Obituary

It is with great sadness that we have to tell our members that on 5 November our dear friend and colleague Walery Pisarek passed away, at the age of 86.

Professor Pisarek has taken part in the activities of EFNIL since the founding years of our organisation: at first as an observer, and since 2006 as an official delegate of the Council for the Polish Language. He was always one of the most active members at our annual conferences: as a speaker and as a stimulating participant in many discussions on linguistic themes and issues of language policy. Delegates from all over Europe respected him for his great learning as a linguist and his clear judgement and advice on ongoing and planned projects.

Perhaps we’ll remember him best as a friend and as a distinguished companion, with his characteristically flowing white beard, his penetrating eagle eye, and his decisiveness couched in soft words and a disarming smile.

EFNIL owes him special thanks for his initiative in inviting us to hold our 2016 annual conference in Warsaw. Because of his weak health he was unable to attend our conference this year in Mannheim.

We will miss him at future conferences, but we will remember him.

 

Gerhard Stickel on behalf of the EFNIL Executive Committee