We are profoundly sorry to say that we have been told of the recent sudden death of the extraordinarily talented Eugene Kryukov.
Eugene was very well known and respected in the Delphi community at all levels. Often, being asked to enumerate the achievements of a developer in such a short lifetime of coding can be straight-forward – but Eugene was so utterly prolific and operated at such a consistently high level of innovation, creativity, and technical expertise that it’s almost impossible to do justice to a life so completely, and extraordinarily gifted.
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Eugene Kryukov’s work has made yours possible
If you have used FireMonkey FMX, you have had your code touched by Eugene’s talent. If you have had a Delphi GUI application humming along on a Linux machine, then his FMXLinux components made that possible. CrossVCL, the astoundingly clever solution for getting VCL apps (a Windows only solution) to run quite happily on Linux too, is down to Eugene. He made things possible.
Eugene originally created a product called VGScene which was acquired by Embarcadero. VGScene was then renamed and expanded as FireMonkey under Eugene’s stewardship. He continued to work on FireMonkey including FireMonkey 3D and, latterly, was responsible for one success after another.
As David Millington said “Eugene was a very talented developer. He had a real eye for modernity in computer systems and brought that to Delphi through a strong focus on cross-platform and multiple different solutions to that – some people would have been happy with one, which on its own is a lifetime achievement, but through VGScene/FMX, TurboCocoa and CrossVCL, he built three“.
Eugene, a personification of the word ‘developer’
For most people that would be enough, to kick back, to say “I did something awesome”. But Eugene was not that kind of guy. He actively worked on FL Studio a gorgeously designed and hugely popular music creation application which puts its competitors to shame.
Yet, despite this overarching technical ability and tremendous output of creativity Eugene stayed grounded and was popular, managing to meet and befriend coders at all levels both inside and outside of Embarcadero. Eugene promoted developer attitudes and created core foundational technology that has been directly used and relied on by many thousands of people and will remain so for the foreseeable future. He had a massive impact. His influence will remain visible, and the results of his work used, for decades to come.
Here are a few words from colleagues
Sarina Dupont, Director, Product Management, Developer Tools, Embarcadero
“I was very saddened to hear about Eugene’s sudden passing. I first started working with Eugene back in the summer of 2011 when I joined Embarcadero, right as we were about to launch XE2 – the first version that included FireMonkey and multi-platform support. It wasn’t long after that Eugene visited Scotts Valley with Alexey Sharagin. Eugene has been a key contributor to the Delphi community and FireMonkey for decades. He was a very positive and motivated person, extremely intelligent and someone who could figure out fantastic solutions for very complex technical challenges. His contributions to the community will be felt for a long time, as there are countless Enterprise and consumer applications in the market today that are based on technology he was a part of creating.”
Bring yourself back to circa 2010: Delphi had gone through the Unicode transition, the IDE was improving, and rumours were coming out about Delphi compiling to macOS. And something else exciting was happening: there was this library I kept hearing more and more about, called VGScene/DXScene. It was modern: GPU-powered, looked amazing, a very impressive piece of code. As a Delphi user back then, I was very happy to hear it had been acquired. Since then, I’ve kept track of the various projects Eugene has been involved in. I’m a particular fan of TurboCocoa.
David Millington, Senior Product Manager, Embarcadero
We all have to leave, eventually, but it’s always too soon
All of us at Embarcadero are extremely grateful to Eugene and all that he was able to accomplish in such a short life which ended so suddenly. We would like to invite those of you who wish to, to leave a comment on this post. We will publish them as quickly as we are able to get to them.
On behalf of the entire Embarcadero team.
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I am saddened by his passing.
I bought a license for one of the earliest releases of VGScene and DXScene which I used for a very complex application I build back then.
I was in awe about what he had created, and I remember making posts both in the Embarcadero newsgroups on my own blog and even directly to John Kaster, about its merits, and that I found it was something that Embarcadero absolutely ought to have a look at.
I never heard back, but fortunately it seems that Embarcadero had the same feeling about it as I had.
It evolved to Firemonkey, and I had to rewrite my application. The first releases of Firemonkey had some things made better and more streamlined, but somethings were missing, which were a bit of a bummer.
But fortunately Embarcadero, I trust by the hands of Eugene, continued to evolve Firemonkey, and today I tend to use it for most of my GUI work for end user projects.
I wish the best for the family of Eugene, and I will be one of many who remembers him for his great work.
Kim Madsen/Components4Developers
R.I.P.
I can’t believe it, it’s very sad news for the Delphi world. I also used VGScene and DXScene from the beginning, which I considered revolutionary. I communicated with Eugene many times at that time and later I was very happy when VGScene was acquired by Embarcadero. RIP Eugene Kryukov. You live on for the Delphi world through what you have achieved for it.
Such sad news. His work changed my life, also, as FireMonkey made our product possible. My first thoughts go to his family and close friends, to which I present my deepest condolences. May he rest in peace.
It’s a real shock to hear that! He was extremely talented but in any very complex issue we knew that we can rely on his expertise and willingness to help. Rest in peace!
From the community of programmers in Mexico, we send our most sincere condolences to the family of Master Eugene. We lost a Warrior who made us remember the first time we touched Delphi, how surprising it was to see the creation of a visual form. Although in life Delphi surprises us with each version, that emotion was repeated when we first saw the work reflected in FIREMONKEY. Rest in peace, his legacy will continue for many years.
Thank you for everything, Eugene.
Very sad news. Had licences for his VGScene and DXScene component sets, which were a huge breath of fresh air in the UI part of Delphi. He was incredibly talented.
RIP.
Our deepest condolences, and may the brilliant minds always be remembered!!
ATTE:
AlexMireles (Mexico)
Mi más sentido pésame por la pronta partida de Eugene, persona muy talentosa en el mundo de la programación y por su particular contribución para lo que es FireMonkey.
I have always been deeply grateful to him for everything he contributed to Delphi since my early days with the DxScene library. Rest in peace, for you are a righteous servant whom God has chosen to be closer to Him, far from our human longing for you.
You will remain alive in our memories as long as FireMonkey continues to achieve success and elevate Delphi’s capabilities further, year after year, month after month, day by day, and minute by minute. Our successes today and in the future would not have been possible without your presence among us and your role in saving Delphi from the brink of extinction.
He was the one who gave our programs a new and modern look.
I was shocked when I heard about it. He left this life far too early. My condolences to all his relatives.
It is unfortunate to hear this news about the creator who revolutionized cross-platform programming, enabling Delphi/C++Builder developers to transcend Windows and target other systems like Linux, macOS, Android, and iOS. I was fortunate to have worked with his VGScene library and later the cross-platform FMX framework. Thank you, Eugene Kryukov, for your contributions to the programming world, especially for Delphi/C++Builder enthusiasts.
This is very sad news. Although I never met Eugene personally, I had a lively email exchange with him since 2017, as I was already involved in the first beta versions of FMXLinux (since version 0.92), as well as in the beta versions for CrossVCL.
Eugene was always correct, helpful and quick when there were problems somewhere.
It was fun to work with him.
With him, we lose a brilliant developer who did a great job for Delphi.
My condolences to his relatives and family.
Rest in peace
Harry Stahl, Bonn (Germany)
It was Eugene’s influence that brought me back to Delphi – in the run up to the launch of XE2.
I even attended a Delphi launch conference in person for the very first time, such was my enthusiasm for FMX’s radical new approach to building UI’s in Delphi XE2.
Sad that Eugene’s creativity has left this particular realm. May his closest friends and family be comforted by all that he achieved and his lasting influence over software developers and music producers across the globe.
I hadn’t time to write the lengthy message I wished for. Still, I want to express my admiration for his work and give my sincere condolences to his colleagues at Embarcadero, but especially to his close friends and family. No doubt Eugene will be missed by lots of people, but his talented work will remain among us for a long, long time.
I only exchanged a few dozen emails with him, enough to agree with the general sentiment of loss for one of the greats in this community.
Always courteous, always willing to help, always with solutions.
My condolences to his relatives and family.
Rest in peace.
It’s a great sadness for me. Since VGScene, and throught his earlier creation we always have a great contact and exchange.. Rest in peace Eugene, thank to you, for your kindness, your ideas, and your passionate work.
Rest in peace dear Eugene, thank you for your great work, and kindness.