It was Georgia’s first trip to Oberwolfach in 1976 and my third that we met. M. Koecher chaired the conference with the topic ”Jordan-Algebren”, but one could also give a talk on ”Lie algebras over fields with positive characteristics”. We were both young, at the beginning of our mathematical life, reserved and shy. On these occasions we met every 3–4 years in Oberwolfach, with the same mathematical interests and similar developments. That changed fundamentally in 1987, when J. Marshall Osborn and Georgia Benkart invited [me] to a ”Special Year of Lie Algebras” in Madison (WI). Mathematically, this Special Year was a tremendous stimulus and encouragement for me and gave my research the decisive turn. From this time I worked on the classification of the simple Lie algebras over fields with positive characteristics. For me and my family, however, this was the beginning of a — may I say: wonderful and intense — personal friendship with both organizers. Never before had I experienced hospitality so strongly, and felt what hospitality can mean in the Midwest. It started with the fact that on my travel to this conference I could not have reached Madison until 1 am due to plane damage and an emergency stop at Bangor (Maine). So I called M. Osborn from Chicago that I would take a hotel and arrive the next day. ”No,” he said, ”take the bus and I will pick you up.” At that time I was a young colleague who was almost unknown to him, whom he only knew from the sporadic Oberwolfach conferences. Georgia made me feel at home. She showed me a German-run bakery, took me to the Badgers football games, invited me home to her mother, sister and dog. She showed me Madison and the surrounding area and its attractions. Of course, when my wife and kids came to Madison, they were included in all this. The personal invitations went back and forth. In the introduction to the first volume of my 3-volume monograph The simple Lie algebras over fields of positive characteristic, in which I presented the classification of these algebras, I wrote as early as 2003: “The warm and friendly atmosphere during this year brought to light the best talents of all participants. Since these days ties of friendship connect my family with the organizers, participants and the place of this conference”. A lot has happened since then. On a visit to Hamburg (Germany) I was able to show her my hometown. At a frightening conference in Barnaul (Soviet Union) we got caught in the coup that swept away Gorbachev. We sat at the airport for a day fearing tanks would show up and hoping we could get a flight home (which luckily happened). Finally, a highlight was Georgia’s participation and contribution to the Milan 2012 conference hosted by Jörg Feldvoss and Thomas Weigel in honor of my 70th birthday. Unfortunately, this was also the last personal meeting. The great distance prevented another one. But we were in lively written exchange until the end. She took an interest in the development of our children (and the grandchildren who were unknown to her). She kept me informed of all developments in Madison and in particular the Badgers, and her wide mathematical interests. Her mathematics has already been adequately described in other addresses. Nevertheless, I would like to mention and confirm what in my opinion was an integral part of her personality. She gave captivating lectures, stylistically brilliant and exciting in terms of content. A great treat!! Secondly, she had the wonderful gift of working together with many colleagues and students and achieving important results on a wide variety of topics. And, besides all this, she was strongly engaged in ”women in math”. I and my family are very saddened by the sudden death of Georgia Benkart.
