world. It targets the human immune system, wearing it down and leaving the body vulnerable to infections and tumors. The United Nations’ (UN) honors the victims of the disease as well as brings awareness to it on the 1st of December of every year through World AIDS Day.
This article examines 5 notable people who died as a result of AIDS, and gives you a glimpse at the interesting lives they led.
Eazy-E
Eazy-E, real name Eric Lynn Wright, was an American rapper with celebrated careers as both a solo artist and as a part of the group N.W.A. Born in 1963, in Crompton, California, Eazy-E did not have an ‘easy’ life, with dropping out of high school and dealing drugs to support himself.
At the age of 23, Eazy-e moved to Los Angeles and used his money to co-found Ruthless Records. His career then took off in the hip-hop genre with the release of his debut album in September of 1988. His later album with the group N.W.A ‘Straight Outta Compton’ is seen the pioneering record in the gangsta rap genre.
Eric died on March 26, 19995, at the age of 31 years old, as a complication of AIDS, one month after being diagnosed with the disease when he was admitted to admitted to Cedars Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, coming in with symptoms of what he believed was asthma. He was survived by his seven children that he had with six different women.
Ondrej Nepela
Born in 1951, in Bratislava, Slovakia, Ondrej Nepela was a professional skater and an Olympic Gold Medalist. He began skating when he was 7, and took part for the first time in the Winter Olympics 1964 at the age of 13, where he placed 22nd. He then went on to win the Figure Skating Championships five times between the years of 1969-1973, and the World Figure Skating Championships in 1971, 1972, and 1973, and the 1972 Olympic gold. Aged 22, he retired from competing after the 1973 season. Nepela then went on to tour as a soloist for 13 years, after which he established himself a coach in Germany.
February 2nd, 1989 was when Ondrej Nepela took his last breath, as a result of AIDS-related complications. He was named the athlete of the century by the Slovak republic in December of 2000.
Denholm Elliott
Denholm Elliot, a veteran of World War II and a celebrated actor, was born in 1922, in London, England. He Joined the Royal Air Force during World War II. Later, he was taken as a prisoner of war in a camp in Silesia when his aircraft crashed near Sylt, Germany in September of 1942.
After being released, Elliot then went on to make his film debut in Dear Mr. Prohack (1949). He has acted with many famous actors, and has over 120 television credits and has had a career that included many prominent characters of the 20th century, and also had a career that included many stage performances. Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989) was perhaps his best-known character of all that he played. He has also been nominated and won many British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) awards, as well as an Academy Award nomination.
Elliot married twice, the first to the British actress Virginia McKenna and then to actress Susan Robinson, who bore him two children, and he had been rumored to be a bisexual.Denholm Elliot was diagnosed with AIDS in 1987, and passed away in his home in Ibiza, Spain as a result of AIDS-related tuberculosis on October 6, 1992 at the age of 70.
Saac Asimov
Vagueness in his birth and death, Isaac Asimov was a famous writer in the mid-90s. Although the exact date of his birth is unknown, he is said to have been born between 4th October, 1919, and 2nd Januray, 1920 in Petrovichi, Soviet Russia. His family immigrated to the United States when Asimov was a toddler.
Isaac Asimov was a science-fiction and has had one of the most prolific writing careers in history, with having edited or published more than 500 books and over 9,000 letters. His most well-known work is the Foundation Series. Later he published the Galactic Empire series and the Robot series, along with many short stories and recurrent contributions to magazines.
Asimov went through a triple bypass surgery in December 1983 after suffering a heart attack. 9 years later, at the age of 72, Asimov’s brother announced his death and cited the cause as heart and kidney failure. It was only ten years later, when Janet Asimov, Isaac Asimov’s wife released an autobiography of his life called ‘It’s Been a Good Life’ that it was revealed that the complications that he faced that cause his demise were HIV-related.
Stewart McKinney
Born in 1931, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Stewart McKinney was elected as a Republican to the Connecticut State House of Representatives 35 years later. He then ran and won for the U.S. House in 1970. His most renowned work was the Homeless Assistance Act of 1986, which was an initiative to subsidize shelter programs. He is also known as the first person to utter the words “too big to fail” in relation to large banks.
Following heart complications, McKinney underwent heart surgery. Although he was diagnosed with HIV a few years later, his condition was only made known to the public a while before his death, on May 7, 1987. His surgeon appealed that he had contracted AIDS through an HIV positive blood transfusion during his heart surgery, but there is no proper proof as McKinney was also actively bisexual.
McKinney was survived by his five children and his wife, Luci Cunningham, granddaughter of a co-founder of Standard Oil. Stewart McKinney is known to be the first U.S. Congressman to have died as a result of AIDS. After his passing away the ‘Salt Meadow National Wildlife Refuge’ in Connecticut was renamed ‘Stewart B. McKinney National Wildlife Refuge’ by the U.S. Congress. His son, John McKinney then followed his father’s footsteps and became the State Senator from Fairfield.
