In these pages, taken from the ICDigest 2005, there is a brief history of the European Section, starting with its origins at a meeting in Amsterdam in June 1955, when Dr Philip Dear was unanimously elected as the first President of the Section. Though it is customary to say ‘Dr. Dear of France’, he was actually Australian, of Irish and Scottish descent, and you can read more about him further on in these pages. 

This history has been compiled from several sources including: the paper of Dr David Glynn, ICD World President 1999 and President of the European Section 1995, delivered at the Monaco Meeting, June 2004; the History Section of www.icd.org; Newsletters of the Europen Section edited by the late Dr Herbert Norton (European Editor 1976 – 1992); ICDigests edited by Dr. Margaret Seward (European Editor 1992 – 2001); and a personal communication with Dr Dik van der Harst, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, ICD World President 1997 and President of the European Section 1986/87.

The Launch of the Philip Dear Fund

At the 50th Anniversary Meeting of the European Section in Stockholm in June 2005, the Board of Regents announced the launch of a fund to honour Dr. Dear, considered by most to be one of the key the founding fathers of the European Section.

The fund shall receive its income from a donation of €5000 annually from the Treasurer of the European Section, Fellows’ contributions from the General Funds as a percentage of the annual dues, and donations and bequests. 

The purpose of the Fund is to support the expansion, development and cohesion of the European Section  of the ICD.   

The Constitution of the Fund and a Grant Application Form can be downloaded here

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HISTORY OF THE EUROPEAN SECTION OF THE ICD

The Fellows of the European Section have much to be proud of now that it has celebrated its 50th Anniversary. And while looking back with pride, it is essential to remember those who started it all. And when the foundation of the European Section is remembered, there are three names in particular which stand out: Dr Philip Dear, Dr Harold Westerdahl, and Dr Louis Ottofy.

The Beginnings of the International College of Dentists
Dr Louis Ottofy, Co-Founder with Dr. Tsururkich Okumura of the ICD, was born in Budapest, Hungary in 1860, the son of a talented physician who passed on many of his skills to his son. Following the family’s move to the US in 1874, Louis began a truly outstanding career as an educator, holding degrees in Dentistry, Medicine and Law. He became Dean of the American College of Dental Surgery (Northwestern University Dental School), and was published widely (1). He worked for twenty-three years in the Philippines and Japan. It was when Dr Ottofy was finally leaving Japan in 1920 to return to the US that the idea for the International College of Dentists was born. At a dinner party in Tokyo, a group of dentists gathered to bid him farewell, and as he left his friends, Dr Ottofy deplored the lack of opportunities to establish professional and personal communications with dentists in other countries. At the urging of the group, especially Dr. Tsurukich Okumura of Japan, Dr. Ottofy promised to do something about the situation. Meeting his Japanese friends again in 1926 at the Sixth International Dental Congress in Philadelphia, Dr Ottofy revealed plans for an organisation which would offer Fellowship to individual dentists from all over the world, due to their eminence in their particular fields. While disseminating the most up-to-date scientific information in dentistry, the new fellows would also be asked to promote cordial relations within the profession worldwide, especially by attending an annual meeting of Fellows. Thus, on New Year’s Eve, 1927, the International College of Dentists was born. Dr. Tsururkich Okumura and Dr Loiuis Ottofy are its Co-Founders.

Early European Input into the development of the ICD
Fellows from Europe played a very significant part in the early years of the establishment of the International College of Dentists on the world stage. George Villain of France was World President in 1931, and by the mid-1930s, four Fellows had been honoured as Masters: Jaccard (Switzerland), Nord (Holland), van Hasselt (Holland) and Dear (France). By the end of the 1930s, several European countries were represented on the Roster: France, Holland, Belgium, Switzerland, Germany, Italy, England, Spain, Norway, Denmark and Sweden. There were a few Fellows in Bulgaria, Yugoslavia, Czechoslovakia and Poland, though none in the Baltic countries or Russia. Yet of the 89 Fellows listed, about one half were under temporary classification, meaning that transfer of funds for initiation fees and annual dues had proved difficult or impossible for them. The system of ongoing induction was rather haphazard, and there was little communication between the Fellows in Europe and other parts of the world. In addition, since WWII, the picture within Europe itself was bleak. Fellows from behind the iron curtain were not allowed to attend meetings, so what little contact had existed was completely disrupted after the war.

1955: Origins of the Autonomous European Section
Dr Elmer Best, Secretary-General of the College since its incorporation in 1931, and Registrar of the USA Section from 1934 to 1954, had established a lasting friendship with an Australian dentist of Irish and Scottish descent, Dr Philip Dear. Dear was born in 1884 in Melbourne, and, after graduating from Merion College, Victoria, he went to the Dental School of the University of Pennsylvania, where he obtained a DDS in 1910, specialising in crown and bridge work. Later, in Philadelphia, he met William Fitting, an outstanding Swiss practitioner, who invited him to join his dental practice in Lausanne. Dear practiced with Fitting for over nine years, then in his own practice in Lausanne for 32 years, later taking up residence and part-time practice in Nice.
Best had often discussed the reorganisation of the ICD with Philip Dear, and both longed to see an autonomous European Section established. Best died in 1954, and later that year at the annual meeting of the College-at-Large in Miami, Dr. Harold Westerdahl, then deputy registrar, was named to succeed him as Secretary-General. Westerdahl worked closely with Dear now and together they kept alive Best’s vision of an autonomous European Section. They furthered their plans by taking advantage of a meeting of the American Dental Society of Europe (ADSE) in Amsterdam in 1955, which European Fellows normally attended. Sixteen Fellows attended a luncheon Dear had specially organised to plan the formation of the European Section, to which he had also invited Frank Lamons, President-Elect of the College at Large, and Dwight Coons, a Master of the College, both from America. The date was 13th July 1955, the date the European Section can be said to have originated.

Philip Dear - the Father on the European Section
As the organisation of the new section proceeded, and temporary officers were elected, it was the unanimous wish of the Fellows present that Philip Dear should take the Presidency. His initiative and his interest in forming an autonomous section qualify him unquestionably as being the Father of the European Section. Dr. Jacques Fouré was installed as Secretary ‘pro temp’.

1956: Inaugural Meeting, London
One year later, on July 9th 1956, Fellows from 7 of the 12 European countries listed in the Roster met in London for the Inaugural Meeting of the European Section. Harold Westerdahl, came especially from Minneapolis to guide the fledgling Section. The temporary officers elected in Amsterdam in 1955 were confirmed in office, Charles Nord from Holland was elected President-Elect, and Francois Ackerman from Geneva, Switzerland, Vice-President so…

Officers appointed for the new European Section in 1956 in London were:

French Fellows had a great influence in the early years of the Section, and as English was not as commonly spoken then, the Dutch were invaluable as translators.

Early District Divisions
The European Section was originally divided into five Districts, representing countries or groups of countries where the dental population or number of Fellows was small. These were:
1. France, Italy, Spain and Portugal – (each with Regents or Deputy Regents)
2. Great Britain and Ireland (Regents in both)
3. Switzerland, Germany, and Austria (each with its own Regent)
4. Holland, Belgium and Luxembourg (Regent in Holland)
5. Denmark, Norway, Sweden and Finland (Regent in Sweden).

• Hopes that Fellows from Poland would join District 4 soon faded as it became clear they could not travel freely.
• A District 6 for Czechoslovakia-Yugoslavia-Rumania-Bulgaria never materialised.
• In 1982, a new District 6 was created for Israel-Cyprus-Greece-Malta with the late Dr Gerald Wootliff as Regent.

2005: Districts and Numbers of Fellows:
There are now thirteen Districts and the numbers of Fellows are as follows:
Austria 29
Belgium-Holland-Luxembourg 49
England-Scotland-Wales 66
France 79
Germany 70
Greece-Cyprus 31
Ireland 48
Israel-Malta 14
Italy 63
Portugal 36
Denmark-Finland-Norway-Sweden 36
Spain 51
Switzerland 48
Russia/USA 3

(For contact details for Regents 2006 - 2007, see page 28 of ICDigest 2006 on this web-page).

The total number of Fellows in the European Section is now 623. In 2001, Dr Nicole Vallotton of Switzerland became the Section’s first female President, and there have been two female Editors, Dame Margaret Seward 1992 - 2001, and the current incumbent, from 2001 to the present. In 2004-2005, two female Fellows were elected Deputy-Regents for their Districts: Dr. Lieb-Skowron for Austria & Dr. Farrell for England-Scotland-Wales (see page 10 of ICDigest 2005).

Eight European Fellows have served as World Presidents

First Regents, Vice Regents and Deputy Regents appointed in 1956:

Growth of the ICD
1931: Constitution adopted at International Dental Congress Paris

Autonomous Sections created
1934: The USA
1939 – 1945: no new Sections during World War II; restarted 1947
1948: Canada
1955: Europe
1958: Japan
1960: Inter-American (Mexico, Latin America and Panama)
1964: India-Sri Lanka
1964: Australia, including New Zealand, the Fiji Islands & Papua New Guinea
1966: The Philippines
1967: The Middle East: Iran, Iraq, Syria, Turkey, Lebanon. Saudi Arabia, Aden, Yemen, Sudan, Egypt and Kuwait added later
1977: Australian Section renamed Australasian Section
1980: Mexico became independent of the Inter-American Section. Other Latin American countries join the International Section (see below)
1981: South America, non-English and non-Spanish speaking Caribbean Islands
1986: Korea
1994: Chinese-Taipei

International Section: This Division of the College has no special geographical boundaries and provides a Section for Fellows living outside an official autonomous Section. See http://www.icd.org/sections.htm#Regions

There are now 10, 147 Fellows of the International College of Dentists worldwide