John Jacob Lavranos 1926, Corfu, Greece – 2018, Loulé, Portugal

The cover of the March-April 2006 Journal featured a caricature of a rather scrawny, white-haired old man, and the issue was dedicated to him on his 80th birthday (Fig. 1). In his commentary on his drawing, which captured the characteristic stance so well, Gerhard Max said “The combination of skills needed to what he has done so far is only rarely found in a single human ...”. Gerhard's enthusiastic yet accurate words inevitably presaged a loss, as we now celebrate, and take a glimpse into the early years and life, of the genius that was John Lavranos.