With the demise of Marie-Thérèse Meulders-Klein, the International Society of Family Law has lost one of its most beloved and distinguished members. She will be long remembered for her path-breaking contributions to family law, comparative law and bioethics, as well as for her outstanding service to law reform as a member of, and advisor to, national and international commissions. Those of us fortunate enough to have known her will treasure the memory of her gracious personality, her generosity to colleagues, and her exemplary intellectual integrity. Her immense learning, intellectual curiosity, scientific rigour, graceful writing style, and civility in argument have set a high standard for all who work in the areas of family law and comparative legal studies.

To fully appreciate her contributions, it is important to recall that she began her academic career in the 1960s, just when Western nations were on the brink of a massive revolution in ideas and behaviour concerning sexuality, marriage and family life. Those changes were so sudden and so profound that not even professional demographers saw them coming. At an international conference organised by Professor Meulders-Klein in 1985, French demographer Louis Roussel spelled out just how dramatic the developments of the preceding two decades had been:

Marie-Thérèse Meulders-Klein was one of the first to explore the legal implications of that massive social experiment that brought new opportunities and liberties to many adults, but exposed children and other dependents to new risks.

By the end of the century, family law had become a major battleground in a war of ideas.