From Albie Sachs, South Africa

Retired judge, Constitutional Court of South Africa (appointed by Nelson Mandela in 1994)

LOTS OF LOVE, AFFECTION AND APPRECIATION FROM ALBIE SACHS. RHONDA WAS A GREAT FRIEND OF OURS AND WONDERFUL SUPPORTER OF OUR STRUGGLE IN SOUTH AFRICA. SHE WAS PARTICULARLY INFLUENTIAL IN CONTRIBUTING TO DEBATES ON GENDER EQUALITY. SHE HAD A UNIQUE PERSONALITY AND STYLE, AND WE LOVED HER. HER INFLUENCE WAS GREAT AND WE HONOUR HER FOR WHAT SHE STOOD FOR AND THE PERSON SHE WAS.

From Sarah Buel, USA

Clinical Prof. of Law, Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law; Director, Diane Halle Center for Family Justice, Arizona State University

Rhonda Copelon is one of my heroes and mentors; yes, even now. Although we didn’t get to work in the same office, our paths crossed often enough to make a real difference in my world. Rhonda was always supportive of me and my work, even when my impatience with slow progress threatened to sabotage my career. She helped me understand the big picture of intimate partner violence as human rights violations, and taught us the nuances of torture in the DV context before much of the world was ready to hear. Just seeing Rhonda’s name in an e-mail list or knowing she was part of a joint project always warmed my heart for I knew there would be meaningful, respectful dialogue and work accomplished. She took the time to call or send follow-up thank-you messages, including personal admonishments if it was clear I’d worked all week-end. When I nervously considered entering the academy, the warm, funny, over-the-top supportive pep talk Rhonda gave me was so persuasive that it’s stayed with me these many years. I loved Rhonda’s tenacious, unwavering commitment to making a difference for survivors across the globe. As I write this, the tears streaming down my face are a testimony to how much I will miss her and my profound respect for her and her life’s work.

From Tezi Schaffer, USA

I was a classmate of Rhonda’s at Bryn Mawr, and remember a gorgeous, impossibly poised young woman who talked with her hands, with great vitality. We both spent our junior year in Paris. She brought all the intellectual sparkle one stereotypically associates with the Left Bank back to Bryn Mawr.

We lost touch after graduation, but I read with vicarious pride about her legal accomplishments. Her passing was a shock. I recognized the classmate I had known in the videos of her last years that I saw on the web. The thick black hair was gone but otherwise, the sparkle, the passion, the generosity of spirit, and the perpetual sense of discovery were all there. Those are the qualities which touched so many people, and which will be sorely missed.

From Jody Raphael, USA

If I am correct, I met Rhonda and her roommate the very first evening at dinner in our dorm as freshmen. That would be September 1962. The conversation began and lasted, with some interruptions, for almost 50 years. We really bonded in a class on the French Revolution taught by the charismatic Alain Silvera. It's funny now, but then we all were Anais Nin clones. Rhonda was quite the style leader, with her long black hair up to an elaborate French twist and I slavishly followed. (I think we also wore capes.) Last year, I had to e-mail Rhonda with the news that our mentor had died and she was predictably distressed. The class, she told me, was "thrilling."

Then Rhonda departed for junior year abroad but she wrote me and I secured a room for her senior year around the corner from me. Then began our joint quest to gain entrance to law school, Rhonda to Yale and I to the University of Chicago. I remember the day as if it was yesterday. Rhonda had the habit of waiting around for the mail and noticed that I had a fat envelope from the University of Chicago law school. She tore up the campus looking for me, to no avail, and was there to greet me when I finally showed up for lunch (I was in class), throwing her arms around me and thrusting the letter into my hands. This anecdote shows Rhonda's essential sweetness and caring nature that supported me throughout our years in college.

How amazing that we both ended up working in the same field, and amazing, but not surprising, that our deep link was able to survive over all the years of geographic separation. About two years ago we met in New York for breakfast, that turned (almost) into lunch. Rhonda told me later she thought we could have talked all day.

I am enormously grateful for Rhonda's team and for all they did for her in the last days.