On January 6th, 2023, our long-term colleague, Professor Roman Levitskii should have celebrated
his 80th birthday. The present issue of Condensed Matter Physics, covering the recent advances in the
physics of ferroelectricity and multiferroics, had been inspired by the Editorial Board’s wish to mark this
date with a collection of papers on the subject of his major interest throughout his long and fruitful life in
science. As the collection had been prepared for print and the present paper was being written, a sad news
arrived that after a long battle with diabetes Roman Levitskii passed away on October 28th, 2022. This
is a big loss for us and for the entire scientific community of Ukraine. The present issue now becomes a
tribute to our late friend and mentor and a bittersweet celebration of his lifelong achievements.