OLYMPIC REVIEW79OBITUARIESThe IOC was greatly saddened to learn of the death of Mohamed Mzali, IOC member in Tunisia, at the age of 84. Mr Mzali held a number of ministerial posts in his country(defence, health and education) beforebecoming Tunisian Prime Minister in 1980 for six years. He played an important role inTunisian sport during his career. He wasPresident of the Tunisian Olympic Committeefrom 1962 to 1986; President of the TunisianFootball Federation in 1962 and 1963;President of the International Committee forthe Mediterranean Games from 1979 to1987; and President of the OrganisingCommittee for the Mediterranean Games in Tunis in 1967.Elected as an IOC member in 1965, hewas a member of the Executive Board from1973 to 1980; Vice-President from 1976 to1980; President of the International OlympicAcademy from 1977 to 1988; and a memberof the following Commissions: Press andPublic Relations (1967-1972), Informationand Cultural (1973-1974), Press (1974-1980), Tripartite (1977-1980) and Cultureand Olympic Education (since 2002).A professor, Mr Mzali was a real sportslover, practising volleyball, football, tennis and walking. He was the author of manyworks on politics, history and Olympism (inFrench and Arabic), including "OlympismToday" and "Un Premier Ministre deBourguiba témoigne" (2004).MOHAMEDMZALIIOC MEMBER SINCE 1965 DIEDAT THE AGE AT OF 84The IOC was greatly saddened to learn of thedeath of Anton Geesink, IOC Member from theNetherlands, at the age of 76. A great athleteand a 10th dan judoka, Mr Geesink was anOlympic gold medalist in Tokyo in 1964 and a World Judo Champion in 1961, 1964 and1965. He also won 21 European JudoChampionship titles, was Dutch judo championseveral times and a three-time nationalchampion in Greco-Roman wrestling.Mr Geesink dedicated his entire career tothe promotion of sport and its values. He wasan advisor to the Dutch Secretary of State forSport, an honorary member of the InternationalJudo Federation (IJF) and a lifetime honorarypresident of the European Judo Union.Elected as an IOC member in 1987, he wasa member of the Sport for All Commission, amember of the Evaluation Commission for theXIX Olympic Winter Games in 1996, and adelegate member for members' responsibilitiesfrom 1992 to 2001. Since 2002, he played an active role during the Olympic Games asdelegate member for Games Observation.A teacher by profession, Mr Geesink waspart of the Royal Military Academy in Breda and a professor at the Academy of PhysicalEducation in Amsterdam and the CentralInstitute for the Education of Sports Teachers in Overveen. He was also a national andinternational judo instructor and coach.Mr Geesink received a number ofprestigious distinctions throughout his career,including the Queen's Order of Knight of OranjeNassau, the Prix de l'Académie Française, andthe Order of the Sacred Treasure, Gold Rays by His Majesty the Emperor of Japan. He was anhonorary doctor in letters at Tokyo's KokusikanUniversity, unanimously elected to the IJF Hallof Fame in 2003, and national sportsmanof the year in his country four times. The City ofUtrecht honoured him with a statue in the citycentre in 1995. He was the author of elevenbooks and articles on judo and sports education.ANTONGEESINKOLYMPIC GOLD MEDALLIST AND IOC MEMBER DIED AGED 76PENTTILINNOSVUODouble Olympicchampion PenttiLinnosvuo died on13 July at the age of77. Linnosvuo beganhis Olympic career at 19 in hishome town at the Helsinki Gamesin 1952. Four years later inMelbourne, he won gold in the50m free pistol event, thusbecoming the first Finnish Olympicchampion in shooting. In 1960, hereturned from the Rome Gameswith a silver medal in the 25mpistol (rapid fire). In 1964, he tookthe gold medal in the same event in Tokyo. In Mexico City for his fifthGames, he was the flag-bearer ofthe Finnish delegation. He alsoserved on advisory bodies of theNOC. In 1998, he received theGrand Cross of Merit of FinnishSport and Physical Culture, thehighest distinction for sportsachievement in Finland.