Gu Fangzhou, a virologist who dedicated his life to eradicating polio from China, passed away at age 92 on Jan 2. "Sugar pills", an oral polio vaccine, developed by Gu reduced incidence rate of the disease by nearly 100 times from 1949 to 1993, saving millions of children from crippling paralysis. "I spent my whole life doing one thing – developing an effective polio vaccine," Gu Fangzhou, once said while summarizing his life. Gu started polio research in 1957 and created the sugar pills attenuated oral vaccine in 1959. According to Gu's biography, in order to test the efficacy and side effects of the vaccine, he administered the vaccine to himself and started the first stage of the human trial. After extensive testing, he took another bold step to administer the oral vaccine to his one-month-old son. This inspired his colleagues to vaccinate their kids. "If we don't believe in what we produce, how can others believe in it?" said Gu while recalling the trial.
病毒学家顾方舟1月2日逝世，终年92岁。顾方舟毕生致力于根除国内的脊髓灰质炎 (小儿麻痹症)。1949年至1993年，顾方舟研制的“糖丸”口服脊灰活疫苗将脊灰发病率降低近100倍，使上百万儿童免于瘫痪。在概括自己的一生时顾方舟曾说：“我一辈子只做一件事——研制出了一种有效的脊灰疫苗”。1957年，顾方舟开始进行脊灰研究，1959年制造出口服脊灰减毒活疫苗。根据顾方舟的传记，为测试疫苗的功效和副作用，他给自己服下脊灰疫苗并开启第一阶段的人体试验。在进行大量试验后，他又采取另一项大胆的行动，给自己一个月大的儿子服下脊灰活疫苗。在他的感召下，顾方舟的同事们也纷纷给自己的孩子服用了疫苗。在回忆该试验时顾方舟说：“如果我们自己都不相信自己研制的疫苗，怎么能让别人信呢？”
Yu Min, a nuclear physicist widely known as the father of China's hydrogen bomb, died on Jan 16 at the age of 93. Yu, together with 99 other Chinese people from different walks of life, won the honorary title of "reform pioneer" at a gathering held in Beijing on Dec 18 to celebrate the 40th anniversary of reform and opening-up. In January 2015 Yu also won China's top science and technology accolade. Yu, a native of Tianjin, earned his bachelor's degree in physics from Peking University in 1949 and then conducted postgraduate research at the school's physics department. He also served as a teaching assistant. He entered the Modern Physics Institute of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and began to study atomic nuclear physics theory in 1951. To address the country's strategic needs, Yu began to conduct theoretical research on nuclear weapons in 1961. For the next 28 years, Yu and his work remained top national secrets.
1月16日，以"中国氢弹之父"而广为人知的核物理学家于敏去世，享年93岁。去年12月18日在北京召开的庆祝改革开放40周年大会上，于敏和另外99位来自各行各业的同志被授予“改革先锋”的称号。2015年1月，于敏获得中国最高科学技术奖。于敏生于天津，1949年在北京大学获得物理学学士学位，之后在该校物理系进行研究生科研工作，还曾担任过助教。1951年，他进入中国科学院现代物理研究所，开始研究原子核物理理论。为满足国家战略需求，1961年，于敏开始从事核武器理论研究工作。此后28年，于敏和他从事的事业都属于国家最高机密。

Chinese author Lin Qingxuan died at the age of 65 on Jan 23. Lin, who once used pen names such as Qin Qing and Lin Li, was a celebrated writer, essayist, poet, and scholar, who won numerous prizes and enjoyed great popularity across the Straits. Lin showed his intellect and talent for writing at a very young age. He started his career by publishing articles in local newspapers and won first prize in the Tainan writing competition during his high school days. Lin spent his college years at Shih Hsin University, during which he published his first book, "Lian Hua Kai Luo." Hailed as one of the eight masters of contemporary prose in China, the essay master has published more than a hundred books during his career.
1月23日，我国作家林清玄逝世，享年65岁。林清玄是著名的作家、散文家、诗人和学者，曾获奖无数，在海峡两岸均享有很高的知名度，曾用笔名有秦情、林漓等。林清玄很小的时候就展现出写作方面的天赋才华。上高中时，林清玄便在当地媒体上发表文章，还在台湾写作比赛中获得一等奖，由此开启他的职业生涯。在世新大学读书时，他出版了自己的第一本书《莲花开落》。林清玄被誉为国内当代散文八大作家之一，他在自己的职业生涯中出版书籍逾百部。
Karl Lagerfeld, the most prolific designer of the 20th and 21st centuries and a man whose career formed the prototype of the modern luxury fashion industry, died on Feb 19. He was 85. Creative director of Chanel since 1983 and Fendi since 1965, and founder of his own line, Lagerfeld was the definition of a fashion polyglot, able to speak the language of many different brands at the same time. In his 80s, when most of his peers were retiring to their yachts or country estates, he was designing an average of 14 new collections a year ranging from couture to the high street, and not counting collaborations and special projects. Lagerfeld never stopped creating. He was also a photographer, whose work was exhibited at the Pinacothèque de Paris; a publisher, having founded his own imprint for Steidl, Edition 7L. A self-identified "caricature," with his dark glasses, powdered ponytail, black jeans, fingerless gloves, starched collars, Chrome Hearts jewelry and obsessive Diet Coke consumption, he achieved such a level of global fame and controversy.
2月19日，20世纪和21世纪创作成就最为卓著、在职业生涯中塑造了现代奢侈时尚产业原型的设计师卡尔·拉格斐辞世，享年85岁。拉格斐从1983年起担任香奈儿的创意总监，从1965年起担任芬迪的创意总监，还创立了自己的品牌，他一直是时尚多语者的代名词，可以同时用好几个不同品牌的语言表达时尚。80岁时，他的同龄人大都已经退休，在游艇上或乡间别墅里打发时间，他却依旧平均每年设计高级定制时装、高街产品等14个新系列，这还不算那些合作和特别的项目。拉格斐从未停止创作。他同时还是摄影师，作品曾在巴黎美术馆展出；他也是出版人，在Steidl出版社创办了Edition 7L品牌。墨镜、扑粉的马尾辫、黑色牛仔裤、露指手套、硬挺的衣领、克罗心珠宝和强迫症般不停喝着健怡可乐，这就是他自己也认同的“漫画形象”，他享有极高的国际声誉，同时也备受争议。
John Havlicek, the eight-time NBA champion and Basketball Hall of Famer, died on April 25. He was 79. Havlicek's death was confirmed in a statement by the Boston Celtics, the team he played with for 16 seasons. The Boston Celtics great whose steal of Hal Greer's inbounds pass in the final seconds of the 1965 Eastern Conference final against the Philadelphia 76ers remains one of the most famous plays in NBA history. Havlicek remains the Celtics' highest scoring member with 26,395 points across his career. He was also a 13-time NBA All-Star, and upon his retirement in 1978, the Celtics immediately retired his number 17 jersey with him. While the NBA legend had been suffering from Parkinson's disease, the statement did not confirm his exact cause of death.
4月25日，8次NBA总冠军得主、篮球名人堂成员约翰·哈夫利切克去世，享年79岁。哈夫利切克曾效力16个赛季的波士顿凯尔特人队在一份声明中证实了哈夫利切克的死讯。1965年在该队与费城76人队进行东部决赛结束前的最后几秒钟里，这位波士顿凯尔特人队巨星截断了哈尔·格瑞尔的界内传球，至今这一球仍是NBA史上最著名的截球之一。哈夫利切克也是凯尔特人队得分最多的球员，他在整个职业生涯中总共得分26395分。他曾13次入选NBA全明星阵容。1978年退役时，他的17号球衣也与之一起退役。虽然这位NBA传奇球员一直患有帕金森氏症，但声明中并未证实其确切死因。