Stephen J. Gordon MCH RSHom FSHom (13 September 1949 – 8 July 2017) was a British homeopath who served as a board member of the Society of Homeopaths for nineteen years. During that time he held the positions of Chairman (1985 – 1990), Treasurer, and Political Affairs Director (1990 – 2000). Gordon was eventually made a Fellow of the SoH (FSHom) in recognition of his service to the Society, and to homeopathy in general.

For 34 years, from June 1990, Gordon was the General Secretary of the European Central Council of Homeopaths (ECCH). He was also the General Secretary of the International Council for Homeopathy from 2007.

Stephen Gordon practiced at the School House, Market Place, Kenninghall, Norfolk and, until 2016, at The Norfolk Clinic, 38-40 Magdalen Rd, Norwich, a complementary and alternative medical facility, opened in 1982 by Osteopath Martin Booth, that closed in January 2022.

In addition to his homeopathic practice, Stephen Gordon was also the chairman of Kenninghall Parish Council, Norfolk, and was for many years a trustee of the village memorial hall.

Stephen J. Gordon was born in Redruth, Cornwall, on 13 September 1949, the eldest of three children born  to labourer James Gordon (b. 1920) and Margaret Lockyer (b. 1921).

In February 1959, the family emigrated to Auckland New Zealand, traveling aboard the R.M.S. Rangitiki. Between 1963 – 1971, Stephen Gordon studied first at Northcote College in Auckland, then at the University of Auckland.

Stephen Gordon returned to the U.K. and trained as an Osteopath between 1976 – 1978, earning a Diploma from the College of Osteopaths. He received the Reg Oakes Award for best final year student.

In July 1979, Gordon married Veronique L. Galland in London.

Around the same time, Gordon developed an interested in homeopathy and studied under Robert Davidson at the London College of Homeopathy from 1978 – 1981. On graduation he was accepted on to the register of the Society of Homeopaths.

The following year, 1982, Gordon began practicing as an homeopath. At the peak of his practice,  Gordon was seeing an average of forty patients per week.

On 27 June 2013 Stephen Gordon presented a paper, “CAM – the providers’ perspective,” at  a Joint Meeting of the European Parliament Interest Groups MEPs Against Cancer and MEPs for CAM, entitled “CAM: An Investment in health.”

Two years later, on 1 July 2015, a further meeting of the CAM Interest Group took place. Its subject was “Ensuring the availability of CAM medicinal products for the benefit of EU citizens in order to exploit their potential to address some major health issues of our time such as antimicrobial resistance and chronic disease.” Gordon delivered a paper to this meeting entitled “Homeopathic medicinal products – with reference to the Matrix report.”

Stephen Gordon died at his home, the School House, Market Place, Kenninghall, Norfolk, on 8 July 2017. Two months earlier he had been returned as parish councillor for the village that he and his wife had called home for 34 years.

Zofia Dymitr, Vice-Chair of ECCH, delivered the following eulogy for Stephen Gordon at his funeral in Norfolk on 18 July 2017:

As a homeopathy student in the late 70s, Stephen was one of the “Three Musketeers” and along with Stan Tibbs and Robert Nichols he was influential in the formative years of the Society of Homeopaths. Elected to the Board in 1981, Stephen remained a board member for 19 years in a range of roles: Treasurer, Chair, and Director for Political Affairs. Stephen was awarded a Fellowship by the Society of Homeopaths in recognition of his tireless work for homeopathy over many years.

Stephen always focused on building relationships with other individuals and other organizations, forming the Council for Complementary and Alternative Medicines with osteopathy, acupuncture, chiropractors and the Society of Homeopaths. Stephen also represented the Society of Homeopaths at meetings with politicians, both formally and informally, always representing the advantages of homeopathy and its place in healthcare.

Stephen along with other colleagues gave verbal evidence to the House of Lords Science and Technology Committee in 2000. The resulting report on Complementary and Alternative Medicine positively acknowledged the achievements of the Society of Homeopaths and identified homeopathy as one of the five Group One CAM professions, a designation that is still useful 17 years on.

Stephen was a council member for the Foundation for Integrated Medicine and a member of the Foundation’s statutory regulation working group. Stephen also forged meetings with our medical colleagues in the Faculty of Homeopathy at a time when there was a greater distance between homeopaths and doctors who practise homeopathy. Stephen was also honoured to be invited by Prince Charles to discuss homeopathy on three occasions.

An observer might think that this UK focus was achievement enough, a body of work in itself. But Stephen always looked and saw wider, he saw further beyond the confines of the Society of Homeopaths and the UK. Stephen had already been a fundamental mover in the formation of the European Central Council of Homeopaths in 1990, bringing five homeopathy organizations together from Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, Israel and the UK. In 2017, ECCH comprises associations from 25 countries across Europe. Looking even further, beyond Europe, Stephen saw the need for an international platform for the profession, and the International Council for Homeopaths was founded, building a platform for homeopathy organizations in Australia, Canada, 25 European countries, North America and New Zealand. ECCH and ICH share the same vision and it is very much Stephen’s vision: To represent and support national member organisations of homeopaths to further the growth and development of the homeopathy profession in Europe.

With Stephen’s focus on homeopathy for over 36 years, there is so much more that words cannot meet to thank Stephen for all that he has done for homeopathy. ECCH has received emails of thanks from all around the world and will be passed on to Stephen’s wife, Veronique, and his daughters, Jules, Zoe and Lea. We must also express our gratitude to them too, knowing that Stephen forged an international family of homeopaths, but he was only able to do so with the support of his loving family. Our thanks and love go to you.

Stephen, we acknowledge your dedication to homeopathy, we are grateful for your vision. You could see further than us and we will make sure your legacy is well tended and that homeopathy will continue to be represented in the UK in Europe and internationally. We will remember your smile, your generosity of spirit and carry your openheartedness with us in our journey working for homeopathy.

Ton Nicolai (past Secretary General of EUROCAM) knew Stephen Gordon since 1999, when Gordon began as General Secretary of ECCH. Nicolai described Gordon as a brother in arms, as a pillar of EUROCAM, as a great ambassador for homeopathy, and as being eloquent, confident, gentle, knowledgeable and determined.

It was announced by Archie Turnbull, then president European Public Health Alliance (EPHA), that a travel bursary was set up by EPHA in Stephen’s name, called the “Stephen Gordon Travel Bursary,” for EPHA members that lack the funding to attend EPHA meetings.