# Paul Farmer: Cultivating Care December 13, 2022 - [ News ](/news-categories/news) *Given the scope of his life’s work, there is already an abundance of writing and media covering Paul Farmer and his life’s work available to the public. As such, this article hopes to provide a look into his impacts on the Department of Anthropology at Harvard University.* One of Professor [Arthur Kleinman](/people/arthur-kleinman)’s earliest Medical Anthropology students, [Paul Farmer](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Farmer) (1959-2022) was a beloved member of the Harvard Anthropology community, as well as a scholar, researcher, writer, and great humanitarian of our time. “​I knew Paul for more than 40 years. I was his PhD supervisor and his Department Head. He became my teacher and my Department Head. He also became my dearest friend,” Kleinman shares. Born in Massachusetts but a citizen of the world, Farmer passed away at the age of 62 while teaching in Butaro, Rwanda at the [University for Global Heath Equity](https://ughe.org), which he co-founded. His multi-faceted approach to health, medicine, history, culture, and education spoke volumes to his understanding of the underlying efforts of the field of Anthropology in relation to Medicine and current-day problem-solving. “I would argue that a social justice approach should be central to medicine and utilized to be central to public health. This could be very simple: the well should take care of the sick,” Farmer emphasized. These steadfast morals rang true through the Sanders Theatre at Harvard University during the [October 1st memorial service](https://hms.harvard.edu/news/harvard-honors-paul-farmers-legacy) and continue to resonate with those he connected with throughout his years in various communities. Kleinman continues: “Few realize, even today, just how prodigious and unified is his intellectual work. He wore his scholarship lightly… Paul Farmer’s true wisdom is that the purposes of the university and of medicine must include the responsibility to cultivate mentorship and collaborative studies with individuals and institutions in resource poor settings. This animated so many students, academics, and practitioners.” Following his unexpected passing in February, Harvard established a grant in his honor, [The Paul Farmer, MD ’88, PhD ’90 Memorial Scholarship Fund](https://community.alumni.harvard.edu/give/89537351). Several spoke to Farmer’s unparalleled effects on the world of Medical Anthropology, as well as the world at-large, ranging from Harvard University President Lawrence Bacow, Anthony Fauci, Bill Gates, and Farmer’s wife, Didi Bertrand Farmer, who shared that when the news of Farmer’s passing spread through her native country, Haiti, many repeated to one another a Creole phrase used to express that “a great sacred tree has fallen.” Paul Farmer, who was widely known for his love of trees and gardening, spent many hours over the years planting trees around the world. Farmer also planted the seeds of a better future in the clinics and educational programs he founded, the lives he saved and shaped, and the many friends and students he left behind, Didi expressed. [Salmaan Keshavjee](https://ghsm.hms.harvard.edu/faculty-staff/salmaan-keshavjee), Professor of Global Health and Social Medicine and an affiliate of the Department of Anthropology, shared a memory in which he and Farmer were sitting under the shade of a tree among a cultivated space outside of a clinic in Haiti. Keshavjee recalls commenting to Farmer that it was nice for the patients to have a comfortable place to sit while they waited. Farmer responded that he had planted the trees when the clinic was built specifically with the idea of providing future patients with shade. Keshavjee reflects on Farmer’s meticulous care: “\[It was\] part of the plan from the very beginning. That’s just the kind of gardener Paul was.” [Marty Zeve](https://ghsm.hms.harvard.edu/faculty-staff/lindsey-marten-zeve), Lecturer in the Department of Global Health and Social Medicine and an affiliate of Department of Anthropology shared that it’s impossible to overstate the impact Farmer had on her intellectual and moral thinking, as well as her growth as a teacher and scholar. Of many fond memories, she chose to share one in particular. “When I first took over as the coordinating teaching fellow for his transformative global health equity class, *Gen Ed 1093: Who Lives, Who Cares, Who Dies? Reimagining Global Health*, I offered to take a first pass at drafting a note from him welcoming prospective students to the course. I wrote it entirely in the first person - "I'm Paul Farmer, and I'm so thrilled to welcome you to the course." When he sent me back the edited version, he'd replaced every first-person singular pronoun with the collective pronoun. The revised version came with an email that was almost apologetic for making changes - "Was the rewrite okay? I don't do so much first person. We're a collective!" We, not I-- one of the many lessons, simple yet profound, Paul gifted me that fundamentally altered the way I think about and move through our shared human life.” It is the little moments of reminiscence like these, shared by those across fields and countries, which shed light on the authentic care and deep understanding of the role of humanity in medicine that Farmer spread. Keshavjee added: “students who knew Paul often remember him telling them that they were his retirement policy. *They* were the reason he would even consider *not* working until his last day.” While Paul Farmer’s positive impacts continue to live in the individuals he connected with, the groups he cared for, and the great Partners In Health entity he built, Professor Arthur Kleinman is also determined to carry on the significant teachings of Farmer at Harvard. In the Spring 2023 session, Kleinman will teach a new course in the Department of Anthropology entitled “Paul Farmer’s Contributions to Medical Anthropology and Global Health” with a plan to delve into different books written by Farmer each week. Professor Kleinman looks forward to the opportunity to spread Farmer’s legacy and teachings with students who may go on to continue on the same paths Paul has paved. In the same vein, Keshavjee reminds us: “\[Paul’s\] teaching—his life here at the university—was one of his gardens… Paul was building gardens of great complexity. And he was not just focusing on the large trees and plants; he was focusing on the soil, the *richness* of the soil through which *transformational* ideas would grow.” Though Paul Farmer no longer walks with us, his footsteps remain firmly visible along the path he cleared for others to follow. “Despite the sorrow of his absence, we can only be grateful that our dear friend — the constant gardener who ensured there was shade for the sick and weary — also nurtured the soil *here* and in so many places, such that his vision will continue to flourish long beyond his *all-too-short* time with us.” **Please find an extended list of resources below to learn more about the late Paul Farmer, his life and legacy.** *To watch a recording of the memorial service held at Harvard University on October 1st, 2022, visit the event page* [*here*](https://ghsm.hms.harvard.edu/Farmer-Event-2022?utm_source=AcousticMailing&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Paul%20Farmer%20Memorial%20Prototype%20(2)&utm_content=PaulFarmerEvent2)*.* *Harvard Medical School published an article titled “Harvard Honors Paul Farmer’s Legacy” which can be found* [*here*](https://hms.harvard.edu/news/harvard-honors-paul-farmers-legacy?utm_source=SilverpopMailing&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Daily%20Gazette%2020221003%20(1))*.* **More:** | [Partners In Health](https://www.pih.org/paul-farmer) | [TIME](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZfbM8hjXwgo) | [The New York Times](https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/21/obituaries/paul-farmer-dead.html) | [NPR](https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2022/02/21/1082117707/global-health-champion-dr-paul-farmer-has-died) | [Forbes](https://www.forbes.com/sites/madhukarpai/2022/10/21/countering-failures-of-imagination-lessons-we-learnt-from-paul-farmer/?sh=26955b766190) | [Bloomberg](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4-7P0_8WMAQ) | | [Goldman Sachs](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AOSN4V505uk) | [Bill Gates](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p-JdCveXogQ) | [NIH Record](https://nihrecord.nih.gov/2022/03/18/remembering-paul-farmer)| [Scientific American](https://www.scientificamerican.com/podcast/episode/paul-farmer-international-health-is-11-12-13/?utm_source=google_shop&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=blackfriday22&utm_content=text&utm_term=LP_40poff_v1_s1&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIhKmswPvT-wIVCajICh1V0AAcEAMYASAAEgJTUvD_BwE) | [The Guardian](https://www.theguardian.com/society/2022/mar/03/paul-farmer-obituary) | | [PBS News Hour](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j2_iukzpHDA) | [Boston Business Journal](https://www.bizjournals.com/boston/news/2022/02/21/dr-paul-farmer-founder-of-partners-in-health-and.html) | [CBS News Boston](https://www.cbsnews.com/amp/boston/news/paul-farmer-death-obituary-partners-in-health-founder/) | [WCVB Boston](https://www.wcvb.com/article/paul-farmer-boston-based-global-nonprofit-partners-in-health-dies/39165902) | Share on:- [ Facebook ](#) - [ Twitter ](#) - [ Linkedin ](#)