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In the preceding article I had given the history of the Liga Medicorum
Homeopathica Internationalis (referred to as Liga for short and abbreviated
as L.M.H.I.) from the very beginningupto1977. Now it is being updated
up to 1996. There may be a very slight overlap of information in a few
matters which had to be included to show the continuity. As the Liga membership
increased and it started to get more and more organised, some controversies
started and some of the meetings of the Council became rather stormy.
The calm atmosphere that had prevailed so far was no longer there, and
there were angry exchanges. The Liga tried to also take on newer responsibilities
and some of the important members felt that it should give direction to
the type of education to be imparted to doctors so that they become homeopaths.
For this purpose a Special Committee for School and Education was set
up by the Assembly at Brussels in 1972 according to Article 57 of the
Statutes. Its task was only to make a report on the curricula of the various
national homoeopathic schools, the individual character of which would
be respected. "The committee should recommend a minimum level of
knowledge on the law of similars and potentisation." A new post of
Secretary for Education was created. It ran into understandable trouble,
due to the different patterns of homoeopathic education prevailing in
different parts of the world and the effort of the committee was to arrive
at a consensus.
Initially Dr. Paschero made some efforts in this matter
by proposing the syllabus of his school as the model pattern. Later, Prof.
Spyros Garzonis drafted another syllabus and wanted to setup a model institution
in Greece. When the post of Secretary for Education was actually created,
Dr. Jacques Imbrechts took over this responsibility. He travelled extensively
and finally compiled a report and proposed a model for teaching classical
homoeopathy. When this was presented to the Liga Council, Dr. Denis Demarque
of France violently opposed it, and he felt that in any case, in this
way the Liga was interfering with the liberty of the member countries
in having their own type of education and practice. This, of course, was
not the intention of the Liga. It was generally known that though Homoeopathy
was widely practiced in France it was somewhat different than what has
come to be known as the classical model.
I had been actively participating in the functioning of
the Liga since1965 and had generally followed the happenings of the earlier
years also. Previously, the atmosphere in the Council meetings had always
been very cordial and accommodating. In 1965 when 2 names were proposed
for the presidency, both candidates left the meeting room arm in arm to
let the other members decide. One candidate was chosen among the contenders
by way of consensus, without any voting. When the decision of the Council
was announced both the candidates cheerfully embraced and the loser heartily
congratulated the winner. At the next election in 1969, Dr. Ortega politely
raised the point that when considering Liga Presidency, the third world
countries should not be forgotten as there was very considerable activity
for homoeopathy in Latin America also. He proposed the name of Dr. Paschero
of Argentina. Since President Lamasson had already proposed the name of
Dr. Petzinger of Germany, he suggested that Dr. Paschero may be elected
as the senior vice president (for which there already existed a provision
in the statutes) so that he may take over as the Liga President in the
following term after three years. In this way, the matter was very amicably
settled. Prior to this there was no such precedence that the Senior Vice
President must take over as President after three years.
Another factor which bred some disharmony was a gradual
attempt by the French to more or less monopolise all the offices and the
committees by manipulating the selection of people of their choice. The
French asserted that they had the largest group with a membership of over
5000, and must therefore have a stronger representation in the Liga Council.
(In one Council meeting, the Treasurer had to confront them with the fact
that the subscriptions that he actually received from France were from
hardly a few dozen doctors.) So long as the atmosphere had been friendly,
nobody seemed to have objected, but now there were some voices of discontent.
In 1985 when there were multiple names proposed for the
position of National Vice President of other countries, the senior French
office bearers even wanted to have their favourites selected whether they
fulfilled the required qualification or not. As the matter could not be
resolved, President Dr. Illing formed a subcommittee to make a provisional
selection till those countries could decide for themselves, and in the
future every country must settle its internal problems nationally but
finally sponsor only one person to the Liga International Council. After
the Congress in India in 1967, when the Liga officers and members came
in close contact with the Indian homeopaths and learnt about the pattern
of homoeopathic education there, and the large number homoeopathic institutions
recognised by the government, they started to think of some via media
of giving them active membership. The then president Dr. Eenhoorn (Pres.
1975 to 1979) was generally in before favour of this move. He gave a notice
before his retirement for an extraordinary general meeting required for
a change in the statutes. For certain technical reasons this could not
be in held in 1980 and was held at the Rome congress in 1981 under my
Presidency. Prior to the meeting a thirteen page letter was received from
the National Vice President of France, Denis Demarque, accusing the office
bearers and the present and two previous presidents of gross irregularities
and he used very impolite and aggressive language. The meeting at Rome
ws a stormy affair and with the overwhelming participation of the French,
it was decided that there should be no change statutes with regard to
the two categories of membership.
However, there was an amazing somersault the following
year (1982) at the Triennial Congress at Brighton, and the same French
group which had so violently opposed the change now wanted that the Indian
qualification be recognised. It was very clear, that this was because
Dr. Horvilleur was a candidate for the senior vice president, and he needed
the votes of such Indian doctors who were present in fairly large number.
Dr. Horvilleur lost the election and Dr. Risquez was elected
the senior vice president. At the next congress in Vienna in 1983, as
I entered the executive meeting, the very first remark of the new president
Dr. Illing,was that "we made a mistake last year byrecognising the
Indian qualification, as this change can onlybe done by an extraordinary
general meeting, for which a notice of one year has to be given".
The next triennial congress in 1985 held at Lyon was one
of the most disharmonious. Never before there had been such aggressive
and violent language used in the general assembly, and most shameful of
all, there was actual physical fighting especially between the French
and the Italian participants.
Dr. Risquez took over the Presidency in 1985. He started
to apply the clauses of the statutes more rigidly and also immediately
set out trying to broad base the Liga i.e. to diversify the offices and
Committee chairmen to different countries, thus reducing the French hold.
In consequence, the general meeting at Washington in 1987 witnessed an
absolute non cooperation by the French and part of the Mexican and Argentinian
participants and perhaps one or two Indians. They refused to listen to
all arguments, pleadings and polite persuasions and walked out of the
meeting hall en lot, lead by the senior vice president Dr. Horvilleur,
the secretary general, the secretary for research etc. Four months later,
in September of 1987, we learnt that a new organisation called O.M.H.I.
had been launched by the disgruntled elements of the Liga, with Dr. Horvilleur
as president. They included in their membership many people that could
not get an active membership in the L.M.H.I. Now they were not only made
members, but even national vice presidents and office bearers.
This was a sad happening. As a minority medical group
we needed to grow in strength, and not to divide our energies. Efforts
have been made from time to time to amalgamate again, but not much has
been heard about this recently. I would be a sadist if I was to derive
any satisfaction from the fact that the news we receive of OMHI activities
and congresses show a progressive decline.
The L.M.H.I. has functioned fairly smoothly thereafter
and has flourished and grown in strength.
Membership
Some background to the matter of active membership has
already been given above. At the 1986 congress in Brazil it was decided
to offer full or active membership of the Liga to those homeopaths of
the third world countries who had obtained qualifications from homoeopathic
institutions that were affiliated to boards/faculties/universities that
had been fully recognised by the Government of their countries. Even though
this news was published in the Liga journal - ACTA Homeopathica, some
opposition was expressed in subsequent council meetings and so a subcommittee
of 3 members was constituted to gather opinion and present a final draft
to be adopted at a subsequent extraordinary general meeting. The final
statutes were approved at the 48th Congress that was held at Vienna in
1993.
Journal of the Liga
Ever since the journal Acta ceased regular publication
in1971, and the annual issues were also discontinued in 1973, the need
for some means of communication between the members remained. In the 1970s
this was partly fulfilled by what was called the "Management Letter."
Then for some years there was a blank. Subsequently, the Acta was restarted.
Some issues were published in Spain, but later two issues were printed
in India,where publication costs were lower. At the congress in 1993 a
well established publisher offered to bring out the Acta without any cost
to the Liga and gave some very good suggestions to improve its getup and
contents. After much discussion it was decided to accept the offer as
a trial for 1 or 2 years before again reviewing the proposal in along
term context. However, after printing a few issues, it probably belied
the expectations of the publisher and dampened his enthusiasm. The publication
started getting delayed and finally ceased. At the 49th congress in New
Delhi in 1995, a revised proposal was presented by them suggesting that
Liga members may subscribe for the journal individually as it was not
possible to provide it free of cost. From its very inception this was
a still born scheme and never saw the light of day.
At the 51st Congress at Capri in Italy, it was proposed
that the Greek journal be adopted by the Liga and that it could include
all the Liga news and information in a few pages in every issue. This
was discussed but not approved. Till the Liga journal Acta Homeopathica
restarts publication, President Dr. Sandra Chase has decided to keep up
international contact through a quarterly newsletter.
Economic Matters
The cost of organising the L.M.H.I. congresses to the
homeopaths of the host country, as also the cost to the participating
delegates, if the congresses are held annually, was discussed in1996.
I have witnessed this matter being discussed repeatedly over the last
30 years, and eventually it has always been felt that congresses should
be held every year rather than at longer intervals especailly in the present
context with fast means of travel and "shrinking distances".
As for the cost to the organisers, it was brought out
that the major expense is on simultaneous translation in four languages,
and the possibility of curtailing this expenditure was considered. A final
decision could not be made. There is no article in the statutes about
the use of four languages viz. English, French, German and Spanish, although
it has become customary to use these four languages in the Scientific
sessions. This is desirable so as to encourage maximum participation.
Some congress organisers have provided simultaneous interpretation in
even more than four languages if there are enough participants speaking
a particular language other than those four.
Standard of Papers
In order to make participation in congresses more meaningful,
it was desired to have a better screening of the contents of papers to
be presented. It was mooted that the screening may be done without being
overawed by the previous high standing of the author , and steps may be
devised that the person screening the paper does not know the identity
of the author. The organisers of the 52nd Congress in 1997 have invited
reputable homoeopathic doctors from overseas also to constitute their
Scientific committee and participate in the process of selection of presentations.
It has been suggested that a congress advisory committee
be formed, constituted of a few persons who have successfully organised
Liga congresses in the past. For this a convenor or secretary congress
may be appointed.
Membership Cards & Certificates
After 1995, the small annual membership cards have been
discontinued, and it is proposed to replace them with a membership certificate
valid for 10 years. So long as dues are regularly paid, fresh stickers
showing year of validity can be pasted on to the certificates. These certificates
and stickers will be sent to all members directly by the treasurer.
Presidents of Honour and Honorary Members
For a long time Dr. pierre Schmidt was the only president
of honour having been elected in the 1930s. Then in1993 Dr. C. Eenhoorn
was elected. In 1995 Prof. Dr. Diwan Harish Chand received this honour.
In 1988 for the first time some retiring senior members
were made honorary members of the Liga. Dr. Jost Kunzli of Switzerland,
Prof. Alpredo Eugenio Vervloet of Brazil and Prof. Antonio Negro of Italy.
Subsequently, Dr. Mathias Dorcsi and Dr. David Flores Toledo were elected
as honorary members in 1993 and 1995 respectively.
World Directory of the Homoeopathic Physicians
Mention has been made of the Directories up to1973. The1973
directory mentions that it contains "All homoeoopathic physicians
whose addresses we could obtain". However, for India it was restricted
to the Liga members as the total number of registered practitioners would
have run into tens of thousands. The directory listed eighteen specialities
designated by a number and every name had the number against it to denote
his/her main interest.
In 1978 President Dr. C. Eenhoorn published a "Directory
of all the Homoeopathic physicians L.M.H.I. members whose addresses we
could obtain". It is not clear whether it was only L.M.H.I. members
or included others.
In 1987 a large directory was made available at the congress
in USA. It appears that there were many mistakes in this and either the
addresses given had changed or many of those people listed had since died.
Therefore, when letters and journals were mailed at considerable expense,
a large number of them got returned as "addressee not found".
An updated version was also presented to council members in 1990, and
more recently, in 1995.
An updated and complete directory of L.M.H.I. members
is always proposed at the council meetings but with the difficulties of
regularly checking validity of membership and receipt of annual subscriptions,andthe
expenses involved in printing and mailing, it poses a very arduous task.
At times it is even proposed to make an international directory of all
the homeopaths but that seems to be only a hope.
There are some matters which are not in the statutes but
were passed in certain meetings and became the usual conventions. One
such convention that came into being after the 1969 congress was that
the election to the post of senior vice president, who later takes over
the presidency, may be alternated between European and non-European members.
It was followed for the next 3 elections: Petzinger - Paschero - Eenhoorn
- Chand - Illing. Thereafter, it was forgotten when there was a great
tussle between Horvilleur (France) and Risquez (Venezuela) . It appears
that this convention is no longer kept in mind when considering names
for election for this senior post.
Similarly, at the Hamburg Congress in 1979, it was decided
on a proposal from Dr. Irene Bacchas of Greece that :
a. National Vice Presidents should hold office for no
longer than two consecutive terms.
b. The National vice President should be elected by the
Liga members of that country, rather than being proposed by the national
association.
The matter of nomination of the assistant national vice
presidents appears in the statutes adopted at the extra-ordinary general
meeting during the Hannover Congress in 1966, although this was realised
only from 1969. This was useful because it was found that many a time
the national vice president could not attend the council meeting and in
that case the country went unrepresented.
To further vitalize the organisation, President Dr. Sandra
M. Chase has also planned to provide each member with this booklet, outlining
some of the objectives of the Liga, reminding the office bearers of their
duties, and providing this brief history of LMHI and its antecedents.
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