My world is crumbling. Friends and close colleagues are dying at an alarming rate. Pieter Hofstra (May 2022), Phil Scott (October 2023), Marek Zawadowski (March 2024), Thomas Streicher (Janary 2025). And now Harold Schellinx. Harold and I were co-PhD-students under Troelstra. We were both a little older than the average PhD student; having pursued other interests before doing math (for me it was language and literature, for Harold it was music). We shared an office,and had weekjy joint meetings with Troelstra. I graduated in 1991 and Harold organized a present for me from the Logic Group: the complete works of Wittgenstein. Harold got his doctorate three years after me, in 1994. Then he had several post-docs, but we were to meet again in 1996 when we were both hired by Moerdijk on his PIONIER grant, for four years. Harold had a PhD student, Quintijn Puite who wrote a thesis on Proof Nets (2001, if I remember well). We organized a lot of activities together, for example a seminar on the topology of rewrite systems, we had a Logic Year in which a number of guests gave minicourses (Benabou, Joyal, Girard,...), we organized a PSSL. A cruel moment arrived towards the end of 1999: one lectureship in logic became available. Of course, we both applied; I won the position. Harold took it very sportsman-like, although for him it meant goodbye to mathematics. I think that initially he tried to make a living teaching internet techniques in France; but we lost sight of each other. Harold leaves us quite a lot of papers. But I am also very happy to have in my bookcase a copy of his most abstruse publication: Das Fegefeuer-Theorem (together with Heesterbeek and Van Neerven), a quasi-scholastic text on the purgatory and the concept of sin (this last part with a very Wittgenstein-like numbering of statements). From some web sites I gather that Harold remained active in the world of music. I have to rely on more expert opinions than mine, but it appears he was as taented there as in math. Harold was a very remarkable man and for the family and friends he leaves behind, I wish that they can live in the conviction that he had a full life, in which he exploited his talents to the full. Jaap van Oosten ________________________________ Van: Alexander Kurz <axhkrz@gmail.com> Verzonden: zondag 29 juni 2025 13:33 Aan: Valeria de Paiva <valeria.depaiva@gmail.com> CC: Categories List <categories@mq.edu.au> Onderwerp: Re: Harold Schellinx 1956-2025 U ontvangt niet vaak e-mail van axhkrz@gmail.com. Ontdek waarom dit belangrijk is CAUTION: This email originated from outside of Utrecht University. Do not click links or open attachments unless you recognize the sender and know the content is safe. I am very sad to hear this. I took a course with him, I think it was ESSLLI 98 in Saarbruecken. I didn't know that he was a musician and found the Wikipedia article https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harold_Schellinx very much worth reading ... there is also a video at https://theyounglions.nl/ ...
On Jun 29, 2025, at 6:06 AM, Valeria de Paiva <valeria.depaiva@gmail.com> wrote:
Dear colleagues, Sadly, I write to tell you that Harold Schellinx passed away on 9th June 2025. Harold was a brilliant linear logician and musician, as well as a good friend, https://worm.org/2025/06/11/harold-schellinx-rip/. My sentiments to family and friends. Rest in power, Harold!
-- Valeria
-- Valeria de Paiva http://vcvpaiva.github.io/ https://topos.institute/
You're receiving this message because you're a member of the Categories mailing list group from Macquarie University. To take part in this conversation, reply all to this message. View group files | Leave group | Learn more about Microsoft 365 Groups
You're receiving this message because you're a member of the Categories mailing list group from Macquarie University. To take part in this conversation, reply all to this message. View group files<https://outlook.office365.com/owa/categories@mq.edu.au/groupsubscription.ashx?source=EscalatedMessage&action=files&GuestId=6bf90c14-94d1-45b7-a0b5-9dd447734d27> | Leave group<https://outlook.office365.com/owa/categories@mq.edu.au/groupsubscription.ashx?source=EscalatedMessage&action=leave&GuestId=6bf90c14-94d1-45b7-a0b5-9dd447734d27> | Learn more about Microsoft 365 Groups<https://aka.ms/o365g>