Events from the year 2008 in Europe.

Incumbents

European Union

President of the European Commission The president of the European Commission is the head of the European Commission, the executive branch of the European Union (EU). The President of the Commission leads a Cabinet of Commissioners, referred to as the College, collectively account ...

José Manuel Barroso José Manuel Durão Barroso (; born 23 March 1956) is a Portuguese politician and university teacher, currently serving as non-executive chairman of Goldman Sachs International. He previously served as the 11th president of the European Commi ...

* President of the Parliament:

Hans-Gert Pöttering Hans-Gert Pöttering (born 15 September 1945) is a German lawyer, historian and conservative politician ( CDU, European People's Party), who served as President of the European Parliament from January 2007 to July 2009 and as Chairman of the CD ...

President of the European Council The president of the European Council is the person presiding over and driving forward the work of the European Council on the world stage. This institution comprises the college of heads of state or government of EU member states as well as t ...

: **

Janez Janša Ivan Janša (; born 17 September 1958), baptized and best known as Janez Janša (), is a Slovenian politician who served three times as a prime minister of Slovenia, a position he had held from 2004 to 2008, from 2012 to 2013, and from 2020 to 2 ...

(January–June) **

Nicolas Sarkozy Nicolas Paul Stéphane Sarközy de Nagy-Bocsa (; ; born 28 January 1955) is a French politician who served as President of France from 2007 to 2012. Born in Paris, he is of Hungarian, Greek Jewish, and French origin. Mayor of Neuilly-sur-Se ...

(July–December) * Presidency of the Council of the EU: **

Slovenia Slovenia ( ; sl, Slovenija ), officially the Republic of Slovenia (Slovene: , abbr.: ''RS''), is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the southeast, an ...

(January–July) **

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

(July–December)

Events

*January 1:

Cyprus Cyprus ; tr, Kıbrıs (), officially the Republic of Cyprus,, , lit: Republic of Cyprus is an island country located south of the Anatolian Peninsula in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Its continental position is disputed; while it is geo ...

and

Malta Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...

becomes a eurozone member, adopting the

euro The euro ( symbol: €; code: EUR) is the official currency of 19 out of the member states of the European Union (EU). This group of states is known as the eurozone or, officially, the euro area, and includes about 340 million citizens . ...

for the first time. *May 21: The first all-English

European Cup The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competit ...

final saw Manchester United beat Chelsea on penalties after a 1–1 draw in Moscow's

Luzhniki Stadium Luzhniki Stadium ( rus, стадион «Лужники», p=stədʲɪˈon lʊʐnʲɪˈkʲi, ''Stadion Luzhniki'') is the national stadium of Russia, located in its capital city, Moscow. The full name of the stadium is Grand Sports Arena of the ...

. *August 7–16:

Russia–Georgia war The 2008 Russo-Georgian WarThe war is known by a variety of other names, including Five-Day War, August War and Russian invasion of Georgia. was a war between Georgia, on one side, and Russia and the Russian-backed self-proclaimed republics of Sou ...

*August 28: The Russian group

Voina Voina ( rus, Война, p=vɐjˈna, a=Ru-война.ogg, t=War) is a Russian street art, street-art group known for their provocative and politically charged works of performance art. The group has had more than sixty members, including former a ...

staged the

Fuck for the heir Puppy Bear! Fuck for the Heir Puppy Bear! ( rus, Ебись за наследника Медвежонка, r=Yebis' za naslednika Medvezhonka) was a political-artistic performance staged by Russian performance group Voina at the Timiryazev State Biological Mu ...

performance at the Timiryazev State Biological Museum in Moscow to protest at the election of

Dmitry Medvedev Dmitry Anatolyevich Medvedev ( rus, links=no, Дмитрий Анатольевич Медведев, p=ˈdmʲitrʲɪj ɐnɐˈtolʲjɪvʲɪtɕ mʲɪdˈvʲedʲɪf; born 14 September 1965) is a Russian politician who has been serving as the dep ...

in the

2008 Russian presidential election Presidential elections were held in Russia on 2 March 2008, and resulted in the election of Dmitry Medvedev as the third President of Russia. Medvedev was elected for a four-year term, whose candidacy was supported by incumbent president Vladimir ...

. *December 6: A police officer assassinated 15-year-old student Alexis Grigoropoulos. Large riots took place the following days in Greece.

Deaths

January

*January 2 **

George MacDonald Fraser George MacDonald Fraser (2 April 1925 – 2 January 2008) was a British author and screenwriter. He is best known for a series of works that featured the character Flashman. Biography Fraser was born to Scottish parents in Carlisle, England, ...

, British author **

Günter Schubert Günter Schubert (18 April 1938 – 2 January 2008) was a German actor and voice actor. His son Alexander Schubert is also an actor. He was born in Weißwasser and died in Berlin. Filmography * 1966: '' Die Söhne der großen Bärin'' * 1972: ...

, German actor *January 3 **

Jimmy Stewart James Maitland Stewart (May 20, 1908 – July 2, 1997) was an American actor and military pilot. Known for his distinctive drawl and everyman screen persona, Stewart's film career spanned 80 films from 1935 to 1991. With the strong morality h ...

, British racing driver **

Werner Dollinger Werner Dollinger (10 October 1918 – 3 January 2008) was a German politician and economist, a member of the Christian Social Union in Bavaria (CSU). He served as Federal Minister for the Treasury from 1962 to 1966, Federal Minister for Econom ...

, German politician *January 7 –

Detlef Kraus Detlef Kraus (30 November 1919 – 7 January 2008) was a German pianist. He was an internationally known interpreter of the music of Johannes Brahms. Born in Hamburg, Kraus gave his first concert at the age of 16, playing ''The Well-Tempered ...

, German pianist *January 9 –

John Harvey-Jones Sir John Harvey-Jones MBE (16 April 1924 – 9 January 2008) was an English businessman. He was the chairman of Imperial Chemical Industries from 1982 to 1987. He was best known by the public for his BBC television show, '' Troubleshooter' ...

, British businessman *January 19 –

Morris Maddocks Morris Henry St John Maddocks (28 April 1928 – 19 January 2008) was a bishop in the Church of England. He was a leading proponent of healing ministry and an assistant bishop in the Diocese of Chichester from 1987. He died on 19 January 200 ...

, British bishop *January 30 –

Jeremy Beadle Jeremy James Anthony Gibson-Beadle MBE (12 April 1948 – 30 January 2008) was an English television presenter, radio presenter, writer and producer. During the 1980s he was a regular face on British television, and in two years appeared i ...

, British television presenter, writer and producer

February

*28 February – Mike Smith, British singer

March

*8 March –

Carol Barnes Carol Lesley Barnes (13 September 1944 – 8 March 2008) was a British television newsreader and broadcaster. She worked for ITN from 1975 to 2004. Early life Barnes was born in Norwich, and attended St Martin-in-the-Fields High School for ...

, British newsreader *18 March –

Anthony Minghella Anthony Minghella, (6 January 195418 March 2008) was a British film director, playwright and screenwriter. He was chairman of the board of Governors at the British Film Institute between 2003 and 2007. He won the Academy Award for Best Directo ...

, British film director *19 March ** Arthur C. Clarke, British science fiction author and inventor **

Paul Scofield David Paul Scofield (21 January 1922 – 19 March 2008) was a British actor. During a six-decade career, Scofield achieved the US Triple Crown of Acting, winning an Academy Awards, Academy Award, Emmy Award, Emmy, and Tony Award, Tony for his ...

, British actor *20 March –

Brian Wilde Brian George Wilde (13 June 1927 – 20 March 2008) was an English actor, best known for his roles in television comedy, most notably Mr Barrowclough in '' Porridge'' and Walter "Foggy" Dewhurst in ''Last of the Summer Wine''. His lugubrious ...

, British actor *23 March –

Neil Aspinall Neil Stanley Aspinall (13 October 1941 24 March 2008) was a British music industry executive. A school friend of Paul McCartney and George Harrison, he went on to head the Beatles' company Apple Corps. The Beatles employed Aspinall first as th ...

, British record producer and business executive *28 March – Michael Podro, British art historian

April

*1 April –

Jim Finney James Finney (17 August 1924 – 1 April 2008"Cup Final ref ...

, British football referee *7 April –

Mark Speight Mark Warwick Fordham Speight (6 August 1965 – 7 April 2008) was an English television presenter and host of children's art programme ''SMart''. Speight was born in Seisdon, Staffordshire, and left school at 16 to become a cartoonist. He t ...

, British television presenter *25 April –

Humphrey Lyttelton Humphrey Richard Adeane Lyttelton (23 May 1921 – 25 April 2008), also known as Humph, was an English jazz musician and broadcaster from the Lyttelton family. Having taught himself the trumpet at school, Lyttelton became a professional ...

, British jazz musician and broadcaster

May

*16 May –

David Mitton David Nelson Godfrey Mitton (27 February 1939 – 16 May 2008) was a British director, producer, writer, model maker and special effects technician. He was best known for producing and directing the children's television programmes ''Thomas ...

, British producer and director *24 May –

Rob Knox Robert Arthur Knox (21 August 1989 – 24 May 2008) was an English actor who portrayed the character of Marcus Belby in the film ''Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince'', and had signed to appear in the film '' Harry Potter and the Deathly Ha ...

, British actor *28 May –

Beryl Cook Beryl Cook, OBE (10 September 192628 May 2008) was a British artist best known for her original and instantly recognisable paintings. Often comical, her works pictured people whom she encountered in everyday life, including people enjoying th ...

, British artist

July

*2 July –

Elizabeth Spriggs Elizabeth or Elisabeth may refer to: People * Elizabeth (given name), a female given name (including people with that name) * Elizabeth (biblical figure), mother of John the Baptist Ships * HMS ''Elizabeth'', several ships * ''Elisabeth'' (sch ...

, British actress *3 July –

Clive Hornby Clive William Hornby (20 October 1944 – 3 July 2008) was an English actor, best known for his role as Jack Sugden in the ITV soap opera ''Emmerdale''. He first appeared in the programme (then named ''Emmerdale Farm'') in 1980, and remained in ...

, British actor *4 July – Charles Wheeler, British journalist *14 July –

Hugh Lloyd Hugh Lewis Lloyd (22 April 1923 – 14 July 2008) was an English actor who made his name in film and television comedy from the 1960s to the 1980s. He was best known for appearances in ''Hancock's Half Hour'', ''Hugh and I'' and other sit ...

, British actor

August

*11 August –

Bill Cotton Sir William Frederick Cotton (23 April 1928 – 11 August 2008) was a British television producer and executive, and the son of dance band leader Billy Cotton. The TV and radio presenter Fearne Cotton is related to him, as he was her paternal ...

, British producer *29 August –

Geoffrey Perkins Geoffrey Howard Perkins (22 February 1953 – 29 August 2008) was a British comedy producer, writer and performer. Best known as the BBC head of comedy (1995–2001), he produced the first two radio series of ''The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galax ...

, British comedy producer, writer and performer *31 August –

Ken Campbell Kenneth Victor Campbell (10 December 1941 – 31 August 2008) was an English actor, writer and director known for his work in experimental theatre. He has been called "a one-man dynamo of British theatre". Campbell achieved notoriety in the 1 ...

, British actor and raconteur

September

*15 September – Richard Wright, British musician *24 September -

Ruslan Yamadayev Ruslan (Khalid or Halid) Bekmirzayevich Yamadayev (russian: Руслан (Халид) Бекмирзаевич Ямадаев) (10 December 1961 – 24 September 2008) was a Chechen military leader and politician. A member of the high-profile ...

, Russian politician

November

*3 November –

Brooks Mileson Brooks John Joseph Mileson (13 November 1947 – 3 November 2008) was an English businessman and the owner of now dissolved professional football club Gretna as well as being a philanthropist to 70 non-League clubs. Early life The eldest s ...

, British businessman, *4 November – Syd Lucas, British World War I veteran *12 November –

Mitch Mitchell John Graham "Mitch" Mitchell (9 July 194612 November 2008)In his book about the Experience, Mitchell states he celebrated his 21st birthday while on tour on 9 July 1967, which makes his birth year 1946.Mitchell's obituaries in ''Billboard' ''T ...

, British drummer *16 November –

Reg Varney Reginald Alfred Varney (11 July 1916 – 16 November 2008) was an English actor, entertainer and comedian. He is best remembered for having played the lead role of bus driver Stan Butler in the LWT sitcom ''On the Buses'' (1969–73) and its thr ...

, British actor

December

*8 December –

Oliver Postgate Richard Oliver Postgate (12 April 1925 – 8 December 2008), generally known as Oliver Postgate, was an English animator, puppeteer, and writer. He was the creator and writer of some of Britain's most popular children's television progra ...

, British animator, puppeteer and writer *14 December –

Kathy Staff Kathy Staff (born Minnie Higginbottom; 12 July 1928 – 13 December 2008) was an English actress known for her work on British television. She is best known for her portrayal of Nora Batty in ''Last of the Summer Wine'', the longest running sit ...

, British actress *24 December –

Harold Pinter Harold Pinter (; 10 October 1930 – 24 December 2008) was a British playwright, screenwriter, director and actor. A Nobel Prize winner, Pinter was one of the most influential modern British dramatists with a writing career that spanne ...

, British playwright

References

{{Year in Europe, 2008 2000s in Europe Years of the 21st century in Europe