Professor Bogdan Balcer (1936-2019)

Abstract

The first days of January 2019 brought the sad news of the death of Professor Bogdan Balcer -archaeologist, researcher of the Neolithic, specialist in prehistoric flint industries, mountaineering enthusiast (Fig. 1), and passionate cyclist… The best cyclist among archaeologists and the best archaeologist among cyclists (Fig. 2). A man of many passions, among which archaeology and sport always featured prominently.We bade him farewell this year on 17 January, a sad and grey winter day. We did so first at a funeral Mass in St. Augustine's church in the Muranów district of Warsaw, when we were all deeply impressed by Professor Machnik with his loud cry of "Bodziu!", and later on at the cemetery in Ursus near Warsaw, where Bogdan Balcer was laid to rest alongside his parents. Those joining his wife Róża, his son Maciej, and his closest family in bidding him farewell included a large number of colleagues, friends, collaborators, and followers.