With great sadness, we received the news that Prof. em. Eric Dirix after an illness passed away last week. Amongst many professional positions, first and foremost professor of law at KU Leuven and later the chair of the civil chamber of the Belgium Supreme Court, Eric Dirix was one of the founding board members of the Foundation Bob Wessels Insolvency Law Collection, together with the late Ian Fletcher, Stephan Madaus, Matthias Haentjens and me.
He wholeheartedly supported the idea of the foundation’s incorporator and patron, Bob Wessels, to create a forum for a unique collection in the field of international and cross-border restructuring and insolvency law.
Since its inception, the foundation organized an annual PhD workshop for younger academics from across Europe and beyond, who present their (preliminary) findings to their peers, the board, and our patron. His demanding responsibilities as professor and justice notwithstanding, Eric Dirix always found a way to travel to Leiden to participate in these workshops. Moreover, his contributions to the foundation and his interventions during the PhD workshops were not limited to (Belgian) law but covered the full breadth of his wide eminence in a variety of topics.
Above all, Eric Dirix, who served our board until 2021 and was succeeded by professor Joeri Vananroye, was a warm and amicable person who will be dearly missed.
We extend our condolences to his family and relatives.
On behalf of the foundation,
Reinout Vriesendorp, chair