Obituary

By: The Citizen

It is with great sadness that we learned about the passing of Prof. Herman Bell who was serving as a Sudan Expert at the United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names (UNGEGN) since 2000. He also works as Consultant for the Sudanese National Committee for Geographical Names since 2000, recording the geographical names of Nubia since 1962. He had served as a Member of the Board of the National Atlas Sudan, 1978-79.

After serving as Sir Wallis Budge Junior Research Fellow at University College, Oxford launched Survey of Nubian Place Names in 1962, formerly Professor at King Faisal University and the University of Khartoum (Institute of African and Asian Studies); senior Research Fellow at the University of Exeter (Institute of Arab and Islamic Studies), Trustee of the Women’s Education Partnership; Research focus on Nubian toponymy and its relevance to endangered languages and toponymy worldwide.

Late prof. Herman Bell was fluent in Nubian language and has wrote a book titled (The Lost Paradise) on Nubian land before the construction of the High Dam and the migration of the people of the area. The book included very rare photographs which documented the life of the Nubian in Wadi Halfa area and its suburbs in far northern Sudan before the migration.

He contributed with the renowned folklorist, and the former director of the Institute of African and Asian Studies in editing the (Linguistics and Folklore of Sudan) encyclopedia which was published in 1975.

The CEO and staff of the Citizen Newspaper would like to extend their sincere condolences and prayers to his family, colleagues and students.

May Allah the Almighty rest his soul in eternal peace.