All of us close to UNESCO and CONFINTEA will have met or known Prof. Knoll in person, or at least through his writings. In preparation for CONFINTEA VI in Bélem, Brasil he wrote a review on the history of the first five CONFINTEAs, on the political contexts, and the personalities involved. When CONFINTEA V was in Hamburg in 1997 he invited colleagues to his roof top on a higher building overseeing the harbour - and I will never forget the wonderful evening amidst Lalage Bown, Alex Charters or Paul Belanger, and many others.

I was lucky to be in contact with him ever since he invited me to contribute to his flagship publication - the International Yearbook of Adult Education with an article on the development of adult education in Tanzania already in 1981. He served the editorial board of the journal Bildung und Erziehung / Formation and Education for more than three decades, and paved the way that I could join there later also. International and comparative issues in adult education and lifelong learning were amongst his many interests.

Prof. Knoll supported DVV International and its partners as a member of the Board of Trustees while I was serving on the leadership of the Institute. His specific knowledge on policy, legislation and financing made him a highly respected but also often requested consulting traveler, including Bosnia, Hungary, Poland or Vietnam. The adult education world has lost one more of its champions within too short a time - Lalage Bown, Alan Rogers, Denes Koltai, Chris Duke, Joachim Knoll and John Field to name just a few.

You may want to access the commemorative note for Prof. Knoll put on the website of DVV International.

Heribert Hinzen