50th Anniversary meeting of AOI

It is my pleasure to welcome you to the 50th anniversary meeting of the Academia Ophthalmologica Internationalis which will be held in Leiden, The Netherlands from June 19 to June 21, 2025. Founded by Professor Jules Francois in 1975, our revered history is as unique and special as is our membership. We have planned a very special 3-day meeting which will take place at the prestigious Leiden University, which will commemorate its 450th anniversary next year. Our celebratory event will include the formal induction of our newest provisional members, scientific and historical-based sessions, the AOI Oration and Streiff lecture, as well as several interesting and unique social events in Leiden. On Saturday evening we will have the Gala Anniversary dinner at the beautiful Museum of Antiquities in Leiden. We expect a large attendance by our members and partners and hope you will join us in Leiden for this opportunity to welcome our newest members into our Society as well as the chance to meet old friends and make new ones from around the globe.

Leiden University celebrates its 450th anniversary, the City of Amsterdam will be 750 years old, and the Academia Ophthalmologica Internationalis will celebrate its half centennial. We will meet in the city of Leiden, the Netherlands, where we will have our meeting and celebrate the highlights of the city in such a way that you can meet with old friends and make new friends among the AOI members who will come from all over the world. Having a beer on top of a canal bridge is a highlight of student life as you will notice, and can be enjoyed by you on a lovely late evening.

We are planning the 50th anniversary of the Academia Ophthalmologica Internationalis in Leiden from June 19 to 21, 2025. Our meeting will start at the museum of medical history and continue at the central building of the University, the Academy Building, where the official celebrations take place.

In the summer, the canals of Leiden are filled with boats with enthusiastic people enjoying a drink, while runners enjoy the Singelpark, which encircles the city centre as a green oasis. Leiden has a medieval city centre, where Rembrandt grew up, and many sites remain from that time: his primary school and the drawbridge which Rembrandt must have crossed when he visited his father’s windmill. The city contains many memories of the Pilgrim Fathers and Leiden’s relation with Japan, and for those with an interest in antiquities, dinosaurs or medical history, we have fantastic museums, so consider bringing your family.

We will celebrate our own anniversary with the inauguration of many new members and visits to wonderful sites in the city. Lectures will be held about the history of The Netherlands and about the role of universities in internationalisation and their relation with hospitals. Where does AI play a role? Then back to history: we will visit the place where Boerhaave started bed-side teaching, enjoy an evening in the gorgeous botanical garden, while the anniversary dinner will take place in front of an ancient Egyptian temple. And if you want to play the traditional tourist, Amsterdam is nearby.