Veronique Renard
Veronique Renard (also known as Pantau) is a writer and activist. Renard was born near Utrecht in the Kingdom of the Netherlands.
Career
Renard was raised and educated in the Netherlands. During her career in corporate office management (1983-1999) she studied Dutch Literature and attained a Ph.D. in 1997. In the spring of 2000, Renard moved to the hometown of the exiled Dalai Lama in the Indian Himalayas. From that moment on Renard focussed on her career as a writer and human rights activist, concerned with the well-being of the Tibetan people. In 2000 and 2001 she published three books in the English in India and Nepal regarding the Tibetan Freedom Struggle (Pantau in Dharamsala, The Fire of Hell, Pantau in India). A Dutch version of her best-selling autobiography Pantau in India has also been published in the Netherlands and Belgium in 2003. In 2006, Pantau in India was also published in the English in the USA.
In June 2007, Renard published her follow-up memoir, Pholomolo - No Man No Woman. This book focusses on her experiences as a transsexual female. Renard transitioned from male to female in 1982 at the age of 17 and completed her transition 18 months later. Fearing rejection and discrimination, Renard never mentioned her gender reassignment to friends, colleagues and lovers.
Renard was one of the first 150 persons to receive contemporary Gender Reassignment Surgery in the Netherlands. Gender Team pioneer Professor Dr. Louis Gooren (internist) was Renard's first contact with the Gender Team which was connected to the Vrije Universiteits Ziekenhuis (Free University Hospital) in Amsterdam. The medical team responsible for Renard's sex reassignment surgeries (breast augmentation/vulvaplasty/colovaginoplasty/trachea-shave) are Dr. Gorter, plastic surgeon (Westeinde Hospital, The Hague), Dr. Auke de Boer, plastic surgeon (Academic Hospital of Groningen), Dr. J. Joris Hage, plastic surgeon (Free University Hospital, Amsterdam), Dr. Drogendijk and Dr. Jager, gynaecologists, (Dijkzigt Hospital, Rotterdam.)
In 1984, at age 18, Renard was the youngest person in the world to receive complete contemporary Gender Reassignment Surgery. Shortly after surgery, the Dutch Government granted Renard permission to have her legal gender corrected on her birth certificate. Renard was the first post-operative Male to Female transsexual in the world to be recognized by law.
Dr. Veronique F.C. Renard moved to Thailand in October 2006. She is married to a Chinese surgeon. She lives with her family in Bangkok.
Pantau Foundation
In May 2000, Veronique Renard established the Pantau Foundation to raise funds and help destitute Tibetan refugee children living in exile in India. Together with her London-based manager, Jonathan Blair, and New York-based friends Bobbie John Parker Jr. and Sebastian Bond, the foundation supports a growing number of Tibetan children.
References
Pantau in Dharamsala, by Veronique Renard (2000) English edition published by Everest Press, New Delhi, India
The Fire of Hell, by Lobsang Yonten and Veronique Renard (2001), published by Pilgrims Publishers, New Delhi, India
Pantau in India, by Veronique Renard (2001), First English edition published by Pilgrims Publishers, New Delhi, India
Pantau in India, by Veronique Renard (2003), Dutch edition published by Aspekt Publishers, Soesterberg, The Netherlands
Pantau in India, by Veronique Renard (2006), Revised English edition published by IUniverse, Lincoln, New York, Shanghai
Pholomolo - No man No Woman (2007), English edition published by IUniverse, Lincoln, New York, Shanghai
Veronique Renard's Press and Media Page