We were deeply saddened to learn that Heiner Becker, one of the world’s foremost experts in the history of anarchism, died from the consequences of a cerebral haemorrhage on April 4, 2017, at the age of 65. He was a thoroughly dedicated collector, researcher, editor and publisher in the field, whose deep knowledge was only matched by his uncompromising quality standards.
Heiner worked with IISH in various capacities from 1987 through 2012. He was for some time part of its Archives Bakounine project and indexed several archival collections. Yet above all, for many years he acted throughout Europe as a représentant en mission, who made important contributions to the expansion of the Institute’s holdings – from the records of the anarchist newspaper Freedom to the papers of Dora Russell, and many more besides. At the same time, he promoted the works of Max Nettlau, Petr Kropotkin, Rudolf Rocker, Johann Most and others, often through his own Münster-based publishing house, Bibliothek Thélème. The German anarchist website DadAWeb published his bibliography .