Swiss children’s doctor who worked in Cambodia dies

Swiss children’s doctor and musician Beat Richner set up a network of hospitals in Cambodia. Keystone

Beat Richner, a Swiss paediatric doctor and cellist famous for his work in Cambodia, has died at the age of 71 after a serious illness, his foundation said on Sunday. 

Zurich-born Richner, also well known in Switzerland by his nickname of Beatocello, moved to Phnom Penh in 1992, where he rebuilt the Kantha Bopha children’s hospital at the request of Cambodian King Norodom Sihanouk after the civil war.

He was honoured in Cambodia last year for his work treating sick children for free. Beat RichnerExternal link regularly gave concerts in Switzerland to present his work in Cambodia and raise money for it. 

His illness had however obliged him to hand over the management of the children’s hospitals to his deputy Peter Studer.

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Beat Richner as a student in 1969. He was president of the small student council at the University of Zurich, Switzerland. (Keystone) Keystone

Beat Richner had many strings on his bow. Alter-ego “Beatocello” was one of them, shown here during the International Year of the Child in 1979. (Keystone/Susann Schimert-Ramme) Keystone/Susann Schimert-Ramme

Beat Richner being awarded the Adele Duttweiler Prize in Rüschlikon, Switzerland, on October 26, 1994. Pictured with Mario Bonorand, left, and Ulrich K. Hochstrasser of the foundation committee. (Keystone/Willi Helfenberger) Keystone/Willi Helfenberger

Beat Richner examining a child at the Jayavarman VII Children’s Hospital in February 2001. The Zurich paediatrician opened the hospital in Siem Reap in March 1999. (Keystone/Gary Kieffer) Keystone/Gary Kieffer

Beat Richner observes the construction of the children’s hospital, Jayavarman VII, in Siem Reap in March 1999. (Keystone/Gary Kieffer) Keystone/Gary Kieffer

Beat Richner shows Britain’s Princess Anne the maternity ward of the Kantha Bopha Hospital of Hope in Siem Reap in 2002. The hospital, funded by donations from Switzerland, was built on land donated by King Norodom Sihanouk. (AP/Andy Eames) Keystone

Beat Richner with former Swiss President Micheline Calmy-Rey during her tour of the children’s hospital in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, in 2007. (AP/Heng Sinith) Keystone

People lining up for free medical treatment at the Kantha Bopha (Jayavarman VII) Children’s Hospital in Siem Reap near Angkor Wat, Cambodia, on December 25, 2008. EyesWideOpen/Getty Images

Cambodian King Norodom Sihamoni, right, greets Beat Richner during the hospital inauguration ceremony in Phnom Penh in 2007. Looking on is Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen. (Photo/Heng Sinith) Keystone

Banners over a street in Siem Reap request money and blood donations for the children’s hospital Jayavarman VII in 2002. (Keystone/Gary Kieffer) Keystone

Mothers with their babies sit in the waiting room of the children’s hospital (Jayavarman VII) in Siem Reap, Cambodia, in 2012. (swissinfo.ch/Frédéric Burnand) swissinfo.ch

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