Prof. Dr Silvia Bonacchi passed away on 1 July 2026 in Tonfano (Italy) following a serious illness. We are deeply saddened by this loss – and grateful for all she has done over many years for the GTA and for the further development of our journal, *Gestalt Theory*.
Silvia had been a member of the GTA Executive Committee since 2011 and Executive Editor of *Gestalt Theory* since 2018. She had been active as an advisory editor of the journal since 2007. Even back then, she had already contributed her expertise in Gestalt theory through her linguistic doctoral thesis ‘The Gestalt of Poetry: The Influence of Gestalt Theory on the Work of Robert Musil’ (1998) and through further works in linguistics and cultural studies. In her work on the Executive Board, her diverse academic and international professional and personal networks enabled us to draw on and build upon many ideas for deepening and modernising our collaboration. Following her appointment at the University of Warsaw, we were her guests on several occasions at symposia. The 21st GTA Academic Conference, which she organised together with Jagna Brudzinska at the University of Warsaw and the Polish Academy of Sciences, remains unforgettable. She was also a driving force behind establishing and strengthening our links with the Italian network for Experimental Phenomenology. As Managing Editor of *Gestalt Theory*, she, together with Fiorenza Toccafondi and Tiziano Agostini, energetically and with foresight shaped the journal’s organisational reorientation, internationalisation and professionalisation within the changing publishing landscape.
We have lost a dear friend, a strong personality, an excellent scholar of international standing, a warm-hearted, generous and humorous, enthusiastic and courageous woman whom we all miss very much.