With the death of Martin Ellis on 8 June 1996, after a short
illness, the Society lost a former President and Honorary
member, the International Mycological Institute a Chief
Mycologist of long and illustrious standing, mycology a
twentieth-century pioneer in the study of hyphomycetes, and
amateurs worldwide a popularizer of the collection and
identification of microfungi. He was certainly no parochial
mycologist for he enjoyed an international reputation built
not only on admiration for his work and the clarity of its
presentation but also his ability in correspondence and by
personal discussion and example to help and stimulate others
to emulate his high standards. His was a singular mycological
life which as far as his published work is concerned initially
may have seemed somewhat overfocused on his handsome (as
he often put it) hyphomycetes. This belies the talents that he
brought to bear on his subject such as a love of languages, a
deep understanding and knowledge of nature, an illustrator's
eye and the capability of translating this into scientifically
accurate but artistic figures, and sheer hard work. He had an
ability to organize the whole of his activities so systematically
that were he to have been brought up in the computerized age
he would have had no problem at all in adapting to it (his
comprehensive card indices were a delight to use).