Edward Richard (‘Eddie’) Michel, Research Associate of the Department of Historical and Heritage Studies, passed away in Solihull, England, on 2 October 2025.

His association with the department had previously consisted of a succession of postdoctoral fellowships, extended intermittently from 2017-2024.

He arrived at the University of Pretoria (UP) having achieved a BA in US Studies from the University of Essex / University of New Mexico in 2003, an MA in International Relations from the University of Essex in 2004, an MA in US History from the University of New Mexico in 2011 and a PhD in 2017 from the University of Birmingham. He had also published a monograph:  A Breed Apart: The History of the Texas Rangers (Boulder, Colorado: Outskirts Press, 2012).

He assimilated quickly into the South African lifestyle of hunting, braaing (often mixing the two) and rugby watching. Though he owned properties in Britain and the UK, he would have emigrated to South Africa in a heartbeat, but he wanted to do so in an academic capacity. Considerations of work and life meant it really was ‘Tuks of Niks’ for him. The Ivy League and dreaming spires of Oxbridge had no claims on him to compare with those of UP, while news of openings in universities elsewhere in South Africa obtained only muted responses. He really wanted to experience again the work-life balance he enjoyed during his first postdoc from 2017-19, before COVID-19 and the accumulation of various stresses and strains related to living from fellowship to fellowship. 

A productive scholar, he published The White House and White Africa: Presidential Policy toward Rhodesia during the UDI era, 1965-1979 (Routledge, 2018) and at least 12 research articles during his tenure as Postdoctoral Fellow/Research Associate.

His passing occurred days before he was scheduled to fly to South Africa to present at the ‘South Africa in a Changing World’ symposium co-hosted by the Department of Historical and Heritage Studies and the Centre for Asian Studies in Africa (CASA) on 15 October. He was also to have presented at the Regional History Society of Southern Africa conference in Maputo in November. 

He will be missed by all who had the pleasure of encountering his jovial and amiable companionship, his ready smile, and his intellectual integrity and depth.