My colleagues and I have been devastated to learn that our good colleague and friend Stefan Landsberger (born 1955) passed away unexpectedly, on 26 September 2024. Stefan was a fixture of China Studies in the Netherlands, where he had been Associate Professor of contemporary Chinese History and Society at Leiden University, and Emeritus Olfert Dapper Professor of Contemporary Chinese Culture at the University of Amsterdam.

Stefan was a staunch defender of the humanities and area studies ethos. For Stefan, scholarship deserved to be societally relevant, but it also needed to keep sight of the complex, deep cultural and linguistic contexts in which people do things with media and communication, in diverse places around the world. His own work was rooted in this understanding: he had a vast knowledge of Chinese politics, communication, and culture that ranged beyond any single discipline. This made his teaching extremely popular with students: seats in his courses were coveted, especially in his seminar about Chinese consumer society, which he had irreverently titled 'Shop till you Drop'. In settings such as this, Stefan demonstrated his skills as an educator, guiding hundreds of students through their thesis projects.

Many of the people whose lives Stefan touched have reached out, after learning of his passing, and the outpouring of sympathy and fond memories has been truly moving. Some recalled how Stefan could come across as gruff, on first impression. Here was this tall, moustached man, who would not suffer fools, and who would not mince words. His candid feedback could sting, but as one former student recalled, he was not just frank in his criticism, but also in his praise, and she pointed out how enthused Stefan became if he spotted that spark of genuine curiosity in his students that also motivated his own work. Numerous alumni have shared memories with me of discussing Chinese politics and culture in his office, over copious amounts of coffee, and surrounded by hordes of books, pieces of Chinese art, and kitschy propaganda paraphernalia. And they recalled fondly Stefan's humour: witty, sometimes scathing, but always delivered with a wink and a smile.

And so his colleagues, students, and friends then also knew an important truth about Stefan: that beyond his sometimes-grouchy exterior lay depths of compassion, warmth, and sensitivity. Stefan cared passionately about the people around him and about his work.

Stefan retired from Leiden University in 2019. When I last spoke to him, in the spring of 2024, he was happy with post-retirement life. He laughed about how relieved he was to have left behind the struggles with university administration and bureaucratic fiat, and how he was not looking back. And yet he remained involved: when our student association SVS organised its annual symposium, Stefan was there to share his knowledge. I like to believe he was a little bit proud to see the next generation of young scholars come together this way, led by the very same organization he himself had help found.

Stefan Landsberger will be remembered as a leading scholar of modern Chinese political communication, and a passionate collector of propaganda art, whose famous poster collection continues to inspire and educate. But more than this, to many of us in Leiden's Chinese Studies community and beyond, Stefan was a trusted friend and mentor, and an ally on our diverse journeys of scholarly discovery. We will miss him dearly.

Florian Schneider is professor modern China