Marie de Hennezel

Marie de Hennezel is a psychologist and psychotherapist born in Lyon, France. She has worked for ten years in the first palliative care team at the “Institute Mutualiste Montsouris” in Paris, created in 1987. She speaks and writes widely on the subject of palliative care and offers trainings and seminars in end of life care throughout Europe.

In 1992 she founded the ‘Association Bernard Dunant –AIDS and Resource’ to support HIV positive patients. She has worked extensively with government agencies in France, influencing public policy on end of life care. One notable achievement was the influence of her report “Proposals for a dignified end of life” on the Parliament passing the “Patient’s right at the end of life” law on April 22 2005.

In January 2005, the French Minister for Health appointed her to review palliative care in France. She is a member of the National committee of the development of palliative care in France. Her published work includes: Intimate Death: How the Dying Teach Us How to Live in 1995 and The Art of Dying (with Jean-Yves Leloup) in 1997.