BIPS is very sad to report the death today of Professor Bert Fragner (27 November 1941–16 December 2021), shortly after his 80th birthday, following a short illness in hospital. A towering figure in Persian studies and in particular with relation to Central Asian and Turkic aspects of the Iranian world, he created a vibrant school of graduate students at the University of Bamberg, in post from 1984 to 2003, from where he moved to Vienna to take up the directorship of the Institut für Iranistic at the Austrian Academy of Sciences (2004–2010). He was also a founding member and president of the Societas Iranologica Europea (SIE), Europe’s largest regular gathering of scholars researching Iranian themes. He was a regular supporter of BIPS and many years ago gave a fine lecture on food, of which he was a great aficionado. He will be remembered fondly not only for his wide-ranging scholarship but also for his larger than life presence, enthusiasm and warm personality. Our sincere condolences to his wife Christl, always at his side at conferences and convivial gatherings.
