Abstract
Gerhard Fitzlaff, German Orthopaedic Meister, was called in 1989 to lead the German ISPO out of an inactive period and to define its new goals. He mastered this challenge with determination and was the President of the German ISPO branch until 1991.
Since then, he remained a permanent member of the Executive Committee of the German ISPO as a special tasks officer. At international level, Gerhard was elected to the Executive Board in 1995. From 1998 to 2001, he was the Vice-President of the ISPO and during his time on the Board he also served as Chairman of the Publications Committee. His all-embracing professional know-how and his engagement for the different activities of the Society were highly appreciated.
Gerhard was an exceptionally gifted technician and a perfect teacher. He always demonstrated his ability at numerous national and international events. He was always inspired by the different training courses where he assumed specific tasks.
In his hometown Berlin, Gerhard became a Geselle in technical orthopaedics after finishing his basic training in 1955. At that time, I learned to appreciate him as a colleague and friend. He worked at different locations. Paris and the Proteor Company in Marseille can be seen as the ones which influenced him most. He became an Orthopaedic Meister at the Bundesfachschule in Frankfurt am Main in 1962.
There were many outstanding points in his professional life. He was one of those responsible for the building of a national orthopaedic supply system in Tunisia and took care of hundreds of polio cases in Kassar-Saïd, Tunisia. He was Technical Director of the technical orthopaedics in Bellikon, Switzerland. From 1987 to 1991, he was Vice-Director at the Bundesfachschule in Dortmund and later its provisional Director. Starting in 1991, he worked at Motec in Villingen-Schweningen, where on top of the Research and Development activities, he often assumed difficult tasks which needed all his professional knowledge. Even after retiring, he continued to work on his knee project which received an award in southern Germany as Teco-Fit.
His innovative spirit, his accuracy at work and his braveness when heading for new directions have left deep traces at the different places where he worked. His desire to transmit his knowledge to younger generations was honoured during his time in BUFA with numerous national and international seminars, lectures and training courses.
Even after his work in Tunisia, Gerhard Fitzlaff continued to assist, in a sustainable way, projects of the German Development Assistance in the field of technical orthopaedics and achieved outstanding results in the training sector. In particular, it has to be mentioned that the extent and content of training of Orthopaedic Technologists (ISPO/WHO Category II) was based on the work in Tunisia which has been developed to their current worldwide standard found today.
His book, Lower Limb Prosthetics Components, published in 2002 emphasizes Gerhard Fizlaff's professional ambition to distribute to the professional world his achieved and practiced professional knowledge. I had the privilege to work together with him at some of his professional stations from which I gained significantly in practical and professional experience. The professional world has lost an outstanding personality both in Germany as well as internationally. The ISPO has lost a friend and colleague who contributed over a long period to the image of multidisciplinary work in the ISPO sector. Many patients who profited from his experience, as well as many former students all over the world, will remember him in grief but also in gratitude for his help and training.
We mourn his death and we would like to express to his wife Gisela and his two sons our deepest regret for his sudden and unexpected death.