Pugwash Remembrance

This page hosts obituaries of Pugwash members who have passed away, as well as tributes to them issued by Pugwash members (organized chronologically)

---

R. Rajaraman (1939-2025)

The Pugwash Council and community is saddened to learn of the passing of the former Pugwash Council Member (2013-2018) and prominent Indian physicist, Prof. Dr. Ramamurti Rajaraman (11 March 1939 – 12 July 2025). He was 86 years old.

Ramamurti Rajaraman was born in March 1939 in India and received his physics doctorate at Cornell University in 1963 under his thesis advisor Hans Bethe. As a postdoc fellow in Cornell, he met Frank von Hippel who co-founded a decade later Princeton’s Program on Science and World Affairs. After his return to India, Rajaraman took a faculty position in physics at Delhi then moving to Bangalore (1976-93). His main work in physics was on elementary particle physics, quantum field theory and soliton physics. He joined Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) becoming an emeritus professor in 2004. He held visiting positions in Princeton’s Institute for Advanced Study, at Berkeley, Harvard, MIT, Stanford, CERN, and ICTP in Trieste. He served as vice-president of the Indian National Science Academy (2020-2012) and received several physics awards such as the Bose Medal (1995) and the APS Leo Szilard Award (2014).

He first wrote about Indian nuclear weapon policy in 1970 – four years before India conducted its first underground nuclear test in 1974 – arguing against India pursuing and testing nuclear weapons. After India´s nuclear test series in 1998, he returned actively to disarmament and arms control policy. From 2007 to 2016, he co-chaired the Princeton-based “International Panel on Fissile Materials” (IPFM) with Frank von Hippel and became part of the Princeton-based “Project on Peace and Security in South Asia”. He also served from 2009-2014 on the Science and Security Board of the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists and, from 2013-2018, in the Pugwash Council. He has been described as a gifted teacher, inspiring many young students to pursue science and to engaged with nuclear disarmament. He contributed through many articles, lectures in many capitals and analysis at various fora on India´s security, global disarmament and non-proliferation. The passing away of this tireless Indian advocate is a great loss for Pugwash and other disarmament-oriented organizations such as the Princeton´s program on Science and Global Security, the Pugwash community, and the Asia-Pacific Leadership Network. The Pugwash Council mourns this prolific scholar and tireless advocate of global nuclear disarmament and peace.

Götz Neuneck (Pugwash Council) & Frank von Hippel (Princeton University)

---

Richard L. Garwin (1928-2025)
Dick Garwin was  an extraordinary human being, superintelligent on science and everything, and compassionate on human affairs. A most eminent and influential Pugwash participant. And a rather close friend.  He lived a very full life! He should not be remembered as the creator of the Hydrogen Bomb; rather, as the most intelligent person-scientist that Enrico Fermi—one of his original teachers—met in his own life (as stated by him).  If there were more individuals like him the world would be a much better place for humankind than it is now.  He lived a full and long life, rather happily until his wife was alive, a bit less happily but still actively and usefully after she passed away some years ago.
Francesco Calogero, former Pugwash Secretary General

Dear friends,
A giant has left us. I met Dick Garwin for the first time in the 80s when, with an association of scientists for nuclear disarmament, we had organised a talk with him at the Paris University in Orsay. Being from a country where anybody who has anything to do with defence does not dare to whisper a word, I still remember clearly how impressed I have been when I heard him saying in front of a big audience that “Star Wars was working only in the mind of the President” ! Dick Garwin was serving his country in many respects, and he was also a very free man.  I then had the great privilege to interact with him. His honesty, integrity and respect for others were as profound as his immense intelligence. He did not like dishonest people. But with the others, he was a very gracious and generous human being.  He did many other works apart from his work on the H-bomb. He left a great legacy with the numerous articles that can be found on https://rlg.fas.org/
Venance Journé, Pugwash Council and Pugwash France

The German Pugwash Group mourns the death of Dick Garwin, a giant of science, technology and arms control.  When I first met Dick Garwin in Tutzing/Germany at a conference on SDI, we younger people were full of respect for this friendly little man in view of his big achievements. We invited him to play a game of billiards and asked how he got so good at billiards. He said: “It was the first time and you only need to apply Newton’s laws.” My first professional trip to the United States in 1988 took us to his house in Scarsdale and we learnt the key analytical lessons of simulating strategic stability and reductions of nuclear arsenals. Since then, his contributions at Pugwash or ISODARCO meetings in China have been a must for technical insights and lessons learnt for the multiple security and peace challenges. Our cooperation in the international programme committee of the Amaldi conferences has always been extremely rational and purposeful spanning from nuclear verification to space security, from missile defense to weapon of mass destruction issues. His enthusiasm for science was outstanding, but also make clear the ambivalence of scientific truth. His papers, articles and insights are a source for further discussions in the arms control and security field. He lived an exciting life together with his beloved wife Lois. In December 2024, we had an online exchange with him in which he offered support and help for Pugwash. He was very dedicated and rational despite health set-backs. His scientific achievement will stay for long and his moral dedication should be an inspiration for scientists. Politics has to understand that Acting against the laws of nature cannot work in the long term! The German Pugwash Group extends its deeply felt condolences to Dick Garwin’s family and friends.
Götz Neuneck, Chair German Pugwash

It is with great pain that I learned about the death of Dick Garwin. Dick has been always connected with Pugwash and , more than that, he has been over many years , an inspirational figure for Pugwash activities, I had a personal relation with him, that lasted many years. I  always admired his thinking and his proposals. Dick won the National Medal of Science in 2002. He was an amazing personality  and an oustanding physicist with a high sense of social responsibility. He will be surely remembered as one the most significant figure of the last 100 years.
Paolo Cotta-Ramusino, former Pugwash Secretary General

---

Ambassador Al Assad worked for over 45 years within the system of the League of Arab States. From 2010 to 2014 he was appointed “High Representative of the Arab League Secretary General for Disarmament and Regional Security”. From 2014 to 2018 he was appointed Ambassador of the League of Arab States to Austria and to the International Organizations in Vienna. He served on the boards of several think tanks and research centres, as well as most recently as a Senior Fellow of the Middle East WMD-Free Zone project at UNIDIR.

Personal tributes 

“With Ambassador Wael Al Assad’s departure, Pugwash has lost a strong voice for non-proliferation and peaceful resolution of conflicts through meaningful dialogue and sincere engagement. In our discussions, he always reminded us that without upholding the principles of the International Law, the world would not be safe and secure for all. He dedicated many years of his productive life for the establishment of Weapons of Mass Destruction Free Zone in the ME. With the flare up of the war in Gaza, he chaired Pugwash Task Force and strived to bring peace and justice to the people of Gaza. He will always be remembered by his friends and colleagues in Pugwash as principled, prudent, and wise advocate of peace in our troubled world.”
Hussain Al-Shahristani, Pugwash President

“I was deeply saddened when I learned that Wael had left us. He was kind and warm in his personal relations and also strong and committed in his diplomatic role. Until very recently he was actively participating and contributing to Pugwash with ideas and, as he named it, food for thought for the Middle East and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. These proposals will surely enrich our upcoming discussions. We will miss his interventions and thought-provoking questions. Wael left a strong legacy in our community. My sincere condolences to Wael’s family.”
Karen Hallberg, Secretary General

“Wael Al Assad’s sudden passing away is a great loss for the Pugwash Council and the Pugwash Community. He helped Pugwash so much to introduce, discuss and develop arms control and disarmament arguments for the Middle East and globally. With his honest and kind attitude, he broadened the network of experts in the Middle East and participated in many Pugwash meetings explaining positions with eloquence, straightforwardness and a good sense of humour. We will always remember him as an very active Pugwash Council member, an honest broker for cooperation, dialogue  and peace in the Middle East and a strong voice for justice in the region. On behalf of the Pugwash Council, let my convey our sincere condolences to his family and friends.”
Götz Neuneck, chair of the Pugwash Council

“Ambassador Al Assad represented the Arab League during the consultations in Glion and Geneva between 2010 and 2015 on the establishment of a WMD Free Zone in the Middle East. I headed the Israeli delegation throughout these talks and developed during that time a respectful, collegial and professional relationship with Wael. While we clearly approached the sensitive issue from different view points, I always admired his ability to explain his positions with eloquence and subtlety. I learned much from our exchanges that ultimately left me convinced that serious direct dialogue could eventually lead to greater regional security and stability. I would like to convey my deepest condolences to his family and feel sincerely that I had lost someone I would be proud to call a colleague and friend.”
Jeremy Issacharoff, Pugwash Council and Pugwash Israel

“He was for me a very dear friend and a true model for how people should combine expertise,  political commitment and human sensibility. He will be remembered with love in the entire Pugwash community and in the entire community of people who are committed to peace, international cooperation and reciprocal understanding. It will be very hard to find a person with the qualities of Wael, but at least his memory will stay strong in all our minds.”
Paolo Cotta-Ramusino, former Secretary General of Pugwash

---

Sérgio Duarte (1934-2025)
The Pugwash Community is saddened to learn of the passing of Sérgio Duarte, former President of Pugwash and a committed champion of nuclear disarmament. He was a man of deep expertise and experience which he tirelessly applied to multilateralism and finding solutions for ridding the world of nuclear weapons. Sérgio was a great friend to all in the disarmament community, a diplomat by character as well as training who was always prepared to listen to all perspectives with the expectation of finding common ground.

Before being elected as Pugwash President in 2017, Amb. Duarte served on the Pugwash Council for five years following his retirement from the United Nations UN as the High Representative for Disarmament Affairs with the United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs (2007-12). In 2005, as the Brazilian representative he served as the President of the Seventh Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT). Prior to this, Sérgio Duarte had a distinguished career, serving the Brazilian Foreign Service for almost 50 years. He was the Ambassador of Brazil in a number of countries, including Austria, Croatia, Slovakia and Slovenia concurrently, China, Canada, and Nicaragua as well as to the UN organizations headquartered in Vienna. He also served in Switzerland, the United States, Argentina, and Italy. He served as the Brazilian representative to several international organizations, focusing on disarmament issues.

Personal tributes
“Sérgio Duarte spent an important part of his life dealing with nuclear disarmament and promoting it around the world. He has been an extraordinary example of total commitment to a very important cause that is the basis of Pugwash’s mission. On a personal level, he always showed a positive and friendly attitude that made his commitment more understandable and more effective. In a time of crisis and growing international hostilities, we will all miss Sérgio’s presence and his outstanding positive personality.” Paolo Cotta-Ramusino, Pugwash Secretary General

“Amb. Duarte combined his gentle manners with a strong commitment towards nuclear disarmament and peace, always emphasising the importance of a global perspective and the respect for international law. 
His recent words still resonate in my mind: “All States have a high moral, ethical and legal responsibility to do whatever is at their reach to prevent a nuclear catastrophe in which there will be no victors – only losers.” He worked tirelessly until his last days and he left an enormous legacy.” Karen Hallberg, Chair of the Pugwash Council

---

Jayanth Dhanapala (1938-2023)
The Pugwash community was deeply saddened to learn of the death of former Pugwash President Jayantha Dhanapala yesterday at the age of 85. Across the span of his life and career, Dhanapala’s dedication to the goals of disarmament and peace was remarkable and his commitment will be a loss to us all.

Dhanapala had diplomatic postings for the Sri Lankan foreign service in London, Beijing, Washington DC, New Delhi and Geneva. He performed duties in ambassadorial appointments in Geneva accredited to the UN from 1984-1987 and in Washington DC from 1995-1997. He served as Conference President during the 1995 NPT Review Conference which indefinitely extended the Treaty, and subsequently Dhanapala became the UN Under-Secretary-General for the Office for Disarmament Affairs from 1998-2003.

Jayantha Dhanapala served as Pugwash President from 2007-2017 with great distinction. He also served as a member of the Constitutional Council of Sri Lanka from 2018-2020, and the Deputy Chairman of the Governing Board of Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI). He received many international awards and honorary doctorates, and published five books and several articles in international journals and lectured widely. Dhanapala also engaged pro-actively and innovatively in political, disarmament, economic, trade, human rights and cultural matters in both bilateral and multilateral contexts.

Personal Reflections
“I have known Jayantha Dhanapala since the 1980’s, when we were colleagues at our respective delegations to the Conference on Disarmament. His outstanding qualities as a diplomat and a human being earned him the respect and admiration of all. He served his country, Sri Lanka, with dedication and competence as Ambassador to Washington and later in important domestic government assignments. He was Director of UNIDIR, President of the 1995 NPT Review and Extension Conferences and Undersecretary General for Disarmament Affairs as well as my predecessor as president of Pugwash. Jayantha will be sorely missed but his example will always be an inspiration. May he rest in peace.” Sergio Duarte, President of Pugwash

“It is a very sad news to learn that, Jayantha Dhanapala, our former President of  Pugwash died. He has been an historic personality: he gave a great contribution to the indefinite extension of the NPT, he promoted disarmament and peace in all possible ways. As President of Pugwash he gave new light to our organization. He will be dearly remembered by all the people who are working for Peace and Disarmement. We should in particular remember him when we work for promoting peace in a particularly dangerous and complicated world.” Paolo Cotta-Ramusino, Secretary-General of Pugwash

---

Christopher Watson (1937-2022)
With great sadness British Pugwash learned of the death of a former chairman, Dr Christopher Watson, on 17 August 2022. Christopher started participating in Pugwash meetings in 1969, was a member of the British Pugwash Executive Committee from 2002 to 2022, and was chairman from 2011 to 2017. In that role, notably, he helped British Pugwash to diversify into Energy Policy and explored the feasibility of creating a British Disarmament Institute to harness non-governmental expertise to the promotion of global nuclear disarmament in accordance with the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. He represented British Pugwash on the International Pugwash Council from 2013 to 2022. The current Chair of British Pugwash, Peter Jenkins, knew Christopher well: “Christopher’s loss will leave a gaping hole at the heart of British Pugwash. His intellectual contribution to our quest to build on the work of Sir Joseph Rotblat, winner of a Nobel Peace Prize, has been immense. Both as chairman of British Pugwash and as a member of the executive committee he has been the kindest, most considerate and best humoured of colleagues. We shall all long remember a man whose friendship we shall miss and whose passing we mourn.“

---

Anissa Hassouna (1953-2022)
The Pugwash community mourns the loss of Anissa Hassouna, a Pugwash Council Member and a former member of Egyptian Parliament and Executive Director at the Magdi Yacoub Heart Foundation in Cairo. As a member of the Egyptian Pugwash Group and Secretary General of the Egyptian Council for Foreign Affairs (ECFA), she participated in a series of Pugwash meetings in 2011 at a seminal moment in Egyptian history. She then joined the Pugwash Council at the 12 Quinquennial meeting in Istanbul, 2013. Anissa was a tireless advocate for human rights, particularly those of women and children in Egyptian society, and participated in a wide range of grassroots and non-governmental efforts across the Arab world. Her impact led her to be recognized among the World’s 100 Most Powerful Arab Women by Arabian Business Magazine in 2014. Anissa’s diverse and successful career is only half the story. Her personal life is the most relevant. Her book on her personal struggle with cancer is an inspiration to many. She confronted her illness with honesty, optimism, and a fantastic sense of humour that touched the hearts of many.

---

Paul Quilès (1942-2021)
Pugwash-France is deeply saddened by the loss of Paul Quilès, the founder and President of the French nuclear disarmament movement, Initiatives for Nuclear Disarmament (IDN), who passed away on 24 September 2021. He was a leading public figure in the global movement for peace and disarmament. Paul served as a member of the French Parliament from 1993 to 2007. He was appointed a minister several times under the presidency of François Mitterrand from 1988 to 1992, including as a minister for Defense. After the end of the Cold War, he realized that the policy of threatening the world with nuclear weapons had become senseless and illegitimate, and he led the struggle against it in France and as a member of large organizations such as Global Zero or the European Leadership Network. He will be remembered for his passion, his generosity, and integrity.

---

Jack Steinberger (1921-2020)
Pugwash mourns the passing of Nobel Laureate Jack Steinberger, who died on December 12, 2020, at his home in Geneva at the age of 99. After 1945, he became an experimental physicist under Enrico Fermi and Edward Teller, and, after arriving at CERN in 1968, became director of experimental research in particle physics, thus becoming a leading and worldwide respected particle physicist. In 1988 he shared the Nobel Prize in physics (with with Leon E. Lederman and Melvin Schwartz) for expanding the understanding of the long-mysterious neutrino. Throughout his life, he joined other scientists in speaking out against nuclear weapons and American militarism. He declined to do weapons work and was a strong advocate for a world without nuclear weapons. He attended several Pugwash conferences, inter alia in Geneva, Germany, and Castiglioncello.

---

Vladimir Fortov (1946-2020)
The Russian Pugwash Committee under the Presidium of the Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS) deeply mourns the death of the President of the Russian Academy of Sciences in 2013-2017, a member of the Russian Pugwash Committee since 2002, participant of the Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs since 1991, Academic Secretary of the Department of Energy, Machine Engineering, Mechanics and Control Processes of the RAS, Scientific Director of the Joint Institute of High Temperatures of the RAS, member of the RAS Presidium, winner of the USSR State Prize and State Prizes of the Russian Federation, Full Knight of the Order of Merit for the Fatherland, Academician Vladimir FORTOV and expresses his sincere condolences to the family and friends of the deceased. Academician Vladimir Fortov died on the morning of November 29, 2020 from COVID-19.

---

Bruce Blair (1947-2020)
The Pugwash community is deeply saddened to hear of the sudden passing of Bruce Blair, a tireless and effective advocate of nuclear disarmament. Bruce, a former Minuteman ICBM launch control officer, took on the burden of warning about the risks of inadvertent, accidental and deliberate launch of nuclear weapons, and championed the cause of de-alerting, disassembling, and eliminating nuclear weapons. Bruce co-founded and led Global Zero, which has been a significant presence in the field of arms control and disarmament. Bruce also participated in several Pugwash initiatives. His energy and commitment will be strongly missed. We extend our sympathy to his family on this irreparable loss.

---

Roland Timerbaev (1927-2019)
The Pugwash community is saddened by the loss of Roland Timerbaev, a leading non-proliferation specialist and one of the authors of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of
Nuclear Weapons. Ambassador Timerbaev was a prominent scientist and diplomat, who during a long and distinguished career served as a participant to the creation of the ABM Treaty, as Permanent Representative of the USSR and the Russian Federation to the International Organizations in Vienna (1988-1992), as President and Chairman of the Executive Board of the PIR Center in 1994-2010, and, as a Pugwashite since 1997, was a member of the Russian Pugwash Committee between 2001-2014. Pugwash President Sergio Duarte and Secretary General Paolo Cotta Ramusino convey their personal condolences to the family of Ambassador Roland Timerbaev on his passing, as well as to colleagues in Russian Pugwash and PIR Center. Ambassador Duarte added that, “As a young member of the Brazilian  delegation to the Eighteen-Nation Disarmament Committee from 1966 to 1968 I had the privilege of working with Roland during the discussions of the draft NPT and later on different occasions. His competence, professionalism and warm personality will continue to inspire diplomats who work for nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament.”

---

Victor Rabinowitch (1935-2019)
Jeffrey Boutwell, Secretary, US Pugwash, made the following tribute:
Dr. Victor Rabinowitch, a decades-long friend, colleague and supporter of Pugwash, died on July 1, 2019 after a brief illness. Vic was a sparkling presence wherever you might meet up with him.  He attended more than 25 Pugwash workshops, symposia and conferences, the first being the 9th Pugwash Conference held in Cambridge, UK in August 1962.  Vic attended that meeting with his father, the physicist Eugene Rabinowitch, who had worked with Jo Rotblat to organize the inaugural Pugwash meeting in Nova Scotia in July 1957 and was Pugwash President in 1969-1970, as well as co-founder of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists. Having earned a Ph.D. in the interesting combination of zoology and international relations from the University of Wisconsin, Vic became an ardent supporter of international scientific and security cooperation which he promoted through a long, distinguished career with the National Academy of Sciences, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, and numerous board positions with a variety of organizations. I have two priceless memories of Vic, among many.  In July 1989, at the 39th Pugwash Conference in Cambridge, Mass., which I helped organize, Vic insisted that I take time off so we could spend the evening at Fenway Park to see our beloved Boston Red Sox.  A year later, in September 1990 just prior to the 40th Pugwash Conference in Egham, UK, Vic and I took a train together into London so we could lie on the grass in St. James Park and watch a Supermarine Spitfire, Hawker Hurricane, and Lancaster bomber fly directly overhead toward Buckingham Palace as part of the 50th anniversary flyover in observance of the Battle of Britain. Vic leaves a wonderful, extended family, including his wife, Marti, herself a Pugwash participant at the 44th Pugwash Conference on the island of Crete in July 1994. Vic had that special gift of bringing a smile to your face whenever you saw him, and will be very much missed.

---

Michael Atiyah (1929-2019)
The Pugwash community is saddened by the loss of Sir Michael Atiyah, who died on 11 January 2019. He had served as the Pugwash President from 1997-2002.
Pugwash Secretary-General Paolo Cotta-Ramusino made the following tribute:
He was one of the greatest mathematicians of all time. He received the Field Medal in 1966 and was awarded the Abel Prize in 2004. He worked in Algebraic and Differential Geometry and in Mathematical Physics (Gauge theories). I met Atiyah first in 1984 and I can say that talking with him was an impressive experience. Pugwash was highly honoured to have him as President. Given also his Lebanese origin, he had a special sensitivity in dealing with Middle Eastern problems. He will be remembered with fondness and admiration by all the Pugwash community for years to come.”
Michael Atiyah and Pugwash: some personal recollections, by Francesco Calogero (former Pugwash Secretary-General)
Michael Atiyah (hereafter MA) was an eminent mathematician, and during his lifetime he deserved and obtained essentially all the most significant recognitions by the world mathematical and scientific community. This brief report focuses mainly on his involvement with Pugwash, as seen through my own eyes. In 1995, in his valedictory speech at the end of his tenure as President of the Royal Society, MA surprised his audience by focusing on the danger posed by nuclear weaponry. This fact convinced Joseph Rotblat—then serving as President of Pugwash—that he would be his ideal successor in that role. He suggested this idea to me—then serving (since 1989) as Secretary General of Pugwash—and we then went (together with Sebastian Pease, then serving as Chair of the British Pugwash Group) to investigate with MA whether he would be willing to serve in such a position (in principle, for the coming Quinquennium 1997-2002). MA kindly agreed to receive us in his then residence as Master of Trinity College in Cambridge—an impressive event for me, as this was the house where Isaac Newton had lived, and there was still some furniture from that time, including a pendulum clock! MA asked us to bring him up to date on the Pugwash activities and organizational structure—including of course an explanation (in the context of the Pugwash leadership: President, Secretary-General, Chair of the Pugwash Council, Chair of the Pugwash Executive Committee) of the role of the President. We told him that having a first-rate scientist as President is important in terms of the image of Pugwash and for its official functions, but it does not imply any day-to-day organizational responsibility, this being the role of the Secretary General (de facto the CEO of the organization). At the end of our conversation MA told us that he was favorably inclined to accept to serve as President but liked to have a little more time to think about this matter. He was also interested to know who my successor as next Secretary General of Pugwash would be, as we had told him that we were then also looking for a new Secretary General: I indeed wished to be replaced in order to return full-time to my scientific activity. So the next task for me and Rotblat was to find an appropriate candidate for my replacement as new Secretary-General. The candidate I identified was George Rathjens; who also, before agreeing to eventually serve in that capacity, liked to know who the next President of Pugwash would be. And to complete the operation it was of course also necessary to secure the agreement of the Pugwash Council to both these appointments, and also to my appointment to serve as Chair of the Pugwash Council for the next Quinquennium, thereby providing some continuity in the running of Pugwash: this was indeed then perceived as quite important by the new Secretary General—inasmuch as it facilitated the continued support of the Pugwash Council to the Secretary General in the actual running of Pugwash, in particular in the organization of the Pugwash Workshops which constitute the main avenue for Pugwash to promote arms control and disarmament. The entire transition was managed successfully at the 1997 “Quinquennial” Annual Conference. This was perhaps facilitated by the fact that in 1995 Pugwash had been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize (the motivation read: “…for their efforts to diminish the part played by nuclear arms in international politics and in the longer run to eliminate such arms. It is fifty years this year since the two atomic bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and forty years since the issuing of the Russell-Einstein Manifesto. The Manifesto laid the foundations for the Pugwash Conferences, which have maintained a high level of activity to this day…). During the next 5 years MA served excellently as President of Pugwash, by developing a quite friendly relation with George Rathjens, whom he supported in his job, by delivering inspiring speeches at the opening of every Annual Pugwash Conference, and by also participating in some Pugwash activities; he was particularly interested, because of his upbringing, in those focused on the Middle East situation. I of course met with him at every Annual Pugwash Conference and often we also managed to talk mathematics; at that time some of his mathematical interests were on sufficiently simple problems to be understandable to me. And he was interested in my mathematical-physics activities; indeed, curiously enough, he had given a talk on a result of mine—indeed, possibly my most important scientific achievement—soon after it was published way back in 1971…being perhaps the very first mathematician to notice its relevance… Recently MA wrote a paper entitled “The fine structure constant”, in which he indicated how this fundamental physical parameter could be computed within a purely mathematical context; and he e-mailed a preprint of it to me. I read the paper, but it was/is way beyond my mathematical competence. I was however quite impressed by the fact that the purely mathematical computation of this physical constant—in my opinion, an impossible task—yielded a result coincident with its value (to the extent it is experimentally known: up to 9 decimal figures). So I wrote back to him my amazement for this finding. He wrote back that the coincidence with the experimentally known value was not the most important aspect of his finding; what he considered important was the way his finding was arrived at—namely the part which was/is quite beyond my comprehension. It will be for others than myself to eventually assess how things stand on this matter. But we also took the opportunity to exchange several e-mails on Pugwash developments, in which he was still quite interested. As this happened only weeks ago, the news of his death came to me as a sudden bad shock; he was of course quite old (89), but only 5 years older than myself… MA was a man of extraordinary intelligence; of course, primarily in mathematics. But as well in world affairs. And his care for the welfare of humanity was very strong, as also demonstrated by his willingness to commit his time, his ability and his prestige to Pugwash. A good example, to be followed.

---

Yuri Alekseevich Ryzhov (1930-2017) 
Academician Rizhov was a very sensible and warm personality. He has been for long time the Chair of the Russian Pugwash Committee. He represented the original spirit of Pugwash, focused on avoiding nuclear risks and promoting reciprocal understanding between Russia and the West. He was very much supporting what we can call democratic values across the boundaries. His departure saddens us, but his memory is a powerful reminder of what Pugwash was meant to be and still is meant  to be. I wish to express to his entire family and all his friends the deep condolences of the Pugwash community.

---

Miguel Marin Bosch (1942-2017)
Pugwash President Jayantha Dhanapala reflects on the life of Pugwash council member Miguel Marin Bosch. I am personally grieved to learn of the death of Ambassador Miguel Marin Bosch, a redoubtable champion of disarmament throughout his distinguished career as Mexico’s Disarmament Ambassador in Geneva and other multilateral fora.   Miguel Marin Bosch was closely associated with me in several Review Conferences of the Treaty for the Nonproliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) where he stood steadfast against any compromise on fundamental principles. With his prodigious expertise and mordant wit, he was the bane of some of the nuclear weapon states who shamelessly lobbied to silence him, especially at the NPT Review and Extension Conference of 1995. We were closely associated in the Conference on Disarmament, in the First Committee of the General Assembly, and other disarmament fora. Our comradeship in Pugwash was all too brief but Miguel was one of our stalwarts.   On my assumption of duties as Under-Secretary-General for Disarmament heading a re-established Department for Disarmament Affairs in the UN in New York, I was happy Miguel accepted my invitation to join the Secretary-General’s Advisory Board on Disarmament Matters where he made an enormous contribution with several initiatives such as on Disarmament Education on which he chaired the Group of Governmental Experts.   Mexico and Latin America, the first continent to have a nuclear weapon free zone fifty years ago, have produced many outstanding diplomats dedicated to disarmament. Among them Alfonso Garcia Robles and Miguel Marin Bosch’s names will shine as a models for future generations of diplomats and others working on multilateral disarmament.   I send my condolences to the family, to the Government and to the people of Mexico. Pugwash has suffered a grievous and irreparable loss.