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Andre Gunder Frank died peacefully at 8:30 a.m. on April 23, 2005 in
Luxembourg, in the presence of his loved ones, after a long and brave
struggle against cancer and its complications. He was a brilliant and
highly productive analyst of political economy and related social
sciences who produced fundamental insights on global social
interactions, from the 1950s until his death, and whose analysis was
always connected to campaigns for social justice. He was a founding
figure in the current expansion of studies in world history, and his
1998 book, ReOrient, won the World History Association's book prize.

He is survived by his wife, Alison Candela, who gave him loving and
essential care in his last years, by his sons Paul and Miguel Frank,
and by their families. His remains will be cremated at a small
ceremony on April 26, and his ashes will be placed next to the remains
of his first wife, Marta Fuentes, in Amsterdam. He was born in Germany
in 1929, spent his formative years in Switzerland, and moved to the
United States in 1941. He did his undergraduate studies at Swarthmore
College and his doctoral work in economics at the University of
Chicago, in 1957. In 1962 he moved to Latin America, soon married
Marta Fuentes, and worked with her in studies of political economy and
social justice; they and their children escaped Chile at the time of
the Pinochet coup in 1973. Thereafter he worked in Europe, including
over ten years at the University of Amsterdam. From 1994 he lived and
worked in the U.S.; he and Alison Candela met in Florida in 2000 and
later married in Boston in 2003.

He had already gained wide attention for his economic analyses when
his 1966 article in Monthly Review, "The Development of
Underdevelopment," coined an essential phrase and an interactive
historical analysis of dependency in economic growth. In the course of
34 books, 350 articles, and 130 book chapters (with numerous
translations in 25 languages), his analysis of world affairs evolved
steadily, always ahead of the current consensus. His biography and
publication list is online at
http://rrojasdatabank.info/agfrank/index.html.

While his work had world-historical implications from the first, it
was in his last fifteen years that it became explicitly world-
historical, in The World System: Five Hundred Years or Five Thousand?
(co-edited with Barry Gills, 1993); The Centrality of Central Asia
(1992); and ReOrient: Asian Economy in the Global Age (1998). At his
death, he was near to completing a sequel to ReOrient, a volume on the
fundamental changes of the world economy in the nineteenth century. It
is expected that his colleagues will prepare this work for
publication.

Gunder Frank was an extraordinary individual, able to sustain an
immense international network of friends and associates, and able to
carry on an energetic campaign of original and critical scholarship
though he never gained strong institutional support for his work. He
was blunt in academic debate, brilliant in his linkage of history and
theory, extraordinary as a phrasemaker, and warm and caring to a fault
in his personal relations. All those who knew him will have specific
memories of his contribution to their lives. For myself, I want to
express gratitude for his friendship and advice, and for his decade of
association with the World History Center and his contribution to the
studies of a dozen doctoral students in world history at Northeastern.

It is expected that one or several memorial gatherings will be held,
in the months to come, to celebrate his life and work and to honor his
passing.

Notes of condolence may be sent to members of his family:
Alison's e-mail address is:     acandela@citlink.net
Miguel's e-mail: mfrank@europarl.eu.int
Miguel's phone number is +352 091 656 236
Paul's e-mail: paulfrank@post.harvard.edu

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