A tribute to some leading lights of adult education of the 20th and 21st century

This article, written on the basis of personal memories, is about famous adult educators who have recently passed away. They were all university professors, five of them British and one German, who made a significant difference through their scientific work, through their social engagement and work for democracy in Europe and for social change in the world, and by contributing to the learning of their students and the public in general. The aim of this article is to write about them so that we do not forget them. This is particularly important for adult education as a social science discipline. Thus, it is a tribute to those who have passed away. These six scholars are: Lalage Bown, Chris Duke, John Field, Peter Jarvis, Joachim Knoll, and Teddy Thomas. In order to write this written memorial to their work, materials such as these researchers’ own publications, their CVs, and the obituaries written by other colleagues in newspapers and journals (International Journal of Lifelong Education, Education, The Guardian) or online on organizational websites (e.g. DVV, UNESCO and the universities they were active at) were used. The author had the privilege of meeting all of them. The aim of this exercise was therefore first and foremost to show connections and commonalities between them. They have many characteristics in common, but one characteristic in particular is special: a confidence in underprivileged adults’ potential to learn. They also notably advocated and worked for open access policies and measures for adult learning and education.