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Prof. Dr. rer. nat. Dr. med. h.c. Hubert Walter, 14.4.1930 – 6.12.2008
The anthropological scientific community mourns the passing of Hubert Walter, our dear and cherished friend and veritable colleague.
He held the chair of Human Biology at the University of Bremen from 1974 until he retired in 1995. His record of scientific contributions and interests was clearly dominated by the subject of population genetics, especially with regard to blood group systems, and he will be remembered as one of the important pioneers of this field of research. He conducted extensive fieldwork in India and established several lasting and scientifically valuable cooperative partnerships with colleagues there. Hubert Walter’s reconstruction of Homo sapiens’ population development by utilizing the global distribution of blood group systems was no doubt groundbreaking, and the implications for the evolution of man resonate to this day.
He published more than 350 scientific articles, made numerous contributions to the Handbook of Human Genetics and authored 6 monographs, including, among others, the seminal works ‛Anthropology of India’ (Anthropologie Indiens, 1991) and ‛Population Genetics of Human Blood Group Systems’ (Populationsgenetik der Blutgruppensysteme des Menschen, 1998). He was chief editor of the journal “Anthropologischer Anzeiger” from 1977 until he fell ill in January 2008. Primarily due to his ardent commitment towards physical anthropology, the periodical remains the most important German journal devoted to this subject and is renowned for its high scientific quality. He belonged to the small circle of colleagues who never lost track of the two academic subjects anthropology and human genetics, even after the former, a concerted German scientific association, split into two separate societies.
His scientific merit and extensive international connections are reflected in the numerous awards bestowed upon him: the Lajos Bartucz insignia of the University of Szeged, Hungary (1990), the Thomas Nelson Annandale medal of the Asiatic Society of Calcutta, India (1993), the gold medal of the Comenius University of Bratislava, Slovakia (1994), and the honorary doctorate of the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Athens, Greece (1998). In 2005, he was inducted as a honorary member to the German Gesellschaft für Anthropologie e.V. at the annual meeting in Munich and also to the European Anthropological Association at its meeting in Odense in 2008.
Hubert Walter was highly regarded amongst his students and colleagues, not only due to his scientific excellence, but also because of his affable and likable personality. Former students still reminisce about the friendly atmosphere of his research group and about the various occasions where he invited them to a get together with his family at home. For many young scientists including myself, especially when I started my scientific career, he assumed the role of a fatherly mentor. In addition, I do not know of many other colleagues who donated their own money in order to sponsor those who could barely afford travel and accommodation expenses so as to enable them to participate at scientific meetings. He was never the type of person to polarize a situation, and it was very unfortunate that in the year 1989 when Hubert Walter was president of the German Society for Anthropology and Human Genetics and in charge of organizing the biennial international congress, that he was forced to finally cancel this congress because of the menacing circumstances originating from radical political factions. This event probably represents one of the most difficult professional decisions he ever had to make, which in retrospect, however, was for the benefit of our discipline. Hubert did not succumb to intimidation where others may have swayed, instead, actively seeking open discussion with these groups. Honest and resolute, he defended the topics of modern physical anthropology with conviction and consideration. This personal show of integrity and courage, by no means a singular occurrence, will not be forgotten and serves as a role model for future generations to emulate.
Regrettably, Hubert Walter suffered a stroke in January 2008 and never fully recovered. His passing is a great loss and his presence will be missed by us all. We express our sincerest condolences to his family.
Gisela Grupe, München
