Stig left school at the age of 15. His work on pea genetics began in 1946 after he joined the staff of the Weibullsholm Plant Breeding Institute at Landskrona as a laboratory assistant. Although lacking formal university training, he flourished in the company of learned colleagues and his innate ability was soon revealed in a string of publications, many with S. Blixt as sole author. These publications continued through the 1960’s and eventually it was suggested by Ake Gustafsson, the professor of genetics at the University of Lund, that it was time he prepared a doctoral dissertation. He was duly awarded an earned (not honorary) doctorate but not before special permission had been obtained from the His Majesty the King of Sweden to confer an earned doctorate on a candidate without a primary degree. As testimony to the merits and lasting value of that thesis (published as Agri Hort. Genet. 30:1-293, 1972), to this day a copy sits within arm’s length of my desk where it can be consulted at a moments notice.

Stig Blixt very quickly saw the importance of building and maintaining a base collection of pea germplasm and he must have been among the early leaders in using the power of a computer for storage and accessing of information on genetic stocks. With generous and strong support from the Weibull family and the head of the institute he was able to build on the Weibullsholm pea collection and develop an extensive computerised database on the traits and origin of each line. In the days of the Iron Curtain, we must rejoice that he was able to bridge the gap between East and West and during this time many valuable lines from both zones were added to the collection. In addition, his own work on mutagenesis added extensively to the range of germplasm available in the collection. Many of the lines added during this period continue to prove of immense value, for example in research studies using a mutant-based approach to understand the control of plant development.

Gene symbols tend to fall readily into disarray. “The gene symbols of Pisum” published by Blixt in PNL9 Supplement 2-59 (1977) represents a very substantial effort and a significant piece of work in creating order and laying the foundations of our present situation. It dealt with key status issues such as valid, invalid, synonym and extinct, and stressed the importance of appointing and maintaining type lines and conducting allelism tests before publishing new symbols.

Pea research ended at Weibullsholm in 1986 but by this time Stig had ensured the pea collection had been safely transferred to the Nordic Gene Bank at Alnarp. Subsequently, Stig joined the staff at the NGB first as Head of the Materials Department in 1988 and later as Director from 1990 until his retirement at the end of 1995. In the early 90’s the active pea collection was moved to the John Innes Institute, Norwich, under the care of the present PGA Symbols Coordinator and Germplasm Curator, Mike Ambrose. However, a base collection is still held in storage at the Nordic Gene Bank. Last year, Stig transferred the Wang-computer database on peas to a PC-background. Access is available through Marten Hulden at the NGB.

Heartfelt congratulations and thanks to Stig on behalf of all PGA members and best wishes for a long and happy retirement where you have time to enjoy your family and your many interests including a beautiful garden that includes a diverse collection of Swedish native flora.