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Hugh Brammer
October 22, 1925 - January 13, 2021
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2021-12-06 03:08:48 View / Comment (0)
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2021-01-30 19:25:30 View / Comment (0)
Mahrukh Mohiuddin
"The kind of seriousness with which Brammer engaged in the agro-ecology and climate is rare even in a native geographer or climate scientist today. It is a pity that Hugh received little accolade and insufficient attention, despite the vast body of knowledge he produced for our country. In October 2017, the Prothom Alo published a feature on him, through which his name reached a wider audience, and some more people came to know of him and his work in Bangladesh. Hugh Brammer received the President's gold medal for services to Agriculture in Bangladesh in 1978; a number of significant recognitions from his country, and in 2018, his publisher, The University Press Limited (UPL), honoured him with a Lifetime Achievement Award. In Brammer's acceptance note of UPL's Lifetime Achievement Award, he wrote: "I didn't write my books for personal gain, of course. I wrote them because I wanted to share with others... the technical information that I had been privileged to gain during my long career in the country. ...There is still much to be learnt in Bangladesh that needs to be learnt..." The royalties from the sales of his books go to BRAC as scholarships for college education of meritorious students from poor families. It was often a challenge to keep up with Hugh's expectations, and his unending drive in producing new manuscripts for dissemination. Even though he passed on at the mature age of 95, it still feels like a major loss because he was being just as productive with generating new knowledge, until he fell sick with pneumonia. My regret will remain that he left with a sense of unfulfillment, and a deep disappointment that he could not see his work available in Bengali during his lifetime. He mentioned in an email to me, "I am almost daily disturbed by articles by Bangladeshi authors that I read in the press or in academic journals revealing their ignorance of the geography of their own country. At 94, I'm running out of time! My urge is to get my information out in Bengali where it is more likely to be read and used." As his publisher, our aim is to fulfil his unrealised wish before the end of 2021. Beyond being a longstanding and loyal author, Hugh has also been a guardian angel of UPL, a champion of the mission that UPL upholds—enabling a knowledge-based society. Losing Hugh was like losing a very close relative and guide, whose presence we feel every day, and will continue to feel in our journey ahead. Our deepest respect and gratitude to a selfless giant. If UPL ever builds a garden, it will be dedicated to his memory." https://www.thedailystar.net/opinion/news/hugh-brammer-remembering-exemplary-geographer-2036081
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2021-01-21 12:10:46 View / Comment (1)A few years ago, I was visiting Hugh in his flat in Cambridge and I commented on the delightful colors on Christmas cactus. Hugh said the original plant came from Hilary Gretton and he gave me a cutting. The plant thrives in my kitchen (photo taken last November) and provides me with a lovely reminder of Hugh and his love of plants and nature.
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2021-01-20 13:43:40 View / Comment (0)
Susan Lintott
Through Hugh’s generosity, Downing became the funding body for two grants held in the University’s Department of Geography: a study of arsenic in the water in Bangladesh and the mapping of Bengal. These projects had the added benefit of bringing Hugh to visit the administrative wing of the College. His description of the importance of field work for his career led to his dedication of the gift aid on these donations to helping students fund the otherwise prohibitively expensive travel necessary for their academic projects. It’s not surprising, therefore, that when the students decided to form a Geography Society, there was only one name that would fit the bill: the Brammer Society. Dr Susan Lintott, Senior Bursar, Downing College (1997-2020)
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2021-01-20 12:02:55 View / Comment (0)
Tineke Brinkman
"Looking at soils" One year, on a rather grey day, Hugh took us on a visit to you - and then we 'needed' to look at a soil nearby. The soil in question was behind a farmgate that was closed with a padlock. Well, some of us climbed over and in the end... Hugh was helped to climb over as well. It took some doing, and he almost fell down, but the soil got examined and we came home safely, be it somewhat muddied.
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2021-01-18 19:27:06 View / Comment (0)
Alan Bookbinder
Hugh was an exceptionally loyal and generous supporter of Downing College. To the end of his life he retained a close interest in the College, especially the progress of our geography students. His gifts included an endowment for a Fellowship in Geography in perpetuity, held first by Prof Bill Adams and now by Dr Michael Bravo. His generosity also enabled the founding of the Brammer Society for students in geography, including an annual dinner and travel scholarships. When he visited College on his 94th birthday last year, he was still giving talks, writing articles and editing books, and regaled us with stories from his long stints in Bangladesh. Alan Bookbinder Master, Downing College, Cambridge
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2021-01-18 16:39:59 View / Comment (1)
Ad Spijkers
It's sad to hear the news about Hugh Brammer. Hugh Brammer will be remembered for his efficient cooperation over a long period between the population and the Government of Bangladesh, the UN Development System and many other organizations throughout his professional life. We will keep in our memories his help in difficult times - when Bangladesh faced many challenges. During my assignment as FAO Representative in Bangladesh, 2006 – 2011, Hugh meant a lot to me and we had many exchanges. He was always ready to advise during the 2008 Food, Fertilizer en Fuel crisis and later he assisted with the preparations of the Master Plan for Agricultural Development in the Southern Region of Bangladesh. Hugh's contributions have been recognized through many awards. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) recognized his services by according the prestigious B. R. Sen Award (1981), for his outstanding technical work and support towards comprehensive food security in Bangladesh. Hugh: a man of his own, ‘rooted in ground reality’ as his friend and colleague M. Asaduzzaman wrote last week: ‘The best we can do to honour him is to continue’. Let us all agree with this. Ad Spijkers (Former FAO Rep/Retired Senior Advisor to the FAO Director General)
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2021-01-17 08:17:33 View / Comment (1)
The only memory I have with you to read your books in my undergraduate studies which inspired me to get into the world of science.
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2021-01-14 20:11:05 View / Comment (1)
Terry Cannon
Losing Hugh is like losing a friend who is also an encyclopedia combined with a powerful analytical engine, switched on all the time but with a sense of humour! He and i have recently been trying to increase the influence of his thinking and DATA on Bangladesh, and whether or not climate change is the main issue to be concerned with. He erred (in my view) to give too much prominence to population (I see it as a dependent variable), but we were agreed that most problems in the country were related to long-standing problems which climate change WILL magnify but must be dealt with outside of that frame of reference - in order to make it possible to deal with climate change. He insisted on referring to the data, and where it seemed to be missing then trying to collate it through his network of friends and colleagues. He was certain that so far there was little evidence of any significant impacts of climate change in the country, a view (supported by his data) that did not endear him to most Bangladeshis (and many from outside organizations) for whom the climate change narrative was either a moral or a financial advantage... Some do not understand: but he was not a climate change "denier", simply arguing for science rather than imagined problems that cannot be substantiated. He gave two seminars for us at IDS a couple of years ago, and caused a lot of good thinking and puzzlement among the students! He was very willing to accept that climate change was coming - but that the country needed to sort out lots of existing problems to enable it to adapt to this future and that not enough was being done to do that (partly because of the "diversion" to focus on climate change. One of his best legacies will be to try to continue these discussions. I am surprised at the depth of my feelings of loss, and realise that it is because I will miss his great sense of purpose and devotion to getting things right.
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2021-01-14 13:07:13 View / Comment (1)
Catharien Terwisscha van Scheltinga
Long ago, in the nineties, I read the books of Hugh Brammer (e.g. Can Bangladesh be saved from floods, book 5, answer in chapter 9), which provided me a solid background knowledge about Bangladesh. I first got introduced to him personally via all the emails that Hugh sent to Ad Spijker, about the Master Plan for the Southern Delta, where he expressed his concern about the reduced runoff, sedimentation, salinity intrusion etc. Our conversations intensified with frequent mails that we exchanged in the last 8 years, about longer term plans in Bangladesh, where he encouraged me to be realistic and consider more (im)possibilities with regard to the Bangladesh Delta Plan. With his overview and vast knowledge, he inspired me to think about the complexities, and he linked me to other people. I'm forever grateful for the knowledge he shared, and the motivation he provided.
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Cassie Gardner Luckoff
Cassie Gardner Luckoff
I came across Hugh Brammer's website while searching for information on my father, Robert A. Gardner, who worked with Hugh in Pakistan. My father was in charge of the FAO soil survey project in West Pakistan from 1961-1965. I, and my family, well remember Hugh, as he visited Lahore many times while we were there. I remember him fondly. I am sorry to learn that he passed on but am bolstered by the fact he had such a long, productive life. My father sadly passed away in 1978. Those early years in Pakistan with the nascent FAO project were challenging to say the least for those involved, but it was also an amazing experience.
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