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With deepest regret, EHTO(*) announces that Prof. Jean-Louis Scherrer has passed away, after a short period of illness.
He was the founder of HON, and since its launching Prof. Scherrer has been the President of the “Health On the Net Foundation -HON”.
From the 60’s on, Jean-Raoul has started an endless battle throughout Europe and the World, assuming like an helmsman the revolt against conformity and the lack of knowledge and ambition, that existed sometimes in Health Informatic’s work progress; and, most of the time, he was always available to fight against that through encouraging the international medical community to invest in the essential knowledge, exchanging experiences with others, and to develop, and produce intelligent and effective solutions to be used by the institutional health actors dealing with informatics.
Along more than 30 active years, Prof. Scherrer has received a number of international important prizes, and honours, being also often invited as a key speaker at the main sessions of international congresses and in other important occasions.
In order to complement and to regulate the works in “Informatics in Health”, Professor Scherrer also gave a quality contribution (and has managed as well) to the creation of professional’s international institutions like as, EFMI, IMIA, and other internationally well known similar organisations and working groups (e.g. CEN).
Prof. Scherrer was a man possessing an excellent humanism, and that together with an extraordinary culture covering worldwide. He also had the gift of a fine-tuned intuition, acting like a kind of a permanent "added-value" to his professional expertise and knowledge. Prof. Scherrer has enthusiastically deployed all those capacities whenever professionals looking for the state of the art, rigour, and innovation for their projects, requested to him a specific support or help.
Jean-Raoul’s brilliance as a speaker was naturally glued to an involuntary capacity of persuasion of the audiences. All them were attracted also by Jean-Raoul’s personal charm and intellectual elegance, by his kindness, and of course, on the top of that, by the capacity of “vision” Jean-Raoul put in all types of interventions he has made.
Such rare and multiple characteristics of his personality, have profoundly touched thousands of us, who had the privilege to listen to Jean-Raoul in a number of conferences, congress’s opening speeches, or even in more societal occasions like the unforgettable gala-diners particularly when he played the role of host.
Finally, the nature of his friendship leaves an irreplaceable void place, in the heart, and in the memories of a large number of us.
Professor Jean-Raoul Scherrer will remain forever a remarkable and unique personality in his (and our) time.

(His Family address is as follows: 7, Chemin des Champs-de-Chaux, 1222, Vésenaz, Switzerland)
(*) EHTO takes part in the HON Council Board



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