Professor Peter Valentin Tomazic, Graz, Austria
Authors: Ludger Klimek, Adam Chaker, Valérie Hox, Stefano Del Giacco, Philippe Gevaert, Mohamed Shamji, Sanna Toppila Salmi, Patrizia Bonadonna, Jolanta Walusiak‐Skorupa, André Morreira, Oscar Palomares, Oliver Pfaar, Ibon Eguíluz Gracia, Stefania Arasi, Juan Maza Solano, Sietze Reitsma, Ralph Mösges, Simon Gane, Jan Hagemann, Laura van Gerven, Michele Schiappoli, Marie Lundberg, Serge Doan, Aspasia Karavelia, Rubén Fernández Santamaria, Leticia de las Vecillas, Mattia Giovannini, Carmen Riggioni, Pasquale Combierati, Magna Correia, Farah Hannachi, Daniela Carvalho, Thulja Trikamjee, Alberto Alvarez Perea, Riccardo Castagnoli, Ekaterina Khaleva, Simona Barni, Olympia Tsilochristou, Cristina Quecchia, Susanne Vijverberg, Pavel Kolkhir, Claudia Bussolino, Alessandra Arcolaci, Florentina Sava, Cristina Boccabela, Beatriz Moya, Deniz Eyice Karabacak, Burcin Beken, Anke Graessel, Cezmi A. Akdis, Maria Jose Torres
Journal: Allergy (2024)

On the last day of this year's Congress of the European Academy of Allergy and Clinical Immunology (EAACI) in Valencia, the EAACI family unfortunately received the unspeakably sad news that our dear colleague, long-time companion, and loyal friend Peter Valentin Tomazic from Graz passed away on Monday, June 3, 2024 (Figure 1). We are deeply saddened by the loss of a brilliant allergist and outstanding rhinosurgeon. Much more than his professional qualities, however, Peter Valentin was characterized by his human and character strengths. It was always a benefit to exchange ideas with him, to have in-depth conversations or simply to share joy. Valentin has always had a nice word to anybody and was constantly and enthusiastically supporting especially the Junior Members. He was hard working and full of action. Valentin was an outstanding scholar, academic teacher, and a great personality. He passed all his University exams with distinction, was a Board-certified Allergist and ENT specialist, M.D. and PhD, and associate Professor at the University of Graz, Austria, where he also was awarded as Scientist of the Year in 2017. Initially trained at HNO Universitätsklinik Graz with Univ. Prof. Dr. H. Stammberger, he aimed to get the best education everywhere in the world, for example, he joined a Fellowship at the University of Toronto and visited AMC Amsterdam for research. He was awarded with the Scientific Award of the Austrian Society of Otorhinolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery and received several prestigious grants from EAACI. Besides being a member of EAACI since 2010, he served from 2015 till 2019 as ENT section representative of the EAACI JMA member of the ENT Section Board and from 2019 till 2022 as Board member at the ENT section Board of EAACI. In addition, Valentin was a highly valued member of the editorial board of our journal Allergy, one of the achievements that made him proud during his professional development. He was member of the Austrian Society of Allergy and Immunology (ÖGAI), German Societies of Allergology (AeDA) and Oto-Rhino-Laryngology, Head and Neck Surgery (DGHNO-HNS), European Rhinologic Society (ERS) as well as of the Austrian Society of Otorhinolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery—all demonstrating his broad clinical and scientific interests. In Valentin, we have lost a great representative of our profession far too early and will always remember him fondly as an outstanding colleague and loyal friend. European and global allergology has lost a friend and highly respected scientist and empathetic doctor in him. The loss to his family and closest friends is immeasurable—our thoughts are with them in these difficult hours. We are infinitely saddened and will remember him forever.