It is with great sadness and a true feeling of loss that the Euro-Asian Jewish Congress (EAJC) learn of the death of an important scholar and mentor, Doctor of Philology and Theology Leonid Matzich, who died on March 8th, at the age of 57.

From the early 1990s, Leonid Matzich actively participated in the creation of academic Jewish Studies in post-Soviet territory, was the coordinator of scholarly programs of the International Center for University Teaching of Jewish Civilization (Jerusalem), and was the Prorector of Jewish Studies of the International Solomonic University (Kyiv).

Leonid Matzich's administrative, scholarly, and educational activity in Israel, Russia, and Ukraine aided the development and strengthening of the study and teaching of Jewish civilization.

Leonid Matzich had a wide range of scholarly interests, which included French philology, Biblical studies, theology-after-Auschwitz, and the history of Freemasonry. The last scholarly project completed under his leadership was the preparation of a Russian academic edition of classic Jewish comments on the book of Bereishit.

The EAJC expresses its sincere condolences to the family and friends of the deceased.

Zichrono livracha.