In Memoriam: Equestrian community mourns German veterinarian Gerit Matthesen, 1955-2021

Gerit Matthesen, the well-known and greatly respected German veterinarian, sadly passed away on 5 August 2021 after a short illness. He was 66.

Gerit Matthesen was a member of the FEI Veterinary Committee from 2007 to 2011 and was also one of the original members of the FEI Hypersensitivity testing team. He was due to be on duty at the FEI World Cup™ Finals 2021 in Gothenburg (SWE), but was already unwell and the Finals were unfortunately cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

FEI Official Veterinarian since 2009, throughout his career, Matthesen officiated as FEI Veterinary Delegate at numerous FEI events and was German National Head FEI Veterinarian from 2015 – 2021.

“Gerit was a cherished member of the equestrian community, and particularly in the equine veterinary world”, FEI Veterinary Director Göran Akerström said. “He was a great mentor, a wonderful friend and he will be sorely missed.”

The FEI expresses its sincere condolences to Gerit Matthesen’s family and friends, the German Equestrian Federation (GER) and the global equestrian and veterinary communities.