In remembrance of professor Pavel Blažka

On Friday, May 6, 2016 a distinguished Czech hydrobiologist, prof. RNDr. Pavel Blažka, DrSc passed away. He was born in 1928. Since 1960 he was employed at the Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences and in 1981 he moved to České Budějovice. Until 2001 he was employed as a research associate at the Institute of Hydrobiology.

On Friday, May 6, 2016, our former chief,  colleague and friend Pavel Blažka passed away. For many years, he was one of the pillars of the Czech Hydrobiology. He, together with other outstanding colleagues of his generation managed to successfully maintain the hydrobiolgical laboratory all the way to creation an indipendent institute in 1990.He provided valuable support to the research field of hydrobiology and helped it to flourish even at a time when elsewhere in Europe traditional hydrobiology was losing its former glamour.
We remember Pavel not only as a brilliant hydrobiologist, but above all as a great man. His enthusiasm, spontaneity and bright new ideas were inspiration for all of us who had an opportunity to work with. Personally, I will remember most his human approach, common sense and insight with which he approached the members of the team. These qualities helped to overcome various problems of everyday minor repairs, rolling over administrative boulders to scientific questions. The enthusiasm with which he plunged into laboratory work, data interpretation, but also the incredible dedication to field sampling. We visited  together a number of lakes. On their shores, for me, Pavel, still stands.

You will be forever missed and never forgotten.

On behalf of other hydrobiologists,

Jiří Kopáček