It is with great sorrow, but also great appreciation for the life of an exceptional friend and colleague lived to the full, that we announce the death of Dr. Nic de Zwaan, who passed away shortly before Christmas after a long period of bravely borne illness.

Nic was well known to all interested in pediatric anesthesiology both in the Netherlands and in the whole of Europe. He was a passionate proponent of quality and saw it as his mission to ensure that children received the highest standard of care, regardless of how serious or trivial their illness was or where their care took place. He will be particularly remembered in the Netherlands for his pioneering work on the centralization of surgical and anesthetic care for children and dealing with the problems this brought with it and for his equally pioneering work with day-care surgery.

Nic was born near Utrecht and studied medicine in Leiden, where he enjoyed student life to the full. He was a member of the Leiden Students Corps, played rugby, and went horseback riding, where he met his wife, Valerie. They later tied the knot and were happily married for 55 years.

In 1973, after training in anesthesiology in Amsterdam, Nic joined the staff of the St. Antonius Hospital, then in Utrecht, following in the footsteps of his father, who had retired from the same hospital a few years earlier. He worked tirelessly to improve care, both in his own hospital and nationally and internationally. Apart from centralization and day-care surgery, Nic was also involved in defining training criteria for anesthesia for children, protocolizing, and thereby radically improving, the management of pediatric pain, encouraging parental presence in the operating room (which at that time was quite controversial), and being a forerunner for a national standard for intensive care training for adults. He also invested much time in anesthesia for the dental care of children with special needs and in promoting cooperation between anesthesiologists and dentists in the Netherlands.

He took over as chair of the Pediatric Section of the Dutch Association for Anesthesiology during a difficult time and revitalized it making it more inclusive and effective. It is through his representation of the Netherlands that many former and present members of FEAPA and ESPA will remember Nic as a friendly and enthusiastic supporter of both organizations.

Nic was a tremendously warm and sociable character who was truly interested in everyone. He was a networker, a real people-person, who kept working on his projects until he had achieved his aims. For Nic, it was important to improve the care of children, and it did not matter who took the credits. He was selfless in promoting younger colleagues and stimulating them to excellence. None of us will forget his style during committee meetings when he arrived with two or three shopping bags full of minutes and documents, which he rarely consulted but which certainly impressed all present!

Nic will be remembered by family, friends, and colleagues as a remarkably convivial chap-a bon-vivant and a serious professional in one person. We are grateful to have been able to enjoy the warm conversation and brilliantly apt jokes of this truly remarkable man for so long. He never complained as his health declined in the last years and appreciated contact with his colleagues and friends until the end. He leaves behind his wife, Valerie, who tirelessly cared for him, two children, and three devoted grandchildren.

Nigel Turner

Ton Schouten

Ziska de Jong