Lichter was born in South Africa in 1918.[2] He received his secondary education from Grey High School in Port Elizabeth, South Africa.[3] He graduated from the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg in 1940.[2] He served with the South African Medical Corps during the second world war.[3] After the war, he specialised in thoracic surgery and had his own medical practice.[2]
In 1951, he married Heather Lloyd and they were to have four children, three of whom also went into the medical profession.[2] He wanted to leave South Africa to get away from its politics, as the Afrikaans National Party started giving positions in hospitals to their supporters, and its antisemitism.[2][4] He had the choice between a place in Texas and a place in New Zealand that he thought was called "Dune Din"; he settled on the latter and came to Dunedin (/dʌˈniːdɪn/ⓘ) with his family.[2]
Life in New Zealand
He was an assistant lecturer at the University of Otago and at the same time was a surgeon for the Otago Hospital Board. From 1974, he was interested in palliative care.[4] He retired from medical practice in 1984 and used the time to write Communication in Cancer Care, his most notable book.[4]
He moved to Wellington in 1986 and took up a medical directorship at Te Omanga Hospice.[2] He retained his directorship until 1993 and was an honorary consultant afterwards.[5]
Among the organisation that he belonged to:
Advisory Board of Palliative Medicine
International Advisory Committee to the International Congress on the Care of the Terminally Ill
