In memoriam Igor de Rachewiltz (1929–2016)
In memoriam Igor de Rachewiltz (1929–2016)

Summary/Abstract: In the post-postmodern world it is a commonplace that the broadening academic horizon and mass production, along with the digitised publication of scholarly works, force researchers to engage in ever more focused and specialised topics and by this the classical type of scholar, the universal philologist is slowly becoming extinct. Yet those of us who have been lucky enough may still know some of the representatives of this sort of professors, and knowing their rareness makes it even harder to learn that someone of the already few ones passed away. Igor de Rachewiltz was undoubtedly a perfect archetype of the open-minded academician driven by a strong desire to make people – scholars and the wider public alike – understand his chosen field better. His letters written with his elegant handwriting, dated already in the digital age, take us back to a time when not only the information itself, but the style of communication was also a form of art per se, and thus they are now meaningful relics to those who were fortunate enough to receive some of them.

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