51 news
Tuesday, 7 May 2024
It is with deep sadness that UNESCO has learned of Professor Dawson Munjeri's death. He passed away at his home in Helensvale, Harare, on 29 April 2024. Professor Munjeri was an eminent scholar and ardent defender of the World Heritage of Africa and beyond.
Professor Dawson Munjeri was a towering figure in the realm of heritage preservation, a guiding light of cultural stewardship in ...
3 min read
Monday, 4 December 2023
The World Heritage community deeply mourns the death of Jukka Jokilehto who passed away on 23 November 2023.
Jukka Jokilehto was a Finnish architect and urban planner and his involvement in World Heritage dates back to 1972 when he joined the International Centre for the Study of the Preservation and Restoration of Cultural Property (ICCROM) as coordinator of the programme in architectural ...
2 min read
Wednesday, 18 January 2023
The UNESCO World Heritage Centre has learned with great sadness of the passing of Vivian Ramnarace, the National Focal Point for the Belize Barrier Reef Reserve System World Heritage site (Belize). A marine scientist, Ms Ramnarace was the Fisheries Officer at the Belize Fisheries Department for the last 15 years.
The passing of Vivian Ramnarace is a significant loss for the conservation ...
1 min read
Thursday, 1 September 2022
UNESCO expresses its deep regret at the passing of Ms. Corinne Forest, who passed away in France on Wednesday, August 24, 2022. Ms. Forest was the Head of the Technical Unit at the Aapravasi Ghat, Mauritius (World Heritage property, inscribed in 2006), a museologist by training and an ardent defender of World Heritage.
"Corinne Forest was a remarkable professional, with a sharp mind and ...
1 min read
Monday, 18 July 2022
Dr Michael Jansen was a scholar and professor in conservation engineering, and the Managing Director of the German University of Technology | GUtech · Urban Planning and Architectural Design in Oman.
"We pay tribute to the memory of Michael Jansen and for the immense contribution he made to safeguarding heritage of many countries. He has been involved for decades as expert in heritage ...
1 min read
Monday, 9 May 2022
UNESCO expresses its deep regret at the passing of Amir Pašić.
Amir Pašić was an international scholar and professor of architecture, and the former Head of the Architectural Department of the Research Centre for Islamic History, Art and Culture (IRCICA) in Istanbul, Turkey.
"I would like to pay tribute to the memory of Amir Pašić and the incredible contribution he made to restoration and ...
1 min read
Monday, 21 February 2022
UNESCO expresses its deep regret at the passing of Abdoul Aziz Guissé, Director of Cultural Heritage of Senegal, in Dakar on 3 February 2022.
"I would like to pay tribute to the memory of Abdoul Aziz Guissé and to the immense contribution he made to the safeguarding of african heritage," said Ernesto Ottone R., UNESCO's Assistant Director-General for Culture. "His unwavering dedication ...
1 min read
Wednesday, 5 January 2022
The UNESCO World Heritage Centre would like to express its grief at the loss of Richard Leakey, the renowned paleoanthropologist and conservationist whose contributions helped protect Kenyan heritage and furthered the study of human evolution.
Richard spent part of his childhood in Olduvai, in Ngorongoro Tanzania, and his parents Louis and Mary Leakey made important discoveries in fossils of ...
2 min read
Tuesday, 2 November 2021
The World Heritage Centre wishes to pay tribute to Dr. Joseph Eboreime, a leading personality of world cultural heritage in Africa who passed away on Wednesday 27 October.
Dr. Joseph Eboreime was the pioneer Director of Monuments, Heritage and Sites of the National Commission for Museums and Monuments (NCMM) of Nigeria.
He was a respected heritage professional who garnered recognition both ...
1 min read
Thursday, 9 September 2021
Ms Darwina L Neal, left, with Dr Mechtild Rössler and others at Oakland Plantation during a US/ICOMOS symposium on landscapes held in Natchitoches, Louisiana, USA in March 2004 .© ICOMOS/IFLA Cultural Landscape Scientific Commiittee
Landscape architect and conservationist Ms Darwina L. Neal, one of North America’s most renowned experts in cultural landscape conservation, passed away on 4 ...
1 min read
Monday, 19 April 2021
The UNESCO World Heritage Centre would like to express its sadness at the death of Prof Giorgio Croci, a structural engineer who made an indelible contribution to the support of several iconic World Heritage sites, including Angkor in Cambodia, the Colosseum in Rome and Ethiopia’s Axum Obelisk.
Dr Croci studied civil engineering at “La Sapienza” University of Rome, and became a full ...
2 min read
Thursday, 25 February 2021
UNESCO expresses its sorrow and condolences at the death of Hugo Houben.
As an engineer of electronics and nuclear physics, Hugo Houben embarked on another path, more in line with his ethical commitments. At the age of 28, he responded to a request to participate in the construction of a popular village in Algeria. It was then that he discovered that earth can be a good construction material ...
2 min read
Friday, 7 August 2020
UNESCO expresses its condolences for the death of José de los Santos Sauna, Governor of the indigenous community of the Kogui people, on 6 August 2020 in the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta (Colombia), caused by coronavirus Covid-19.
The cabildo governor will be remembered as one of the most representative leaders of the indigenous peoples of Colombia, who stood out for his work in defending ...
1 min read
Saturday, 1 August 2020
UNESCO expresses its sorrow at the death of Mr Eusebio Leal on 31 July 2020. Historian of the city of Havana, Cuba and Director of the conservation programme for the historic centre of Havana, Eusebio Leal was an exceptional witness to and actor for cultural heritage worldwide.
The passing of Mr. Leal is a great loss for the city of Havana and for Cuba. UNESCO offers its condolences to the ...
1 min read
Thursday, 7 May 2020
The World Heritage Centre would like to express its sadness at the death of Dr. Guy Suzon Ramangason, former Director General of Madagascar National Parks, who passed away on 30th April 2020. Guy Suzon made an important contribution to biodiversity conservation in Madagascar and beyond.
After an international career at IUCN and WWF, Guy Suzon took the reins of Madagascar National Parks, ...
1 min read
Tuesday, 7 January 2020
It is with the deepest sorrow that we learned of the passing of Dr Roland Silva, former President of ICOMOS International (1990-1999) and its Emiritus President thereafter.
He died in Colombo, Sri Lanka, on 1 January 2020 at the age of 86 after a brief illness. On this very sad occasion, the UNESCO World Heritage Centre would like to join Dr Silva’s friends from all corners of the world in ...
2 min read
Friday, 31 May 2019
The team of the UNESCO World Heritage Centre would like to express its sadness after learning that former President of ICOMOS International, Prof Michael Petzet passed away on 30 May 2019.
The passing away of Michael Petzet represents an important loss for the conservation community. His strong opinions were always a reflection of his unerring commitment to excellence in the conservation of ...
1 min read
Monday, 28 January 2019
The staff of the World Heritage Centre would like to express its sadness after learning that Dr. Bradnee Chambers, Executive Secretary of the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS), passed away on 23 January 2019 after a short illness.
This is a tragic loss for CMS, all biodiversity related Conventions and the United Nations. Bradnee became Executive ...
1 min read
Tuesday, 23 October 2018
The UNESCO World Heritage Centre was saddened to learn of the passing of David Lowenthal, the American historian and geographer whose revolutionary work contributed to heritage study being recognized as an academic discipline. He argued that heritage was not history, but rather what people choose from history to define themselves.
Born in the United States, he lived most of his life in ...
1 min read
Thursday, 6 September 2018
It is with deep sorrow that we learned of the passing of Dr Henry Forrester Cleere, in London on 23 August 2018. The UNESCO World Heritage Centre staff would like to express our heartfelt condolences to Henry’s family.
Dr Henry Cleere was born in London on 2 August 1926. After completing a Masters degree in English, Henry Cleere worked for over 20 years in the iron and steel industry before ...
2 min read
Tuesday, 31 July 2018
UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay has issued the statement below following news of the death of French architect and heritage conservation expert Pierre-André Lablaude:
“Pierre-André Lablaude leaves behind him an immense body of work, including a remarkable contribution to the safeguarding and restoration of UNESCO's World Heritage, for which I wish to express our Organization’s ...
1 min read
Monday, 9 July 2018
The UNESCO World Heritage Centre was saddened to learn of the death of Dr Janice Lindsay, Principal Director, Culture and Creative Industries Policy Division in the Ministry of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport (MCGES) in Jamaica.
Dr Lindsay was a Cultural Heritage Development Specialist focusing on the economic development of tangible and intangible heritage assets. She was also ...
1 min read
Tuesday, 15 May 2018
May 31, 1945 - May 5, 2018. Architect Augusto F. Villalon, one of Asia’s most renowned experts in heritage conservation, recently passed away in Manila, Philippines.
During his long career, Arch. Augusto F. Villalon made an outstanding contribution to heritage conservation and to the World Heritage Convention in particular. A former President of ICOMOS Philippines, he was practically a lone ...
2 min read
Tuesday, 22 August 2017
The World Heritage Centre has learned with great sadness of the recent passing of Wayne Lotter, courageous defender of natural heritage and wildlife, who was attacked by a gunman in Dar-es-Salaam (Tanzania) on 16 August 2017. The Director of UNESCO World Heritage Centre, Dr. Mechtild Rössler, presents her sincere condolences to the family, friends and colleagues of the renowned elephant ...
2 min read
Thursday, 16 March 2017
The World Heritage Centre expresses its condolences to the family, friends and colleagues of Sylvio Mutal, who passed away on 18 February 2017.
Mr Mutal had a full and rich career spanning more than 40 years as a Practitioner and Executive Manager of the International Development Cooperation. After an education in Istanbul (Turkey), London (UK), Leiden (Holland) and Santiago de Chile ...
2 min read
Friday, 16 December 2016
The Director of the World Heritage Center deplores the attacks on conservation guards and conservation staff working in World Heritage sites.
This week was marked by the deaths of two guards, Bruce Danny Ngongo, in Lobéké National Park (Cameroon), and Patrick Prince Muhayirwa, in the Virunga National Park (Democratic Republic of the Congo). These two rangers were killed in the course of ...
1 min read
Monday, 17 October 2016
The World Heritage Centre has learned with great sadness of the recent passing of Larry Hamilton, a pioneer in nature conservation whose impact touched all the corners of the globe.
Larry was an exceptional educator, advisor, and pioneer of courses in forest ecology, watershed studies, interdisciplinary collaboration, and international resource issues at Cornell University’s Department of ...
1 min read
Tuesday, 26 July 2016
The World Heritage Centre has learned with great sadness of the recent passing of Luc Hoffmann, a pioneer in nature conservation whose impact touched all the corners of the globe.
An ornithologist, conservationist and philanthropist, Mr Hoffmann co-founded the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and helped establish the Ramsar Convention for the protection of Wetlands. He set up the Tour du Valat ...
1 min read
Friday, 29 April 2016
The Director-General of UNESCO, Irina Bokova, expressed sadness and anger after the latest violent attack of 23rd April at Garamba National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage site. The attack left three dead and two wounded among the guards of the Park.
"I condemn this attack and killing of the guards at Garamba National Park. Once again I commend the courage of the guards who risk their lives to ...
1 min read
Tuesday, 15 March 2016
On 12 and 13 March, four checkpoints in the central sector of the Virunga National Park World Heritage site located in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (RDC), were attacked by rebel groups during a series of violent clashes. The RDC Armed Forces came to the rescue of the guards of the Congolese Institute for Nature Conservation (ICCN) to restore security to the area. Two ICCN guards were ...
1 min read
Wednesday, 17 February 2016
Paris, 16 February, 2016 - UNESCO Director-General, Ms Irina Bokova, expressed her deep sadness at the passing today of Mr Boutros Boutros-Ghali, former Secretary-General of the United Nations, the first Secretary-General of La Francophonie.
“Boutros Boutros-Ghali devoted his life to promoting the ideals of a more just, peaceful and equitable world, the importance of democratizing ...
1 min read
Tuesday, 12 January 2016
The UNESCO World Heritage Centre has learnt with deep sadness of the recent passing of Mayor Jean-Paul L’Allier, founder and dedicated supporter of the Organization of World Heritage Cities. In 1991, as Mayor of Quebec City, Mr L’Allier brought together the Mayors of 41 World Heritage Cities from around the globe to lay the foundations for the creation of the Organization of World Heritage ...
1 min read
Friday, 21 August 2015
The Syrian cultural heritage community suffered two immense blows within one week with the murder of archaeologist Khaled Assad in Palmyra and the killing of the Assistant Director of laboratories at the Directorate General of Antiquities and Museums Qasem Abdullah Yehiya.
“I am both saddened and outraged to learn of the brutal murder of Khaled Asaad, who oversaw antiquities at the UNESCO ...
2 min read
Wednesday, 24 June 2015
The World Heritage Centre and the History and Memory for Dialogue Section of UNESCO have learned with deep sadness of the recent passing of Professor Chahryar Adle, a long-time collaborator of UNESCO. Chahryar Adle (1943-2015) was an archaeologist and Iranologist, and a member of the French National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS). He was also President of the International Scientific ...
2 min read
Tuesday, 28 April 2015
The World Heritage Centre announces with profound sadness the passing on 28 April 2015 of Dr Ronald Van Oers, Vice Director of the World Heritage Institute of Training and Research for Asia and the Pacific Region, a UNESCO Category 2 Centre based in Shanghai, and a colleague of the World Heritage Centre since 2000.
Ron was a brilliant professional in the field of heritage. He had a wealth of ...
1 min read
Thursday, 20 November 2014
The World Heritage Centre expresses its condolences to the family, friends and colleagues of Professor Karel Bakker from the Department of Architecture, University of Pretoria (South Africa), and a long-time collaborator on World Heritage, who passed away on 19 November 2014.
Prof. Bakker contributed to numerous World Heritage missions, Heritage Impact Assessments, training workshops, ...
1 min read
Friday, 6 December 2013
UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova today paid tribute to former South African President Nelson Mandela, who died on Thursday night, 5 December.
“Nelson Mandela was truly a giant among men,” Irina Bokova said. “He not only changed South Africa’s history, he changed the world and made it a better place. He taught us all a lesson on the power of peace and reconciliation; the importance of ...
1 min read
Monday, 19 August 2013
The World Heritage Centre has learnt with deep sadness of the recent passing away of Professor Walter Santagata, a long-time collaborator of UNESCO and the creator, among many other scientific programmes, of the Turin Category 2 centre for training and research on the economics of World Heritage (ITRECH, 2011).
The establishment of this institution, aimed at exploring the economic dimension ...
1 min read
Thursday, 6 December 2012
The Director-General of UNESCO, Irina Bokova, paid tribute to the great Brazilian architect, Oscar Niemeyer, who died on Wednesday, 5 December, at the age of 104.
"Oscar Niemeyer helped define the 20th century and lay the foundations for the 21st -- for all this, he deserves the title of universal artist. As a founder of modern architecture, he gave the cities he loved iconic buildings, ...
1 min read
Wednesday, 19 September 2012
It was with great sadness that the Director-General of UNESCO, Irina Bokova, learned of the passing of Russell E. Train, former President of the World Wildlife Fund, who died on 17 September at the age of 92.
Russell E. Train was a renowned US conservationist who played a central role in creating groundbreaking laws in response to rising concerns about environmental protection in America and ...
1 min read
Friday, 8 June 2012
The UNESCO World Heritage Centre would like to express its sincere condolences to the friends and family of Professor Philip Vallentine Tobias, who passed away on Thursday, 7 June 2012 in Johannesburg, South Africa. Professor Tobias, born on 14 October 1925, was an exceptional paleoanthropologist and an inspiration to generations of students. He was internationally renowned for his commitment ...
1 min read
Thursday, 15 March 2012
Professor Herb Stovel, one of the world’s most renowned experts in heritage conservation, recently passed away in Ottawa, Canada.
During his long career, Professor Stovel made an outstanding contribution to heritage conservation and to the World Heritage Convention in particular. As a scholar and a teacher of exceptional intellectual curiosity and rigour, he has had a huge impact on the ...
1 min read
Wednesday, 11 May 2011
The UNESCO World Heritage Centre and IUCN are deeply saddened by the loss of one of nature conservation’s leading lights. Dr Kenton R. Miller, a former IUCN Director General and globally-recognized leader in protected area management, has passed away.
Kenton Miller served as IUCN Director General from 1983 to 1988 and recently finished a third term as Chair of IUCN’s World Commission on ...
2 min read
Tuesday, 9 November 2010
The UNESCO World Heritage Centre would like to express its sincere condolences on the death of Andrzej Tomaszewski, renowned professor of built heritage conservation and former Director of ICCROM. His passing comes as a great loss to the cultural heritage preservation field.
Born in Warsaw, Poland, Prof Tomaszewski graduated from the Warsaw University of Technology with degrees in Art ...
1 min read
Thursday, 28 January 2010
Torrential rains which have occurred in Peru over the last five days have caused the death of a tourist and a tour guide, and have impacted two World Heritage properties, City of Cuzco, and The Historic Sanctuary of Machu Picchu, both inscribed on the World Heritage List in 1983.
Peruvian regional and national authorities have declared a state of emergency following massive landslides and ...
2 min read
Tuesday, 8 December 2009
Irina Bokova, Director-General of UNESCO, expressed her deep sadness at the death of Professor Ikuo Hirayama, UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador, on 2 December at the age of 79.
"UNESCO has lost a friend," she said. "For more than 20 years, Professor Hirayama lent his tireless support to the Organization's projects, especially in the fields of education, emergency relief and reconstruction. He was ...
1 min read
Tuesday, 19 May 2009
The World Heritage Centre wishes to pay tribute to Michel Parent, a leading personality of world cultural heritage, who passed away last week at the age of ninety-three.
Born in 1916 in Neuilly sur Seine, France, Michel Parent was a highly active and creative man. During his impressive career, he successively became Inspector (1945) and Inspector General (1958) of Sites, Inspector General ...
1 min read
Friday, 6 June 2008
Officials continue to assess the damage following the devastating May 12 earthquake in China, where approximately 69,000 people were killed and 19,000 are still missing. The 8.0 magnitude quake affected Sichuan Province in southwest China. The worst affected areas were two counties where two World Heritage sites are located: The Sichuan Giant Panda Sanctuaries and the Mount Qingcheng and the ...
1 min read
Friday, 7 September 2007
The UNESCO World Heritage Centre sends its condolences to the family, friends and colleagues of Ruzna Amli, a young Tanzanian woman from Songo Mnara, who had worked with the UNESCO restoration project of the Kilwa Kisiwani and Songo Mnara Ruins, a World Heritage Site in Tanzania.
The young mother of three died of the consequences of a tragic accident during the restoration works. We deeply ...