We are sure that much has already been said about the late professor John Rizzo Naudi and equally certain that we will not be able to do so as aptly as others.
As a physician, family man, politician and in his various positions as Chairman of the Blood Products Committee, president of the Institute of Nursing and Professions Allied to Medicine, and Chancellor of the University of Malta, he undertook many noble duties for the good of his country and fellow citizens.
The Institute of Healthcare he helped establish and develop has now matured into the Faculty for Health Sciences, providing nurses as well as biomedical scientists and healthcare professionals to our health service.
Rizzo Naudi also contributed immensely to modernise care for the elderly and establish services such as Home Care Help, Telecare, Handyman Service and Meals on Wheels.
His charitable work, often carried out with his late lamented wife Lisette, was another great love of his, no doubt stimulated by the many places where he worked medically in South-East Asia and sub-Saharan Africa. His energy and drive to support the advance of health in impoverished communities were endless.
This is how we both met him, where after our own voluntary medical work in Kenya, we set up with him, for well over a decade, a charitable organisation called the Share Foundation. This organisation contributed to the running of medical and educational programmes, often in collaboration with the religious missionary congregation of the Daughters of the Sacred Heart in Kenya.
At every meeting we had with him, we always appreciated what an interesting and ever-active man our beloved professor was. What a pleasure it used to be for us to hear him recount his personal medical experiences and learn from his keen interest in Malta’s medical history.
While wishing his family our sincere condolences and remembering him and Lisette in our prayers, it is worthwhile remembering a man who, in spite of his great age, his eternal youth shone through. His spirit will surely live on in those whom he inspired through his kindness, humility and wisdom.
A fond farewell, dear colleague and friend.