Professor Charles-Henri Rapin (1947–2008) [Новость добавлена - 29.04.2009]

Charles-Henri Rapin was one of the 42 founding members, in 1988, of the European Association for Palliative Care (EAPC); he was also a former member of the Board of Directors of the EAPC and of the Editorial Board of the European Journal of Palliative Care (EJPC).

Obituary: Charles-Henri Rapin (1947–2008)

Professor Charles-Henri Rapin died in the night of 10–11 July in Sion, Switzerland, not far from the Institut Universitaire Kurt Bösch (IUKB). It was at the IUKB that he had founded, in 1992, the first postgraduate teaching programme in palliative care, the ‘Master Européen en Soins Palliatifs et Thanatologie’.

A geriatric physician, Charles-Henri Rapin was one of the first to acknowledge the increasing importance of palliative care for the elderly. He wholeheartedly engaged in teaching palliative care and in the fight for a dignified life and death for patients of all ages. He was especially involved in ethical matters and unsparingly condemned all forms of discrimination. In the first issue of the EJPC, he had published, together with David J Roy, a key article on the incompatibility of euthanasia and palliative care,1 an issue still causing controversy and debate today – and not only in Switzerland. In the world of palliative care, Charles-Henri was certainly one of the most original, unpredictable and lovable figures.

He enjoyed contradiction and had an acute sense of humour, but also a provoking directness. He was highly regarded by his patients, students, colleagues and collaborators. For each one of them, he would always find the appropriate words. But in his life there were also times of loneliness, where he had no friends to support him. Charles-Henri had a vision and was full of ideas, energy and plans.

He left us just before the last day of the teaching programme at IUKB – which was coming to an end after having hosted one last group of students – after a sunny week full of wellbeing, joy and optimism. He died in the arms of three of his students, three physicians, who were unable to bring him back to life when he suddenly collapsed, confronting us with the power and ineluctability of death.

Christof Müller-Busch, President, German Association for Palliative Care (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Palliativ Medizin) muebu@t-online.de  
Claudia Mazzocato, Consultant, Palliative Care Division, Internal Medicine Department, Nestlé Hospital, Lausanne, Switzerland Claudia.Mazzocato@chuv.hospvd.ch  

Reference 1. Roy DJ, Rapin C-H, Board of Directors of the European Association for Palliative Care. Regarding euthanasia. European Journal of Palliative Care 1994; 1: 57–59.

http://www.eapcnet.org/about/Rapin.html