Fw: Ref.: (LML) In Memoriam Jan Warndorff

 

 
Leprosy Mailing List – December 19,  2023

 

Ref.:  (LML) In Memoriam Jan Warndorff

 

From:  Ben Naafs, Munnekeburen, the Netherlands

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Dear colleagues,

 

Johannes Anthonius Warndorff was born in Hilversum, the Netherlands, on 24-8-1927 and passed away on 8-12-2023, after a long well spent life, mostly in Africa.

 

He and Titia were one of the first doctors who left the Netherlands for Africa in 1960, and who did not go to Indonesia or New Guinea. They went to Ghana, in that time still considered "white man's grave". Jan and Titia went nevertheless, with their first born, still a baby. They worked in general medicine where Jan was confronted with leprosy. That is why he went to Nijmegen in 1967 for specialisation in Dermatology. Professor Mali was head of the department.

 

In 1973 he and his family went back to Africa, this time as a dermatologist to Lilongwe, Malawi (LEPRA) and in 1976 to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (ALERT) where he first worked in leprosy control together with Dr Cap and then became the director of training, as successor of Dr Wheate.

 

In Ethiopia I met him for the first time where Jan, Titia and his family became our neighbours. We went together through the Ethiopian revolution under Mengistu Haile Mariam. The supervisors in leprosy control liked him a lot, a quiet wise man. I learned a lot from him.

 

He remained in Ethiopia until 1985 and in 1986 went to Zimbabwe to become my successor as head of leprosy control. There, too, he was appreciated for his kindness and knowledge of leprosy. He remained head of leprosy control for three years after which he retired with Titia to Binga near Lake Kariba where they set up an NGO together, Binga Trees. When the situation in Zimbabwe under Robert Mugabe deteriorated, they moved to Bulawayo and when it became impossible to live there, back to the Netherlands about 14 years ago.

 

Jan was a typical leprosy worker who did his work in silence but who contributed immensely, much more than his six papers on PubMed. He wasn't looking for applause.

 

He leaves behind his wife Titia, 6 children and 14 grandchildren. He went in peace.

 

Ben Naafs

 

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LML - S Deepak, B Naafs, S Noto and P Schreuder

LML blog link: http://leprosymailinglist.blogspot.it/

Contact: Dr Pieter Schreuder << editorlml@gmail.com

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