This first issue of Language Resources and Evaluation is dedicated to the memory of Antonio Zampolli, whom few would dispute is the one person who has led the way in promoting and establishing the development of language resources (LR) of all kinds for the past four decades. In this inaugural issue, we have attempted to bring together articles by major figures in the field in order to provide an overview of the history, state of the art, and the future of the creation, annotation, exploitation, evaluation, and distribution of LR. Hopefully, this collection of articles will serve not only as a tribute to Antonio, but also as a framework out of which this journal – which almost certainly would not have existed were it not for him – can grow.