With great sadness we regret to inform that Dr. Fritz Hans Schweingruber passed away on January 7, 2020 in Birmensdorf, Switzerland. Fritz was born on February 29, 1936. He was the founder of the Dendrosciences group of Swiss Federal Research Institute (WSL), a pioneer and worldwide outstanding tree-ring researcher and wood anatomist, and an enthusiastic teacher and supervisor. Although retired since nearly twenty years, Fritz stayed active in research until the very last day. Fritz was elected as an Honorary Member of the IAWA in 2018. His great contribution to the community of wood anatomy is worthy to be highly respected. His decease is a great loss for our research community. We all mourn the passing of a true giant in wood anatomy and tree-ring science. A full obituary for Dr. Fritz Hans Schweingruber by Alan Crivellaro and Holger Gärtner has been published in IAWA Journal 41(1).