The death of Mikhail Eremets on November 16, 2024 was a great loss for the scientific community, particularly for those working in the field of superconductivity. He was the winner of numerous awards, including in 2017 AIRAPT's prestigious Bridgman Award. Thanks to the support of Reinhard Boehler beginning in 2001 at the Max-Planck-Institute for Chemistry in Mainz, and later to the enduring support of Ulrich Pöschl, a Director at this Max-Planck-Institute, Mikhail was able to assemble an extraordinarily capable research group (Alexander Drozdov, Vasily Minkov, Vadim Ksenofontov, and Feng Du). Under Mikhail's leadership this group became a world leader and succeeded in pushing the value of the superconducting transition temperature in selected hydrides to temperatures approaching ambient.

Mikhail's Obituary was written by the members of his group. It summarizes his scientific career, his numerous significant research achievements, and the many awards he received. The detailed information and recollections in this Obituary are a fitting and moving testament to the great esteem Mikhail enjoyed both within his research group and the scientific community. For his group he set an example through his work ethic, the ingenuity and brilliance of his scientific ideas, and in his ability to design and construct vital research equipment.

I've known Mikhail for many years, normally meeting him at scientific conferences, particularly the Gordon and AIRAPT Conferences. His death came as a complete surprise to me. It is unfortunate that he didn't live to witness further developments in the rapidly advancing superconducting hydride field. After his funeral in Mainz I spoke with Ulrich Pöschl and the members of Mikhail's group who were kind enough to give me a tour of their labs. I was very impressed with their great expertise and the impressive array of sophisticated equipment at their disposal, some self-made. On viewing Mikhail’s office, it was clear that this office was not only the place where he read/wrote papers and planned/analyzed experiments, but also actually carried out preparatory experiments himself, working tirelessly for long hours. He had a great love for science, his research, and his group.

Mikhail was one of a kind. Despite his extraordinary research accomplishments, Mikhail was, as my former student James Hamlin aptly put it, "a kind, soft spoken, and humble person". The work of his group in the area of hydride superconductivity is a marvel and stands worldwide at the forefront in the hydride superconductivity field.

The members of his group have had a great teacher in Mikhail Eremets. We can expect great things from them in the future. I wish them continuing success in all their future endeavors.