WITH the death of Professor Aldo Pavari at Florence on 17 January 1960 after a brief illness, world forestry lost a greatly respected and much-loved leader. It is for others to say what he meant to Italy or to other countries where his authority brought him very high positions. Here we would like to recall his associations with FAO.
Born in Rome in 1888, Aldo Pavari took up forestry as a career in 1913 after teaching agriculture, and was to be the Director of the Florence Forest Research Institute without interruption from its inception in 1924 until his death.
Early in his career, however, he felt drawn to the larger international sphere. As far back as 1922, he represented Italy at the meeting at Marseilles which saw the creation of a Mediterranean Forestry Association, Silva Mediterranea, born of an idea of Hickel's first introduced at Madrid in 1911 on the occasion of the Ninth International Agricultural Congress. He became one of the moving spirits behind Silva Mediterranea and was its Vice-President, as well as chief editor of its review.
Once international activities were resumed after the last war, Professor Pavari was elected Chairman of the FAO Subcommission on Mediterranean Forestry Problems, which later assumed also the title Silva Mediterranea to emphasize the continuity with the earlier body. Successive re-elections kept him in office until 1958 when, at the Sixth Session of the Subcommission, he was appointed Chairman honoris causa alongside Professor Guinier.
Throughout this period he became known as a Chairman who presided over discussions with the utmost authority. He helped to initiate FAO's Mediterranean Development Project, and clearly diagnosed many of the problems of the region and suggested realistic solutions.
During this period, too, he was elected President of the International Union of Forest Research Organizations, the oldest forestry body that exists. Under his presidency, the closest and most cordial co-operation was established between the Union and FAO.
Lastly, he represented his country actively on the European Forestry Commission of FAO, the International Poplar Commission and the International Chestnut Commission. He brought to the meetings of these bodies all his long experience and judgment, and the memory of the man and what he stood for will remain ever fresh in the hearts of all his colleagues.
In all these activities he was the doughty champion of a bold and forward-looking policy in forestry, continually emphasizing the need for new techniques and for new investments. Today his views have received confirmation in many quarters.
But this portrait of Aldo Pavari would be incomplete if one did not evoke also the great humanist. A man of wide culture, he had a profound understanding of human problems which endeared him to all who came in contact with him. He could speak movingly to inspire his listeners with his own deep feelings.
We are indeed sad at his passing.
