The sudden death of Peter Mair on 15 August 2011 cut tragically short the career of one of the world's leading scholars of party politics. Struck down while vacationing with his family in his native Sligo, Ireland, Mair was just 60 years old. At the time of his death, he was Professor of Comparative Politics in the Department of Political and Social Sciences at the European University Institute in Florence, a position he had held since 2005. From 2007 through 2010, he had served as chair of the department.
Peter Mair was awarded BA and MA degrees by University College Dublin in 1972 and 1973. He taught at the National Institute of Higher Education in Limerick, the University of Strathclyde, the EUI and the University of Manchester before completing his PhD from the University of Leiden in 1987. In 1990, he returned to Leiden as a lecturer, and in 1992 became Professor of Comparative Politics, occupying the chair formerly held by Hans Daalder. In 2008 he was named Honorary Professor of Comparative European Politics at Leiden.