Francois Houtard

Three years ago, on this day, Francois Houtart left us. He died in his sleep in the early hours of June 6 in Quito. It was only when I was working on his autobiography after his death that I learnt that he had long been carrying a pacemaker on him. Living in Quito at 2850 metres above sea level no doubt added to the stress. A year before, in July 2016, we invited Francois to Hong Kong to participate in the Third South South Forum on Sustainability, and the format that year was that he gave a lecture every morning for four consecutive days on July 23-26, followed by discussions. At the age of 91, Francois delivered his lectures with great lucidity, and his spirit for struggle and his faith in utopia were contagious. To you, I recommend his autobiography (the English edition was published by Global U for free download from the Global U website) and his lectures.

Please see https://our-global-u.org/oguorg/en/francois-houtart/

Let us remember Francois on this day, and take strength from his way of living his life as intensely as possible.

Lau Kin Chi