The man behind  UK’s first connection to the Arpanet, a precursor to the internet is no more . Peter Kirstein who is known as the European Father of  Internet has gone into eternity after contributing a massive role to the European internet.  Kirstein played a significant role in the technology’s early experimental period, helping establish and expand the internet in Europe and other parts of the world.

Having studied at Stanford University in the 1950s, Kirstein established these networks in the mid-1960s and 70s, travelling to the US extensively for his job at General Electric (GE) first, and later for his research in computer communications.

In 1975 Kirstein and his research group at UCL participated in the first international test of the Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) and Internet Protocol (IP) to communicate with Stanford University. In 1977 these tests included also Norway; and in 1982, a year ahead of his American colleagues at Arpanet, Kirstein adopted TCP/IP, the protocol for reliable data transfer still used in today’s internet.

Kirstein was also responsible for setting up the Queen’s first email account, in 1976, at the opening of the new Royal Signals and Radar Establishment building in Malvern. Peter was educated at Highgate school in north London. In December 1950 he was awarded a scholarship to study mathematics and electrical engineering at Gonville & Caius College, Cambridge; while waiting for his place the following year, he moved to California, where he lived with his aunt and uncle and briefly attended the University of California, Los Angeles. He also found a part-time position working on a research project for the US army.

In 1959 he began working as a physicist at Cern, the European Organisation for Nuclear Research, in Switzerland. In 1963 GE was looking for a liaison scientist for their European office in Zurich. Kirstein perfectly fitted their requirements: proficiency in European languages, a background in electrical engineering and a thorough awareness of the US. Kirstein was fluent in German and French and became competent in Russian during a six-month exchange with the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research at Dubna, a city 110km north of Moscow.

During his years at GE, Kirstein was responsible for evaluating European scientific research; it was there that he realised the growing importance of computer communications and in 1967 decided to return to academia to pursue research in this area; he got a senior position at the University of London Institute of Computer Science while he continued as a GE consultant for a further 25 years.

When the institute closed in 1973, he transferred his research group to UCL, where he became professor of statistics and computer science, moving physically with all the equipment in 1975. He founded the university’s computer science department in 1980 and served as its head until 1994.

Throughout his career Kirstein was involved in several international projects such as the Silk Project which provided dedicated internet infrastructure for research and educational communities in Caucasus and central Asia. He was also responsible for the registration of the .uk domain in 1985 and he ran the domain affiliated with international users (.int) for several years.

Kirstein was appointed CBE in 2003 and was named an Internet Hall of Fame Pioneer  in 2012. His contributions to the internet world will leave his name in the annals of history.