In Memoriam: András Riedlmayer (1947-2026)

It is with profound sadness that I must report the passing, on February 9, of András Riedlmayer, who, starting in 1985, served for thirty-five years as the Bibliographer and Director at the Documentation Center of the Aga Khan Program for Islamic Architecture in Harvard’s Fine Arts Library. He developed, managed, and guided users through North America’s largest collection of research materials on Islamic art, architecture, and archaeology.

I was personally indebted to dear András as a graduate student in the 1980s, and subsequently as an assistant professor in the Department of History of Art and Architecture. Since András had studied Turkish and was once a Fulbright-Hayes Fellow in Istanbul (1972–73) as a scholar of Ottoman and Middle East Studies, we shared common interests. Whenever I visited the Fine Arts Library, he would kindly show me the latest publications in those fields, which he had acquired for our program. Perusing and discussing those publications with him was such a memorable experience. Later, András began to organize sessions for our students in the library, where he exhibited newly acquired books and discussed their contents.

A native of Budapest, András immigrated to the United States with his family in the wake of the Soviet invasion of Hungary in 1956. They settled in Chicago and András eventually received an A.B. in history from the University of Chicago. After traveling and studying in the Middle East and Balkans as a Fulbright Scholar, he earned graduate degrees from Princeton University and Simmons College. He was a past president of the Ottoman and Turkish Studies Association; he also served on the board of the Islamic Manuscripts Association and as an officer of the Middle East Librarians Association. Beginning in the 1990s, András worked tirelessly to document cultural heritage destruction in Bosnia, eventually serving as an expert witness against Slobodan Milošević before the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY). His scholarly work was published in journals such as Muqarnas and Harvard Ukrainian Studies.

But not even all of this conveys the astonishing breadth and depth of András’s learning and linguistic abilities, and the gracious way he shared what he knew with undergraduates, graduate students, and others who sought out his help. It was immediately apparent to all who dealt with him that he loved his work. Muqarnas and, more broadly, the study of Ottoman art and architecture, at Harvard and elsewhere, would not be what they are today without his expertise, shared generously over decades. His memory and legacy in the Fine Arts Library at Harvard will endure over the generations. He was a wonderful colleague and friend, and we will miss him greatly. 

Gülru Necipoğlu

Aga Khan Professor of Islamic Art and Architecture

Director of the Aga Khan Program for Islamic Architecture

Department of History of Art and Architecture

Harvard University

András was a guest on the Harvard Islamica Podcast in December 2021. His interview can be found here.