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Swiss children’s doctor who worked in Cambodia dies

Beat Richner with sick Cambodian child and mother
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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