Adam Nayyar , Pakistan’s foremost cultural anthropologist, ethnomusicologist and cultural interlocutor par excellence, passed away in Islamabad on July 29, 2008. He was a brilliant scholar and good friend to the many researchers, journalists, scholars and writers who sought him out. His effect on the scholarship of Pakistan was profound.

He was born on December 10, 1948 and grew up in Bahawalpur. He earned an engineering degree from the University of Engineering and Technology, Lahore, and a Ph.D. in anthropology from the University of Heidelberg, Germany. Formerly, as the Director of Lok Virsa, the National Institute of Folk and Traditiional Heritage in Islamabad, and most recently, Director-General of the Pakistan National Council of the Arts, he championed traditional music and the arts of Pakistan and helped develop cultural policies to support musicians and artists. In February, 2008, he was conferred the title, “Chevalier de l’ordre des Arts et des Lettres” by the Republic of France.

Adam’s passing is a great loss for Pakistan, and for all of us who came to know and love him.