Obituaries

Ekaterina Anastasova (19 April 1962 – 15 June 2025)

The news of the sudden passing of our dear Bulgarian friend and colleague, Ekaterina Anastasova (19 April 1962 – 15 June 2025), reached us early last summer. Katya was a long-standing and exceptionally active member of The Ritual Year Working Group. An accomplished ethnologist and specialist in Slavic studies, she was known for her outgoing and sociable nature. With friends and colleagues spanning the globe, she was a true "diplomat of science" and a vital mediator between cultures.

Ekaterina Anastasova completed her doctoral studies in Moscow, earning a PhD in ethnolinguistics in 1996 under the supervision of N.I. Tolstoy. Her dissertation focused on the Old Believers in Bulgaria—a subject that became a lifelong pursuit as she expanded her research to include Popovtsy and Bespopovtsy communities across Moldova, Ukraine, Russia, the Baltics, Romania, and the USA. Katya possessed a remarkably broad scientific curiosity; she was a pioneer who embraced bold new directions in the humanities, often anticipating or setting modern trends. Beyond her foundational work with the Old Believers, she was a key figure in the study of Balkan national minorities (Vlachs, Turks, Roma), ethnic identity, migration, and intangible cultural heritage.

Starting in 1989, Ekaterina worked at the Institute of Thracology of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences. In 1996, she joined the Institute of Folklore in Sofia—later reorganized as the Institute of Ethnology and Folklore Studies with Ethnographic Museum (IEFEM)—where she remained for the rest of her career. During her tenure, she headed the Departments of Balkan Ethnology and Comparative Folkloristics and spearheaded numerous international research projects. Notable among these was her extensive study on the veneration of Saints Cyril and Methodius (2008–2013), which produced significant fieldwork, conferences, and publications. A dedicated educator, she also taught at various universities and mentored many doctoral students.

Katya was full of initiatives and ideas, which she generously shared with her colleagues. One of her latest enterprises was to bring together scholars from Balkan and Baltic countries, many members of The Ritual Year working group. She became the editor-in-chief of The Yearbook of Balkan and Baltic Studies (9 volumes have already been published, see https://www.folklore.ee/balkan_baltic_yearbook/YBBS).

We will miss her cheerful and lively presence, her lively spirit and her restless mind. May she rest in peace!

Irina Sedakova

Ueli Gyr (1 June 1945 – 10 January 2026)

Prof. Dr. Ueli Gyr on an excursion together with his students in Eisenerz, Styria in 2007. ©Annina Wettstein

Ueli Gyr felt a close connection to SIEF from early on and throughout his entire active career. As a senior assistant at the University of Zurich at the time, he played a key role in preparing the content for the 3rd SIEF Congress in 1987, entitled ‘The Life Cycle’, and bore the main organisational burden for what was by far the largest congress of our scholarly association to date. These memories were important to him, and he enjoyed sharing them until the very end.