A young Tasmanian architect killed in the Nairobi shopping centre siege is being remembered as an inspirational leader and profoundly talented.
Ross Langdon, 33, and his pregnant partner Elif Yavuz died when the shopping centre was stormed by militants on Saturday.
Mr Langdon was born in Nubeena, in Tasmania’s south-east, and studied at the University of Tasmania before moving interstate.
He then graduated from the University of Sydney.
In recent years his focus had been sustainable projects in Uganda, Rwanda and Tanzania.
He also donated his time and skills, recently working for free to build an AIDS hospital in Kenya.
Family friend Peter Adams says he still had much to contribute.
“To go into the world with his talent and his humility and the constant striving to be a decent human being.”
Mr Adams says Mr Langdon was in the area at the time of the 1996 Port Arthur massacre.
“He didn’t succumb as so many people can to despair,” he said.
In a statement, colleague Ben Milbourne said:
“We are deeply saddened by the tragic loss our friend and colleague Ross Langdon and his partner Elif Yavuz.”
“Profoundly talented and full of life, Ross enriched the lives of all those around him.”
His Dutch-born partner Elif Yavus was a Harvard graduate specialising in public health policy.
She worked for the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation in Kenya.
They were expecting their first child in a fortnight.
The University of Tasmania’s vice chancellor Peter Rathjen has expressed his sympathy to Mr Langdon’s family.
