(1946–2015)
It was very sad to learn about the passing away of Hanneke de Boer on 12th October,
2015.
I first met Hanneke in 1989 (she was then the Secretary General of the IBE), during
the 18th International Epilepsy Congress that we proudly hosted in New Delhi. Since
then our association and friendship grew and we continued to work together on many
important aspects of the global epilepsy movement. It was during her tenure as the
IBE President in 1997 that her relentless crusade culminated in the successful launch
of the ILAE/IBE/WHO Global Campaign Against Epilepsy. She nominating me as the Resource
Person from Asia in the GCAE that provided me another opportunity to know her better
from both the professional and personal point of view.
Having begun her professional life as a vocational consultant at the Stichting Epilepsie
Instellingen Nederland (SEIN) in Heemstede, the Netherlands in 1965, Hanneke got actively
involved with IBE about two decades later and became Editor of IE News and a member
of the Executive Committee. She rose to become Secretary General of the IBE in 1989
and served as its President from 1993 to 1997.
The long list of awards that Hanneke was decorated with includes the IBE/ILAE Ambassador
for Epilepsy award in 1987, the Social Accomplishment award in 1995 and the Lifetime
Achievement Award in 2009. Her contributions didn't go unnoticed even in her own country,
the Netherlands. As per the information provided by the IBE, she received the Award
of the Christian Society for the Care of People with Epilepsy in 1982, the Spike and
Wave award of the Dutch Branch of ILAE in 1997, and was inducted as an Officer of
the Orange Order of Nassau by the Royal Dutch House (the last one being one of the
highest awards presented in the Netherlands and is rarely conferred).
Hanneke always worked with a tremendous zeal and was a source of inspiration to many
of us globally. She was truly one of the greatest and longest serving advocates for
people with epilepsy. Her seminal contributions towards the global epilepsy movement
will always be recognized internationally and remembered forever.
In her passing away after a prolonged illness, we in India have lost a close friend.
The void left by her demise will be very difficult to fill in the years to come.
Since she achieved so much in her lifetime, I am sure that she left for her heavenly
abode with nothing more to desire while breathing her last. She achieved ‘
Moksha
’ in the true sense!
Dear Hanneke, RIP.
