Cicely Mary Strode Saunders was born on this date, 22 June, 1918, at Linden Lodge, 45 Bedford Avenue in Barnet, about 18 miles north of London. The first child of Chrissie and Gordon Saunders, she would go on to remarkable achievements in the care of dying people.

We are so sorry to learn of the death of Shirley du Boulay - Cicely’s first biographer. Our sympathies go to her friends and family. For more about Shirley’s life and achievements, see: thetablet.co.uk/viewpdf/21_Tab…

‘We all have to find some way of handling our own hurts and losses and a means of carrying on … Without this it is difficult to continue to open ourselves to the pain of others or to hold together any belief that there is purpose in life’. Cicely Saunders 1983.

'During the past decade or so it has become clear that to practice competent care for the dying is a demanding and rewarding experience. It may not only added quality to life remaining but also at times add considerably to its length’. Saunders C. Oxford Textbook of Medicine 1987

Born here in Barnet, North London, on 22 June 1918. Cicely Saunders would go on to a remarkable life in which she did as much as anyone has ever done, to transform the care of dying people. #105YearsAgo

Cicely Saunders to Cyril Clemens, Missouri USA 9 July 1975: ‘I found your letter on my return from holiday. Thank you so much for electing me as a Daughter of the Mark Twain Society. St Christopher’s as a whole thinks it’s a great honour!’

🗓️  La Fundacion Pia Aguirreche ha organizado el 21 de septiembre en #Bilbao una mesa redonda sobre el libro 'Velad conmigo', de Cicely Saunders. El coloquio estará moderado por Ana Blanco y contará con la participación de Enric Benito, Carlos Centeno y Jacinto Bátiz 🔗bit.ly/45WwPDn

"Achievement, not defeat, should characterise our orientation to dying ... A society which shuns the dying must have an incomplete philosophy". Cicely Saunders 'And from sudden death ...' Frontier, Winter. 1961.

On 6 Jan 1964 Dr Cicely Saunders wrote to medical student Robert Twycross about a talk he'd invited her to give at Oxford. She wanted to include both spiritual and medical matters and asked if she might use "transparencies" to "show the look on patients' faces"

Cicely Saunders knew the Dutch psychologist FJJ Buytendijk, author of Over de Pijn (1943). On 16 Jan 1964 (60 years ago) she updated him about St Christopher's: 'I hope that when our detailed plans are complete late in the summer we will be in a position to go straight ahead'

On 20 Jan 1960 (64 years ago) at St Joseph's Hospice, Antoni Michniewicz told Dr Cicely Saunders that his only daughter was in the final year of university & he wanted so much to live until her results were known. He did so - & by then he had fallen in love with his doctor.

Cicely Saunders responds to a query from Prof I Tashma, 3 Feb 1987: "I only knew David [Tasma] for some two months. His need to find meaning in life led us to talk about founding a special place for people like himself". He told her: "I’ll be a window in your home".

David Tasma, the dying Polish emigre who Cicely Saunders encountered briefly in post-war London, died on this day 25 February 1948. The inspiration for her later ideas about hospice care, he famously told his young almoner: 'I only want what is in your mind and in your heart'.

Lots of excitement in Pamplona this week for the Spanish premiere of the play Cicely and David. Huge congratulations to ATLANTES Global Observatory of Palliative Care team for a full production by palliative care professionals and fantastic response from a full theatre.

Cicely Saunders writes to Robert Fulton 20 April 1967: ‘May I say how much I appreciated your book “Death & Identity”, particularly your comments on Weissman & Hackett’s phrase, which I have often quoted - “a dignified death proclaims the significance of man”.

Cicely Saunders writes to Dr Cynthia Goh in Singapore on 29 April 1994: ‘Our House of Lords Select Committee has come down firmly on not legalising euthanasia and in support of palliative care. We are delighted and were most courteously received at their Conmittee Hearing’.

At a meeting of St Christopher's supporters in June 1964 the theologian Olive Wyon (pictured) in Cicely Saunders' words, ‘made an excellent digest of my woolly thoughts’ . The result was a document which would have currency for many years to come. It was entitled "Aim and Basis".

Dr Cicely Saunders to Dr Hans Wollasch in Freiburg 25 June 1980: ‘At no time does admission to a Hospice mean no further discharge or exploitation of any improvement. We are constantly referring patients back to other hospitals and work in close co-operation with them.’

A reminder of this great woman going past King's College London last night Cicely Saunders Institute at King's The Cicely Saunders Society

Cicely Saunders died on this day, 14th July, 2005, in St Christopher's, the hospice she had founded. We remember the ‘exacting joy’ of her life and all that she achieved for the relief of suffering. ‘A society which shuns the dying must have an incomplete philosophy’