Lista de Personas Famosas que murieron en 1978

Masao Koga fue un compositor y guitarrista japonés, conocido por crear melodías de difusión mundial y por ser pionero de la música popular de Japón. Fue una figura notable por haber creado el género enka, razón por la cual Koga se consideraba como un compositor ryūkōka. Compuso numerosas canciones para Ichiro Fujiyama y Hibari Misora, y su música ha sido usada en varias películas, incluyendo Bienvenido al paraíso y Memorias de una geisha. Presidió la Sociedad Japonesa de Derechos de los Autores, Compositores y Editores desde 1964 a 1978. En Shibuya se ha erigido un museo en su memoria y los visitantes del Museo de Música Koga Masao pueden ver allí exhibiciones y elementos relacionados con su vida y obra.

Alain Colas was a French sailor, the first to complete a solitary round-the-world race in a multihull. He met Éric Tabarly in Sydney in 1967, and bought Pen Duick IV from him in 1970, and won the "Transat" in 1972. In 1972, he started the construction of a 72m 4 masted monohull for the 1976 "Transat". He broke his right ankle, underwent 22 surgeries, and got back on his feet for the solitary transatlantic race. Éric Tabarly won, and Alain Colas arrived 2nd but was classed 5th. On 5 November 1978, he took part in his last race, the first Route du Rhum. On 16 November 1978, as he passed the Azores, he sent his last radio message saying that everything was alright and sailing well. Neither his boat Manureva nor his body were ever found.

Charles Herbert Best, CBE fue un médico canadiense. Descubrió la insulina junto a Frederick Banting.

Roman Lazarevich Karmen was a Soviet war camera-man and film director and one of the most influential figures in documentary film making.

Vasili Vasilyevich Merkuryev was a Soviet actor, stage director and drama teacher. He was named People's Artist of the USSR in 1960.

Bárbara "Babe" Cushing Mortimer Paley, fue una socialite estadounidense, considerada un icono de la moda del siglo XX.

Cyril Bristow (1899–1978) was a British cinematographer who worked on roughly thirty films during the 1930s and 1940s at a variety of British studios.

Felicia Cohn Montealegre fue una actriz chilena casada con el compositor y director Leonard Bernstein.

G. Sankara Kurup, better known as Mahakavi G, was an Indian poet, essayist and literary critic of Malayalam literature. Known as one of the greats of Malayalam poetry, he was the first recipient of the Jnanpith Award―the highest Indian literary honor. He served as a nominated member of the Rajya Sabha from 1968 to 1972 and received the Padma Bhushan, the third highest Indian civilian award, in 1967. He was also a recipient of Sahitya Akademi Award, Kerala Sahitya Akademi Award and Soviet Land Nehru Award.

Jorge Carrera Andrade: fue un escritor y poeta ecuatoriano.