‘Didi Landman and Édouard Louis operate in different worlds – healthcare and literature – yet they share a strong focus on people excluded by systems,’ says Rector Magnificus Prof. Anniek de Ruijter. ‘Landman does so from the dental chair, Louis with his pen. Both make physical and social vulnerability visible, dispel shame, and expose the structures that perpetuate inequality. Their work aligns closely with the UvA’s mission: contributing to a resilient and just society through knowledge, engagement and imagination.’

Didi Landman

Didi Landman is a dentist in Rotterdam. Alongside her work in her own private practice, she has dedicated years to helping people who fall outside the regular healthcare system: the homeless and those without fixed addresses, the uninsured, and patients for whom oral care cannot be a priority because survival comes first. One day a week, she treats these patients free of charge in a treatment room of Spoedpost 365, located at Erasmus MC.

Landman studied dentistry at Stellenbosch University in South Africa and worked as a dentist in England and the Netherlands before establishing her own practice. Since 2018, she has been a co-owner of Tandheelkundig Centrum Terbregge. In addition to her clinical work, Landman is active as an organiser and administrator. She founded the Dental Care for Homeless People foundation, co-organised the Rotterdamse Tandartsendag – an event providing free treatment to underprivileged patients – and worked with the Dokters van de Wereld oral care caravan. Her book, Straattandarts 010 – Het boek. Iedereen een glimlach (Street Dentist 010 – The Book: A Smile for Everyone), was recently published. Proceeds from the book benefit her foundation, which makes the free oral care possible.

Social commitment and role model

‘Landman’s work demonstrates how oral healthcare is directly linked to dignity, health and life opportunities. She makes it clear that poor oral health is not an individual failure, but a sign of broader societal issues,’ says honorary supervisor Prof. Monique van der Veen, professor of Oral Health Monitoring at ACTA. ‘Landman not only provides care but also serves as a powerful example of the societal role that dentistry can play.’

Édouard Louis

Édouard Louis is one of the most influential French writers of his generation. His work depicts the conservative working-class environment in northern France where he grew up – a world marked by poverty, social and economic deprivation, violence, racism, alcoholism and homophobia. Louis writes about his own struggle to break free from this environment, yet he consistently situates these personal experiences within a broader political analysis of structural oppression and emancipation. A recurring theme in his work is that the resilience of others is also our shared responsibility. His body of work offers a new lens through which to connect groups often pitted against one another – such as residents of socio-economically disadvantaged neighbourhoods, marginalised minorities, and LGBTQ+ communities – thereby helping to counter reductive dichotomies and polarisation.

Louis studied sociology at the École Normale Supérieure in Paris. His novels – including The End of Eddy, History of Violence, Who Killed My Father, A Woman's Battles and Transformations, Change, Monique Escapes, and Collapse – have been translated into English and reach a wide, often young audience.

Significance for law, justice, and equal opportunity

‘Louis’s writing holds special significance for legal scholarship and the social sciences. His books make palpable the ways in which law, policy and politics impinge upon individual lives: who enjoys protection and who is excluded, whose violence is acknowledged and whose pain remains invisible,’ says honorary supervisor Prof. Marc de Wilde, professor of General Jurisprudence at the Faculty of Law. ‘Recurring themes in his work include the limits of the law in dealing with violence and trauma, and the question of what justice means when social relations are so unequal. Louis breathes new life into classical theories of equality and freedom – and the foundations of law itself – by demonstrating how these abstract concepts play out in concrete lives.’