Farewell to RNDr. Zdeněk Majkus, CSc.

Sad information reached Czech arachnologists in spring of this year – Zdeněk Majkus (Fig. 1), an important Czech arachnologist, an outstanding university teacher and – namely – a good friend, passed away.

Zdeněk was born on 1 June 1943 in Ostrava – Přívoz. He was interested in nature since his studies at secondary school. In the years 1960–1965 he studied didactics of biology and chemistry at the Faculty of Natural History, Palacký University in Olomouc. From the same faculty Zdeněk graduated in biology and chemistry in 1967–1970, and in 1981 he passed the state doctoral exam. Eight years later, Zdeněk defended his dissertation entitled “The composition of arachnocoenoses of selected pit heaps in Ostrava town”. Furthermore, he acquired valuable experience during his stays abroad, specifically in laboratory of P. M. Brignoli (Istituto di Zoologia, L’Aquila, Italy, 1983) and visits to Cambodia and Vietnam (1988). However, Zdeněk began his scientific and pedagogical career in his place of birth.