Obituary

was obtained at St. Bartholomew's Hospital, and he duly graduated M.B.Cantab, in 1881 and M.D. in 1884. After a time spent abroad in post-graduate work, he returned to Cambridge, was appointed a member of the staff of Addenbrooke's Hospital, and Linacre lecturer on physic, and thus definitely embarked on the teaching of medicine and on its practice as a physician. His earliest professional studies after graduation had been in pathology, but this was soon superseded by pharmacology and therapeutics, subjects in which he retained a keen interest to the end. In recognition of his special attainments he was chosen president of the Section of Therapeutics at the Toronto meeting of the British Medical Association in 1906, and for many years he was chairman of the " British Pharmacopoeia " committee of the General Medical Council, the 1898 and 1914 editions of which owed a great deal to his active collaboration. Although interested in scientific and medical research and

Department emphasised projects dealing with the biological control of insect pests by their natural enemies. Biological and ecological studies of insect pests and their natural enemies were carried out in the Department of Entomology, and many parasitoids and predators of these pests were imported into Israel from other cotmtries. A great believer in the biological control of insect pests, he dedicated himself to these studies and thus should be considered as one of the founders of the Integrated Pest Management (IPM) approach in Israel. His studies contributed to the development of IPM systems for citrus, date palms and avocado.
In 1959 Swirski was awarded the Histadrut Prize for his studies of the biology of the citrus rust mite. In 1961, he received awards from the Municipality of Rehovot and the Citrus Marketing Board of Israel. In 1960, he was invited to Japan and Hong Kong to carry out a survey of phytoseiid mites -a mission that resulted in the description of several new species. During 1964-1967, he was appointed to serve also as the Director of the Institute of Plant Protection within Israel's Agricultural Research Organization and, despite the enormous administrative work, he continued his scientific activities with even greater energy.
Among his many other activities, Swirski was involved in the taxonomy of aphids and predatory mites, and described many new species. Ten newly described insect species carry his name, an honor awarded to him by taxonomists from all over the world. They are: Amblyseius swirskii Athias-Henriot, Phytoseius swirskii Gupta, Seiulus eBahuswirskii Ragusa  Throughout the years, Eliahu Swirski developed close relationships with many scientists from other parts of the world and was often asked, as an authority on the taxonomy of predatory mites, to re-examine species sent to him from all over the world. He was also well known as an excellent lecturer and was chosen in 1974 as Lecturer of the Year at the Agricultural Research Organization (Volcani Center). In 1978, he was invited to teach at the Faculty of Agriculture of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, in Rehovot, and continued to do so until 1988. Several times his many students voted him Best Lecturer at the Faculty of Agriculture. As an excellent scientist and inspiring teacher, he also supervised the work of many students towards their M.Sc. and Ph.D. degrees, and some of these students continued working with him later in the Department of Entomology at the Volcani Center.
In 1986, he was awarded the prestigious Kaplan Prize for developing an IPM system for avocado groves in Israel, which resulted in reduced applications of insecticides and improved environmental ecology. In the same year he was also appointed an Honorary Fellow by the Pesticide Research and Development Fund. In 1987 his name was entered in the Golden Book of the Jewish National Fund (Keren Kayemet le'lsrael), by the Fruit Marketing Board of Israel, in recognition of his work on fruit tree pests. In 1988, he was awarded an Honorary Fellowship of the Agricultural Research Organization.
Professor Swirski officially retired in 1986. Nevertheless, he remained active and continued to participate in most of the projects in which he had been involved prior to his retirement. Upon his retirement, he established The Rachel and Eliahu Swirski Foundation which helps to support students specializing in Entomology and in Insect Pest Management. He also established the Rachel and Eliahu Endowment Fund for supporting the Israel Journal of Entomology. He maintained all his contacts with scientists abroad, and with individual farmers and establishments in Israel, and continued his regular visits to fruit tree plantations all over Israel, advising farmers and carrying out field trials and collecting insects for his future publications. In 1994, he was awarded the country's most prestigious prize -the Israel Prize -for his achievements in the field of biological control, environment protection and teaching the next generation of entomologists.
Professor Swirski was active until the last days of his life. He recently published several faunistic papers on the phytoseiid mites of Israel and an annotated list of Israeli Aphidoidea. Professor Swirski's 266 publications include scientific papers, books and chapters in books; his last book on Arthropod pests of subtropical fruits of Israel is currently in press. Eliahu is survived by his wife Rachel, his daughter Tali, his son Yoram and his family, and two grandchildren, Yohay and Matan. We extend our condolences to them. Eliahu Swirski will be fondly remembered for his achievements and fine personality and will be sorely missed by his family, colleagues and friends.