This post is reposted from Mappery
Yesterday the open source and open data geo communities were devastated by the tragic news of the passing of our friend and colleague Malena Libman. There was an outpouring of grief and celebration of her zest for life, humour, warmth and contribution to open geo.
Jody Garnett posted this picture of Malena’s tattoo which is truly a Map in the Wild today.
I met Malena in 2018 in Dar es Salaam for FOSS4G, the first time you met her you knew that she was something different, a force of nature. She wanted some advice about chairing a global FOSS4G event because she had a plan to host FOSS4G in Buenos Aires in 2021, by the end of the conference she had convinced me to advise her.
I’m struggling to find the words to express how tragic it is that Malena will not be with us to celebrate FOSS4G 2021 but I know that her co-chair and close friend Maria Aria de Reyna and the rest of the organising team will make this a special event to celebrate her memory.