ICA loses a founder: Eduard Imhof, 1895–1986 died

Summary

Eduard Imhof (1895–1986), a founder of the International Cartographic Association (ICA), died on 27 April 1986 at his home in Erlenbach, Switzerland. This memorial address by ICA vice president F. J. Ormeling Sr. recalls that from the mid-1950s Imhof joined Dr. Mannerfelt of Sweden and other colleagues in discussing the possible foundation of an international cartographic association, a conception that initially did not meet with general approval in neighboring disciplines; Imhof's part in the process grew stronger and became almost decisive as negotiations concluded. The ICA was founded in 1959 in Berne, and Imhof was elected its first president; in 1980 the Association awarded him its highest distinction, the Carl Mannerfelt Medal. Ormeling suggests there might never have been an international cartographic association without Mannerfelt's initiative and diplomacy and Imhof's scientific prestige and perseverance. Within 15 years more than 60 member countries had joined, and the biennial conferences and commission meetings provided cartography with an international discussion forum. Imhof gradually withdrew from the ICA during the 1970s; his successors have sought to consolidate and extend the association while maintaining the Imhofian principles that give map design and construction a central place in cartography, a task Ormeling calls not always easy amid the rapid development of the computer.