Remembering Emeritus Professor Monty Losowsky
Remembering Emeritus Professor Monty Losowsky, one of the first Chairs of Coeliac UK’s Medical Advisory Committee, who died on 8 May 2020.
Volunteers have been an integral part of Coeliac UK from the very beginning and the charity was started by volunteers who were dedicated to helping people with coeliac disease.
Professor Losowsky - Monty - became part of Coeliac UK’s story in 1968, when we were known as the Coeliac Society. Monty volunteered to become our first Chair of the Medical Advisory Committee, where he advised on the evidence base to help support people with coeliac disease. This was essential in providing support to people with coeliac disease that was accurate and would support them at a time when less was known about the condition.
Monty worked directly with Elizabeth Segal and Peter Benenson – both volunteers when they founded the Coeliac Society - and was touched by Elizabeth’s generosity in supporting people with coeliac disease with the knowledge she had built as a parent of a child with coeliac disease. They often met in Elizabeth’s house where Coeliac UK started. Monty was also involved in the creation of the British Nutrition Foundation in 1967.
In an interview with Monty, Elizabeth Segal said: “I want to express my thank you to you [Monty] because you have been a part of the society and the Trust for many, many years as well, and it is your continuing help and support that has helped us to get to where we are now, and I would like to put on record my thanks to you for all the years of work that you have done.”
Volunteers have played a vital part in shaping Coeliac UK and the lives of people with coeliac disease over the years. Contributions to our community are never forgotten. Thank you for everything you did, Professor Monty Losowsky.