Hermann Bell (1933-2023)

We were enormously saddened by the death of the eminent scholar, Professor Hermann Bell, a few days ago in Oxford. This video [ Ссылка ] was recorded in my house in Oxford, in a spontaneous and unplanned way. Professor Herman was visiting us to console us and express his deep sorrow after hearing about the massacre on June 3rd 2019 in Khartoum. The shocking news that we were receiving from Khartoum, concerned the dispersal of the General Command sit-in, which had then been taking place for over two weeks. This act of evil was carried out by the armed forces affiliated to the Military Council, and backed by the Rapid Support Force of Janjaweed Militias.

That day, I suggested to Herman that his sympathies lay with all the Sudanese population, who were still living with the horror and shock of what that group had committed. This man and his family loved Sudan with all its ethnic and cultural diversity, and his connection with Sudan and its people lasted over the past six decades. Herman had a vast knowledge of Nubian civilization and its languages. With these, he contributed greatly to the rehabilitation of generations of prominent Sudanese scholars in this field.

Professor Hermann Bell, published Paradise Lost(2005)in which he documented, through more than 200 high-quality photographs, the life of Nubians in their historical homeland, and their migration in 1964 from northern Sudan to its east.

We can draw consolation, knowing that his works, writings, research, and intellectual contributions to Sudan will survive; his close association with Sudan, its people, and its history will remain.


Ahmed Abdul Rahman
Oxfords
10/02/2023

свернуть