Prof. Ilan Paperna, an eminent parasitologist, passed away on March 28, 2009. While we mourn his loss, we also celebrate his many accomplishments, and I would like to make known the sense of loss and the admiration that colleagues and collaborators feel for a great scholar and brilliant scientist who devoted his entire life to research work. Ilan received a PhD degree in Parasitology in 1964 from the Hadassah Medical School of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. In 1973 he was a Senior Lecturer and resident scientist at the Heinz Steinitz Marine Biology Laboratory in Eilat (today the InterUniversity Institute) which he directed in 1974-1977 and again in 1979-1980. In those years Ilan conducted pioneer studies on little known or yet undescribed fish diseases in marine aquaculture as well as on parasites from wild fish. In 1985, as an Associate Professor, he moved to the Department of Animal Sciences, Faculty of Agriculture, Food and Environmental Quality Sciences in Rehovot (Hebrew University of Jerusalem). He became a full Professor in 1990 and Professor Emeritus in 2006.

Of any biological challenge Ilan was able to scan first the comprehensive picture, then pinpoint the relevant details and focus on them without being distracted by "background noise". Ilan's sharp mind and unconventional way of looking at biological mechanisms allowed him to formulate hypotheses that among his colleagues every so often went through three stages: regarded as too farfetched, then proven correct, and finally accepted as most obvious. Ilan authored or co-authored over 300 papers, mostly in prestigious scientific journals, several chapters in books, monographic reviews, etc. He also left on his desk no less than a dozen of unfinished manuscripts.

Ilan was a person of many skills. His painting and drawing abilities were of an unquestionably professional level, a talent reflected in the absolute precision of detail in outlining the morphology and microanatomy of the parasites he studied. He was also an excellent cook, who liked to surprise his guests and friends with delicious exotic dishes, an offshoot of his many work trips around the world. He was fluent in several languages. In 1964-1968, in the service of the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Department for International Cooperation, he was a Senior Research Officer at the National Institute of Health and Medical Research in Accra (Ghana), and later a Senior Lecturer on zoology and parasitology at Makerere University (Uganda). Between these two African stints, in 1968-1970, he worked as a Senior Research Entomology Officer at the Kimron Veterinary Institute in Beit Dagan (Israel). In 1972-1973, as a Senior Scientist and Research Fellow, he conducted research at the College of William & Mary, Virginia Institute of Marine Sciences, in Williamsburg (USA). In 1978, Ilan was awarded the prestigious Elson Dew medal by the Parasitological Society of Southern Africa for his outstanding contributions to parasitology. He was active on a number of national boards and commissions and frequently went on short-term overseas assignments. He helped organize a fish disease laboratory and services in Portugal and was invited on various occasions as a consultant on diagnosis and study of diseases of aquatic organisms in Greece, Cyprus, Italy, France, South Africa, Botswna, Kenya and China. He took sabbatical leaves to study various tropical parasitology topics in the southern USA, Australia, Brazil, Thailand, Kenya, Solomon Islands and Singapore. Despite the fact that Ilan was very well-traveled, he remained a true "sabra" (literally "cactus pear", as Israeli natives are called, a metaphoric reference to their sometimes prickly exteriors enclosing a sweet, tender center). The complexity of Ilan's character could actually be simplified by describing it as a blend of charm and straightforwardness. Ilan's tendency to shorten times and distances and get down to business was often misinterpreted by his more formal European colleagues, but it never meant lack of deference, rather lack of pretension and snobbery. It was in fact his aversion to ceremony that made Ilan always easy to connect with, and that made personal relationships with him acquire an extraordinary immediacy and intensity. Ilan will be remembered not only for the vast body of original quality research and pioneer work he left behind in many fields, but also for his generosity, for having touched the lives of so many collaborators in the scientific community both in Israel and abroad, and for having made the products of his work accessible to all.

Dr. Angelo Colorni

EAFP Branch Officer in Israel