A former Queen's University professor with a gift for languages has died in Belfast.
Marcus Wheeler, who was 93 and lived in the south of the city, wrote the first Oxford Russian-English Dictionary.
Formerly a Professor of Russian and Slavonic Studies at Queen's University Belfast, the father-of-three died on Friday while receiving dialysis at the City Hospital.
Born in Amersham in Buckinghamshire, the son of a vicar, Mr Wheeler initially studied classics at Oxford University.
It was during his call-up for National Service that he was offered the opportunity to learn Russian.
He worked for Oxford University Press and the British Foreign Office in Moscow in the 1960s, where he translated for politicians.
In 1967 he moved to Belfast and became the first Professor of Slavonic studies at Queen's University.
He was also co-founder of a cross-community group - the Irish Association for Russian, Central and East European Studies - which is now based at Trinity College Dublin.
In 1972 he wrote the first Oxford Russian-English Dictionary - the first to be published outside Russia - and over the years he continued to update the work.
Prof Wheeler officially retired from Queen's University in 1993 after 25 years but was frequently consulted by academics and delivered papers at conferences around the world.
His daughter Eleanor said he was awarded The Medal of Pushkin - a state decoration of the Russian Federation for achievements in the arts and culture, education, humanities and literature.
She said he would be remembered as someone who was "community minded".
"He was just very good at languages, a natural ability," she said.
"He was very modest. He was a real gentleman.
"He had a huge belief in education. During the Troubles, he would have gone out to students to help them. He hated it when they brought in fees for students.
"He absolutely loved walking in the Mournes. He was really into hill walking."
Eleanor said her father had a "good, solid decency" about him.
"He was very friendly. He would have talked to anyone and was interested in people.
"He will be greatly missed in a very wide sphere."
