Germany: National MS Society Secretary General steps down

EMSP took the opportunity of the ‘going away’ event organised by our German MS Society (DMSG) for its Secretary General and champion MS advocate Dorothea Pitschnau-Michel to express our great appreciation and respect for her work in service of people living with multiple sclerosis (MS) in Germany and beyond.   

The event was organised on 5 November, in Berlin. EMSP’s current and past Presidents marked this key moment by emphasising the importance of Ms Pitschnau-Michel’s advocacy, fundraising and awareness-raising activities.

“There have been many dedicated contributors to the cause of people affected by multiple sclerosis over the years, but there are few who have devoted so much of their lives to helping ensure real progress at both national, European and international level as Dorothea.”

“Dorothea’s role in helping to establish the European Multiple Sclerosis Platform signalled one of the most important milestones in the movement’s history”, said EMSP’s President Anne Winslow in her message.

Ms Pitschnau-Michel served for several terms on the EMSP Board, including a four-year term as President (2006-2010) and the subsequent four years as Past President. Her role on the board saw a time of unprecedented development of EMSP from a virtually one-person operation to the fully-formed, highly professional Secretariat delivering several million Euros-worth pan-European programmes that exists today.

Ms Pitschnau-Michel (second from left) and Mr John Golding (centre of the image)

EMSP’s Past President John Golding (2010-2014) has worked with Ms Pitschnau-Michel in several capacities for the past 20 years and he summarised this fruitful partnership:

“The true joy of our collaboration has not been just in the quantity but in the quality of our joint experiences and in mutual respect. When doing things together with you as officers of the EMSP I have felt nourished

The personal quality in you that I have appreciated mostly and respected is your integrity. It has been central in your leadership, which you exhibited with ease and grace when having to make difficult decisions.”

Dorothea Pitschnau-Michel, a decorated MS champion, will continue her work for the benefit of people with multiple sclerosis on the international stage as she has been recently re-elected to the Board of the Multiple Sclerosis International Federation (MSIF).