It is with deep sorrow that we let you know that our friend and colleague Willfried Spohn was killed on Monday 16 January in a car accident while driving from Berlin to Wrocław. His funeral will take place on Thursday, 26 January, at 12 noon at the Friedhof Lichterfelde, Moltke Strasse 41a, 12203 Berlin.
Willfried was Professor of Economic and Social Sciences at the Willy Brandt Centre for German and European Studies, University of Wrocław. He was a co-founder of the International Sociological Association’s Thematic Group 02 Historical and Comparative Sociology, and its President from 2007 until 2010. Since the upgrade to Working Group status in 2010, which involved the incorporation of members of the Figurational Sociology Ad Hoc Group – a merger to which his contribution was central, Willfried Spohn had been WG02 Vice-President and an active and enthusiastic member, organiser, and dedicated participant in WG02 activities.
We were looking forward to several sessions Willfried had organised at the IIS congress in Delhi in February and at the ISA Forum in Buenos Aires in August. For those of you participating in those sessions, we will let you know in due time about the new arrangements.
We mourn the loss of a dear friend and a most accomplished and admirable scholar and colleague. Our thoughts are with his wife Ewa and his sons Max and Philipp.
Stephen Mennell
President
Manuela Boatca
Secretary/Treasurer
ISA WG02 Historical and Comparative Sociology