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Abadzis On 14 June, Pierre Marius Abadzis, MRPharmS, of 42 Ailsa Road,
St Margaret’s-on-Thames, Twickenham, Middlesex TW1 1QW. Mr Abadzis
registered in 1953 (see Tribute).
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Tribute
Abadzis In a tribute to the late Pierre
Marius Abadzis, RIVITA
RODRIGUES, Dr MEHAR MANKU and Dr CHARLES STEWART write:
Pierre Abadzis,
Greek-born in Alexandria, Egypt, studied pharmacy at the University
of Louvain, Belgium. Arriving in England, he registered and became
a member of the Pharmaceutical Society in 1953.
Pierre’s career was dedicated to various senior positions in the
pharmaceutical industry: Parke-Davis in the United Kingdom and United
States, Pharmacia in Sweden and Switzerland, and then Efamol-Scotia Pharmaceuticals
in the UK before retiring in 1998.
Those of us who were fortunate to work with him found him to be a thorough
professional, enthusiastic personality, excellent manager, superb motivator,
fountain of knowledge and a first-class person with the highest ethical
standards. A Greek scholar, he often used quotes to make a significant
point. He was also accomplished in five languages that would help him
enormously in his travels worldwide.
He is greatly missed for his wisdom, advice and wonderful sense of humour.
His substantial contribution to the pharmaceutical industry and our careers
will not be forgotten. He was an achiever and outstanding man in every
respect.
Our thoughts remain with Josephine, Alex, Nicholas and Natalie at this
sad time.
Greenfield In a tribute to the late Eric
Spencer Greenfield (PJ, 2 August,
p161), Professor TONY MOFFAT (chief scientist, Royal Pharmaceutical Society)
writes:
Eric was a great person to work with on scientific matters because
of his attention to detail, rigorous approach to accuracy and ability
to write complex scientific matters in clear English. I first met him
at the Society when he provided the secretariat for the second edition
of ‘Clarke’s Isolation and identification of drugs’.
One of his great strengths was his gentle manner when explaining a better
way of putting things. If I had a new idea that I was too enthusiastic
about he would say something like, “Well, Tony, that’s an
interesting idea, but there may be a better way of doing it.” He
would then painstakingly explain why the way he was suggesting was the
best way forward — and it nearly always was.
He had real earnestness about making sure that the readers of the books
he was editing understood what was written there and could make the best
of the information. He many times said to me that we should put “Read
the General Notices” on each page of all the books to help readers
appreciate that only by doing so would they get complete understanding
of what was there. He was always thinking about the readers' needs.
Other staff here at the Society also remember him with great affection.
Current members of the British National Formulary and Martindale editorial
teams have told me how Eric taught and mentored them when they first
started to edit books. His great patience and great editorial knowledge
made him a super person from whom to learn the trade. He also had a great
sense of humour.
Eric’s name is on many of the books published by the Society. He
was secretary to many of the committees through several editions of the
British Pharmaceutical Codex during the 1960s and ’70s before he
started work on the second edition of Clarke. He was then appointed editor
of the new Veterinary Formulary and set up the system to make the editorial
work run smoothly.
At the same time as editing, he also acted as the permanent secretariat
for the Joint Pharmaceutical Analysis Group during the 1970s and ’80s.
It was an important time, as the group expanded both its membership and
the scope of its activities during that period. It was typical of his
modesty that all correspondence was merely sent to Room 403 at the Society.
He did not wish to be named, since he regarded it as a service.
Eric also served his community, his church and his family. But he was
not known as Eric. From his teens he was called Jimmy as there was another
Eric at the youth club that he attended and he did not wish to be confused
with him. He regarded family and friends as important and gently turned
down invitations to stay behind at work to socialise because he wanted
to get home to be with them.
He worked tirelessly for the church and the local Scouts, acting as Scout
leader from 1965 for 22 years. In his retirement, he even brought out
his editing skills to edit the diocesan newsletter. As his local parish
priest put it, “He was a good, honest, Christian man and a role
model.” Eric had his fullness and commitment in all that he did.
His wife Paddy and son and daughter (Tony and Valerie) celebrated his
life with their friends and family at the requiem mass for which Eric
had chosen the hymns. He wanted it to be a good celebration of his life
and not a sad occasion. We offer our sympathy and condolences to Paddy
and her family at this time.
He was a gentle gentleman, we shall all miss him
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