Dr Martin Roth, former director of the V&A, has died at the age of 62.
The German museum director ran the London attraction from 2011 to 2016.
Nicholas Coleridge, chairman of the V&A, announced the news, saying: “We are extremely saddened to hear that Dr Martin Roth has died.
“Martin will be remembered as a man of prodigious energy; a director with a global reputation both within the museum world and beyond; a committed Europhile and cultural ambassador with a philosophical turn of mind, as well as a devoted husband and father.
“As director of the V&A for just over five years, Martin made it his mission to raise the international profile of the museum, and under his leadership, the V&A was named 2016 Art Fund Museum of the Year.”
Mr Coleridge said Dr Roth was the impetus behind initiatives such as the V&A’s presence at the Venice Biennale and was instrumental in the founding of the V&A Research Institute.
He was also closely involved in the expansion of the museum’s footprint to Dundee and Shekou, and recent openings of the European Galleries 1600-1815 and the V&A Exhibition Road Quarter.
He added: “This, combined with exhibitions such as David Bowie Is, Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty, Disobedient Objects and Engineering the World: Ove Arup, raised the V&A to new heights.
“We will greatly miss Martin, and are profoundly grateful for his considerable contribution to the V&A.”
Tristram Hunt, the current director of the museum, who replaced Dr Roth when he stepped down last year, wrote on Twitter: “@V_and_A is hugely saddened by death of Martin Roth – his was a prodigious internationalism & contemporary ambition.”
Dr Roth was director general of the Dresden State Art Collections from 2001 to 2011 and was appointed president of Germany’s Institute for Foreign Relations in June 2016.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here