Our tribute to a dear friend & colleague...
In MEMORIUM to TOMAS ALLEN
By Deva-Marie Beck, PhD, RN, DTM
July 30, 1961 — September 9, 2022
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I was fortunate to meet Tomas Allen at the World Health Organization (WHO) Library in Geneva, Switzerland in 2006. That first connection was typical of my late husband Wayne Kines and — as it turned out — typical of Tomas too.
We had heard that the WHO Librarian was from Canada so we were ready to greet him at the door. Wayne said, “Hey Canadian, where're you from?” Tomas replied, “Oh, a tiny prairie town, you wouldn't know it.” To this, Wayne said, “Try me!” So Tomas said, “Roblin, Manitoba” and Wayne nodded, “So am I!” Through his laugher, Tomas added, “My mother told me I'd eventually meet you!”
Hence we began a wonderful friendship — connecting with our families — sharing our combined loves of rural Canada AND the global outreach arising from WHO and the UN Headquarters in Geneva.
With this, Wayne instantly remembered his own work with WHO in the 1970s and asked Tomas about the historical images he knew had been captured, worldwide in the early 1950s. To this, Tomas promptly introduced us to his colleague Marie Villemin >>> the WHO Archivist and I was granted access to the wide range of historical WHO images featured in the 2008-2009 video below.
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Tomas Allen's typical big smile. Image courtesy of his wife Reva Gutnick
Tomas Allen — WHO Librarian from 2002 to 2022 — at WHO's Library with NIGH's Drs. Deva-Marie Beck & Phalakshi Manjekar, Image from NIGH Archives
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“...caring friendship and understanding — sharing the challenges and joys of working at global levels and living in community at the same time.”
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This established the friendship and working relationship I enjoyed with Tomas and his wife Reva Gutnick >>> They hosted me many times at WHO and in their homes near WHO and we hosted them a couple of times in our homes in Canada. Tomas and Reva gave me so much at many levels—caring friendship and understanding— sharing the challenges and joys of working at global levels and living in community at the same time.
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While I was happy and grateful for the times to be with Tomas and Reva, I didn't know—until recently—that Tomas was that same friendly, caring and supportive 'Librarian' for many, many, many WHO Library visitors, including the WHO staff. Since the start of the COVID pandemic, Tomas participated in developing a robust worldwide COVID database and was recognized personally by the WHO Director General for his outstanding service. I learned all this from the awesome feature article about Tomas' life and contributions in the Canadian Globe & Mail >>> I highly recommend this read!
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Sadly Tomas died in September of 2022 — way too early for all of us who knew and loved him! He was a friend to me and to Wayne—a friend to so many, a friend to the humanity, a friend to the world!!! An example for all of us who wish to leave the world a better place with our own lives!
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”...a friend to so many, a friend to the humanity, a friend to the world!!! An example for all of us who wish to leave the world a better place with our life!”
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Two NIGH / WHO videos Tomas Allen helped us produce....
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NIGH's first video based on historical WHO Archives images accessed with the help of Tomas Allen and co-created with a Task Force of global nursing leaders in 2008-2009. Available in 8 language versions >>>
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NIGH's second WHO video with images accessed from WHO's Archives with Tomas Allen's enthusiastic assistance. Created for the 2015 WHO Global Forum of Chief Government Nursing & Midwifery Officers. Learn more >>>
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Switzerland Cover Image of Lake Geneva — near where Tomas Allen lived and worked -- from Pixabay >>>