Welcome to Athens in 2008
George Kontogeorgos
|
George Kontogeorgos and Helen Deligeorgi-Politis, former President, IAP Hellenic Division. Helen began bidding for an International Congress in Athens many years ago. She was unsuccessful and it was left to George to finally make a successful bid. Helen joins George in welcoming delegates to come to Athens in 2008.
George Kontogeorgos and all the members of the Hellenic Division of the IAP invite the members of the International Academy of Pathology to come to Greece in October this year from 12th to the 17th to join with them for the IAP International Congress 2008.
They have designed a great scientific programme that covers a wide spectrum of topics in Pathology. There is an international faculty of convenors and speakers, all of whom are experts in their fields. Keynote speakers have been specially selected, and several attractive social events are planned.
Greece is a great place to visit, both for its modern attributes and also for its ancient sites which are redolent with history. For those who have had an interest in ancient Greek culture, and for those who would like to acquire some knowledge of this, there are numerous well presented and annotated museums filled with artefacts that make the study both interesting and enjoyable. The article on ancient Greece in this edition adds to the articles in previous editions of the News Bulletin. The authors hope that these articles will give readers a foretaste OF what they will find there, and help them to more fully appreciate what they see.
George Kontogeorgos with medical staff (pathologists and residents): Stratigoula Sakellariou (Resident), Vania Deska (Resident), Lambrini Christodoulou (Resident), Eugenia Papaliodi (Vice Director), Christina Ioakeimidou (Resident), Theodosia Horeftaki (Consultant), GK, George Liadakis (Resident), Akrivi Kostopoulou (Resident), Demetra Apessou (Consultant).
Personnel of my Lab: Vania Deska (Resident), Chryssanthi Berdoussi, (Technician), Lambrini Christodoulou (Resident), Christina Ioakeimidou (Resident), Lily Salapatara (Technician), George Kontogeorgos (Head), Natassa Macrynicola (Secretary), Eugenia Papaliodi (Vice Director), Akrivi Kostopoulou (Resident), Magda Pateraki (Chief technician), George Liadakis (Resident), Giota Zaverdinou (Technician), Stratigoula Sakellariou (Resident), Soula Roumeliotou (Technician), Theodosia Horeftaki (Consultant), Demetra Apessou (Consultant), Lia Hondrodima (Technician), Mary Delipetrou (Secretary), Demetra Melissou (Technician), Zetta Papachristou (Secretary), Maria Zambeli (Technician).
Staff of the Pathology Department, Kapodistrian University of Athens: Emmanuel Agapitos, Nikolaos Kavatzas, Penny Korkolopoulou, Anastasia Konstantinidou, Anton Lazaris, Kiki Aronis, Pauline Athanassiadou, Sophia Tseleni, Efstratios Patrsouris (Professor), Lydia Nacopoulou (Professor), Hara Gakiopoulou, Afrodite Noni
Aristotle University of Tessaloniki Pathology Department: Helen Nenopoulou, Georgia Karagiannopoulou, Anna Skordalaki, George Karkavelas, Valentine Tzioufa, Anthoula Asimaki, Tasoula Kiziridou, John Kostopoulos, John Efstratiou, Prodromos Hytiroglou.
Aristotle University of Tessaloniki Pathology Department: Foreground Christina Tsompanidou, Vasiliki Kotoula, Vasiliki Kaloutsi, 2nd from left in background Fotis Iordanidis, and Residents of Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Pathology Lab.
George Kontogeorgos and Eleftherios Eleftheriadis on the foreshore of Tessaloniki harbour (the White Tower in the background is the symbol of the city).
Dina Tiniakos, Ipatia Doussis-Anagnostopoulou, Kotsinas Athanasios
George Kontogeorgos, President IAP Hellenic Division, Helen Karaiosifidou President Hellenic Society of Pathology, Ivi Arvaniti, Treasurer IAP Hellenic Division, Efi Bairaktari, Vice President IAP Hellenic Division.
Back
to Contents List |
Prehistoric Greece
The Cycladic, Minoan and Mycenaean civilisations
|
There is a quality of excellence about Ancient Greece that brooks few comparisons” according to British historian Norman Davies.* This “quality of excellence” made its initial appearance in three Bronze Age cultures – on the islands of the Cyclades, on the island of Crete, and on the Peloponnesian Peninsula where the citadel of Mycenae appears to have been one of the most important centres.
The general history of these three civilisations has to be deduced from a relative abundance of archaeological evidence since the written script of the Minoans, designated Linear A by Sir Arthur Evans, has never been deciphered; and the brilliant work of Englishman Michael Ventris in deciphering Linear B in 1952, revealed only uneventful details of daily economic life in a few Minoan and Mycenaean centres. The absence of written history therefore leaves the interpretation of archaeological evidence wide open to educated speculation and controversy.
A Cycladic statuette made from Parian marble.
Until its discovery by the modern art movement in the 20th century, Cycladic art was thought by lovers of the classical period as barbaric and primitive. But its influence on artists such as Picasso, Brancusi, Modigliani, Henry Moore, Barbara Hepworth and others was so strong that they made these long and slim marble figures well known to art lovers around the world.
The sculptor Henry Moore, who owned three Cycladic idols, loved the innate sculptural sense of these figures. He wrote: “I especially love the instinctive sense of importance which the Cycladic figures have. It is as if the sculptor could not make a mistake. Never did he arrive at a result which was not predictable from the beginning.” Commentary contributed by Dina Tiniakos.
Gold jewellery found in the shaft graves at Mycenae.
Beautiful Mycenaean pottery from the 12th century BC.
Below: 16th century BC Cycladic clay jug from the island of Melos.
Cycladic
The “Antelopes fresco.” This was buried under volcanic debris for three and a half thousand years near Akrotiri on the island of Thera.
The Cyclades, a group of islands in the Aegean Sea, are in fact the peaks of mountain ranges running south – east from mainland Greece. Bronze Age smelting techniques arrived in the region with settlers from the East, probably Phoenicia, about 3,000 B.C. and underpinned a flourishing civilisation for 2,000years. The people of the Cyclades were able sailors and maintained important maritime trading links around the Eastern Mediterranean. They achieved a high degree of skill in fashioning bronze weapons and tools, obsidian tools, and stone and clay pots and vases; but perhaps their most notable legacy is the white figurines carved from marble that was plentiful on the island of Paros.
Over time, the culture that had evolved in the Cyclades became increasingly dominated by the Minoans from the relatively large nearby island of Crete.
After 1,100 BC the Cyclades were generally in decline, but the island of Delos retained a degree of importance for many centuries to come. The name Cyclades means “encircling islands,” called thus as they roughly encircle the sacred island of Delos. Delos was the legendary birthplace of Apollo and his sister Artemis, and was for centuries an important centre for religious celebrations to honour the god Apollo. In the fifth century B.C. Delos served briefly as the headquarters and treasury of the Athenian – led Delian League, and later flourished under Rome as a free port. For a long time it was a thriving commercial centre, but met an untimely fate in 88 B.C. when it was sacked at the instigation of Mithradates, the tyrant of Pontus, as punishment for remaining loyal to Rome. The antiquities of the Cyclades have been periodically ransacked and taken elsewhere, especially for building stone. Nevertheless, numerous Cycladic cultural artefacts are preserved in island museums and in the National Archaeological Museum in Athens, and especially in the Museum of Cycladic Art opened in Athens in 1986.
The island of the Cyclades which probably attracts the most attention from tourists today is Thera (or Santorini.) For millions of years it has been periodically shaken by earthquakes and blown apart in volcanic eruption, and the evidence is everywhere visible. But the massive volcanic eruption of about 1,628 B.C. (reliably estimated at four times the force of Krakatoa and the date always a subject for debate) probably helped to change the course of history by weakening the structure of Minoan society. The coastal settlements on nearby Crete, and Minoan boats would have been engulfed and smashed by tidal waves, while volcanic ash would have been very disruptive for crops. Importantly for posterity an entire Minoan settlement near present day Akrotiri on the south coast of Thera was completely buried under volcanic debris at the time, and was thus preserved undiscovered, until Professor Spyridon Marinatos, the Greek Inspector General of Antiquities began to dig the site in the summer of 1967. Gradually an era of the ancient Minoan way of life came to light with patient excavation. Among the finds were frescoes that possibly even surpassed those found at Knossos.
Minoan
A Bronze Age culture had arisen on the island of Crete contemporaneous with that of the Cyclades – from 3,000 B.C. onwards; but apart from legend, until quite recent times it remained a tale untold. In Homer’s Odyssey book xix Odysseus says, “There is a land called Crete, set in the wine – dark sea, lovely and fertile and ocean – rounded,” “Among the cities is mighty Knossos; its king was once Minos.” * In 1899, however, English archaeologist Arthur Evans bought the land that included Knossos and began to excavate. Within a year he had revealed the ruins of a palace covering 2.2 hectares, and a civilisation of vast material accomplishment and artistic achievement. Since the labyrinthine nature of the ground plan reminded him of the legend of King Minos he coined the name Minoan for this civilisation. Nobody knows what the Minoans called themselves.
In all, 10 building levels have been identified at Knossos, covering more than 3.000 years and dating back to a Neolithic culture. The “golden age” of the Minoans, however, was between 2,100 and 1,500 B.C. In the palace establishments at places like Knossos, Phaestos, Mallia and Zakros the Minoans lacked for nothing in richness of decorations and furnishings. The facilities extended even to piped water supply and drains. Cretan civilisation was centred on the palaces. They appear to have been centres for collection and redistribution of important products like wine, olive oil and grain. In one storage area alone at Knossos, 400 very large pottery jars or pithoi were uncovered, with a total capacity of 91,000 litres. This would suggest a land of plenty.
A remarkable feature of the Minoan way of life was the almost complete absence of fortification of buildings or human settlements. For many centuries, as a relatively large island and a dominant influence in the region, Crete was probably too large a target, unlike the small islands of the Cyclades. A notable feature of Minoan culture was their artistry. Minoan art was joyful and carefree, full of colour and light–hearted spontaneity. In striking contrast with Egypt and Mesopotamia there are no scenes of violence, and not a single portrait of someone who could be identified as a ruler. The themes of Minoan art were taken mainly from nature – dolphins play happily on little gold cups and pottery vases, octopus tentacles are decorative rather than menacing, and flowers bloom everywhere in Minoan art. Minoans excelled in the intricate art of jewellery.
The animal most prominent in Minoan culture was the bull – modelled in clay, cast in bronze, wrought in gold and silver, carved in stone and painted on walls and pottery. The archaeological museum at Iraklio in Crete reveals the splendour of the Minoan achievement.
Minoan culture influenced the mainland Mycenaean Greeks for at least a century before a series of natural disasters left the Minoans vulnerable to being overrun by the warlike Mycenaeans. This apparently took place about 1,450 B.C., the time when most of the Minoan palaces were destroyed by means not understood. The late Minoan period (1,400 – 1,100) dominated by the Mycenaeans came to an abrupt end about 1,100 B.C. It was a time of major upheaval, and of what archaeologists refer to as a “general systems collapse” in the entire eastern Mediterranean.
Mycenaean
The early civilisation of mainland Greece is called Mycenaean or Helladic, and refers in particular to the late Bronze Age pre–eminence of the Achaean Greeks between 1,600 and 1,100 B.C., taking its name from the citadel of Mycenae. The Mycenaean civilisation flourished as a number of small “kingdoms” extending across the Peloponnesian Peninsula, in particular from Mycenae and Tiryns in the East to Pylos on the south-west coast and extending into central Greece and Thessaly. Despite sometimes being in conflict with one another they shared a common background and language (an early form of Greek,) had similar buildings and weapons, and the same burial customs. At the height of their prosperity, having conquered the Minoans in 1,450 B.C. (or thereabouts) Mycenaean influence extended from Sicily and Italy in the west to Asia Minor in the East and well into northern Greece. They were the dominant power in the Aegean from 1,400 B.C. to 1,100 .B.C.
The site of the citadel of Mycenae was first excavated in 1840, but the most momentous discoveries were those by German-born amateur archaeologist Heinrich Schliemann. Convinced that Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey had historical origins, Schliemann first of all partially excavated the ancient city of Troy in 1873, before beginning his search for the palace of Agamemnon at Mycenae. According to Homeric legend it was set “in a nook of Argos.” Schliemann’s efforts were rewarded when he unearthed the shaft graves at Mycenae, adjacent to the famous Lion Gate. He found a wealth of precious jewellery and artefacts worked in gold, silver, bronze alabaster and rock crystal, as well as beautifully decorated weapons. But possibly the most spectacular of the finds were the funerary masks of beaten-gold sheets that were used to cover the faces of Mycenaean kings. In all 44 pounds of gold artefacts were found at Mycenae.
Unlike the palaces of Minoan Crete the Mycenaean citadels were massively fortified – according to Homer “mighty – walled.” At Tiryns the citadel wall was 700 metres long, and up to 8 metres thick - and at Mycenae it was up to 14 metres thick. Earth and rubble walls were faced with overpoweringly impressive, rough-hewn “Cyclopean” rocks. The palace inside seems small by comparison. The main room in the palace was called the megaron (Greek for large room). It was square or oblong, and the four columns carrying the roof were positioned around a large central hearth. (The word megaron has been adopted as the name for the Convention Centre in Athens). Only the ruling class inhabited the hilltop citadels which served as the administrative military, economic and religious centres for large, prosperous regions outside the walls.
Around 1,100 B.C. the Mycenaean palaces were sacked, and though life continued in the Peloponnese, many fled across the Aegean to Asia Minor and brought with them tales of the adventures of Mycenaean (Achaean) warriors and their war against Troy. Set against the background of a glorious past amid Mycenaean wealth and power, tales of the feats and adventures of Mycenaean warriors were passed on for several centuries by oral tradition before being crafted into the epic poems – the Iliad and the Odyssey. The poet Homer has long been given credit for this literature.
The National Archaeological Museum in Athens has a large display of the exquisite craftsmanship of the Mycenaean civilisation.
Roma Cooke
With assistance from Dina Tiniakos and George Kontogeorgos
Reference: Davies N., Europe – a History, P 95
Random House, London, 1997.
Back
to Contents List
|
BRITISH SCHOOLS OF PATHOLOGY AND ALL THAT
|
The British Division of the IAP has always been primarily concerned with the education of its members in its member countries, the United Kingdom, Belgium, Netherlands and the Republic of Ireland. More recently, Council has advocated a wider role to facilitate, promote and sponsor pathology education in countries that may be seen to be disadvantaged, or which may benefit from greater co-operation with our member countries.
There is no doubt that the development which started all of this off was the Arab British School of Pathology. So much of the success of the School is due to our very own Professor Kristin Henry (also European Vice President and Chairman of the IAP Education Committee) and to many committed and industrious colleagues in the Arab World. Of the latter, I would particularly acknowledge Professors Ghazi Zaatari (Lebanon), Samir Amr (Saudi Arabia) and Ali El Hindawi (Egypt). Since December 2002, when the original meeting was held in Beirut, there have been five meetings: in Damascus, Cairo, Bahrain and Amman, so representing a wide coverage of Middle Eastern Arab-speaking countries. Due to the enthusiasm and dynamism of Professor Henry and her colleagues from the Arab Division, there has been excellent attendance at each of these meetings (varying from 50 to 250) and all of these have been resounding educational and social successes. The meeting will return to Beirut in 2008, under the organisation of one of its strongest supporters, Professor Ghazi Zaatari.
Traditional Sir Lankan dancers at the opening ceremony of the inaugural Sri Lankan British School of Pathology at the Galle Face Hotel, Colombo.
The Organisers and Lecturers of ICON-GI, the inaugural Sri Lankan British School of Pathology, September 2007. The chief organiser, Dr Isha Prematilleke (first left), with Dr Ray McMahon (Treasurer, BDIAP; second left) and Professors Dilani Lokuhetty (Former College President; third from left), Janaki Hewavisenthi (current College President; fourth from left), Geraint Williams (BDIAP President-Elect; centre) and Neil Shepherd (General Secretary, BDIAP, second from right).
Professors Samir Amr (left) and Kristin Henry (centre) receive Certificates of Merit and the IAP Gold Medal to acknowledge the huge contributions of the Arab British School of Pathology from the IAP General Secretary, Dr David Hardwick, in Montreal, September 2006.
Dr Ahmed Kalebi (Kenya; seated) first recipient of the BDIAP Training Fellowship with Professors Neil Shepherd (General Secretary, BDIAP), Martin Hale (IAP Vice President for Africa) and Alan Cameron (Professor of Pathology) in Johannesburg, January 2005.
The achievements of the Arab British School of Pathology were acknowledged by the awarding of a Gold Medal to the School and Certificates of Merit to its leading players at the Centenary IAP Congress in Montreal in September 2006.
Given the success of the Arab British School, BDIAP Council had no problems in supporting more recent similar initiatives in countries that have seen more than their fair share of recent troubles. The UK has always had strong links with Sri Lanka, which remains a proud member of the Commonwealth. Especially with the effects of the tsunami and recent downturns in the economy and tourism because of the Civil War, Council was delighted to support the creation of the Sri Lankan British School of Pathology. The inaugural meeting was held in Colombo in September 2007. It featured gastro-intestinal pathology. There were 150 delegates (extraordinarily there are only about 50 established pathologists in Sri Lanka!!) and the success of the meeting was a tribute to the local organiser, Dr Isha Prematilleke, and the College of Pathologists of Sri Lanka. The current President, Professor Janaki Hewavisenthi, and former Presidents, Professor Dilani Lokuhetty and Chandu de Silva, all featured strongly. It was also a pleasure to see many pathologists from India attending the meeting. The BDIAP team was its President-Elect, Treasurer and General Secretary and all had a marvellous time, especially visiting some of the superb ancient sights of the country. This School will meet biennially and the next meeting in 2009 will feature gynaecological pathology.
The Bosnian British School of Pathology, August 2007. The President, Dr Nurija Belalovic, is sixth from the left and the Chief Organiser, Dr Semir Vranic, is fourth from the right.
Bosnia was in the midst of a bitter Civil War not 15 years ago. Our Meetings Secretary, Dr Bryan Warren, through his contacts with an aid charity, proposed the establishment of the Bosnian British School of Pathology, pretty much based on the concepts of the Sri Lankan British School of Pathology. As a quirk of fate, the inaugural Bosnian Meeting, again on gastro-intestinal pathology, preceded that of the Sri Lankan School. So, our President-Elect and General Secretary found themselves in Sarajevo in August 2007. Sadly Bryan himself could not be there because of illness. It was extraordinary to see the optimism and enthusiasm of the pathologists we met, from Sarajevo, from old war hot spots like Banja Luka and from neighbouring countries such as Serbia and Slovenia. The meeting was convivial and the social events highly entertaining. Bosnia has come some way since the very dark days but many problems, not least educational funding, exist, especially for trainees. Thus BDIAP Council has agreed to support fourteen trainees from the Balkans to attend the IAP Word Congress in Athens in October 2008. The success of the meeting was a tribute to the President, Dr Nurija Belalovic, and especially to Dr Semir Vranic. Semir is an extraordinary relatively junior trainee with unending energy and dynamism. He was the chief organiser of the meeting and what a fantastic job he did! He has agreed to front the next meeting in Sarajevo in 2008 on breast and gynaecological pathology.
The BDIAP is also proud of its support for pathology education in Africa. It currently supports two pathology trainees from disadvantaged Anglophone countries (currently Kenya and Zambia) to train in the Republic of South Africa. The first trainee is Dr Ahmed Kalebi, from Kenya, who has been an enormous success. This bodes well for the future of this initiative. Professor Martin Hale from Johannesburg (African Vice President of the IAP) has been a crucial aspect of the success of these training posts and has put an enormous amount of work into ensuring their success. The BDIAP also sends “goodwill ambassadors” to support and lecture in national and international meetings in Africa, including a yearly sponsorship for the South African Divisional Meeting and two yearly for the APECSA (Association of Pathologists of Eastern, Central and Southern Africa) Meetings. More recently, of course, USCAP has initiated its “Friends of Africa” programme. Thus the efforts of USCAP, the BDIAP, the French Division and the exploits in Northern Africa through the Arab Division all serve to provide some support for pathology education to a continent with particular problems. As an example, one of our member countries is the Netherlands which has around 20 million people and about 400 established pathologists. In stark contrast, Zambia, with a similar population, has, at the last count, just five. We are really only scratching the surface of pathology education in Africa.
There is an additional drive for the BDIAP’s activities in many of these countries. It is our aim, and that of other Divisions, to promote the development of new Divisions of the IAP. It is a pleasure to note, therefore, that the East Africans are establishing their own Division and the Sri Lankans are in the early throes of establishing a Division there. We hope we can encourage more, perhaps especially in the Balkans. Council of the BDIAP is proud of its initiatives in many of these countries. It acknowledges that other Divisions have established similar developments in many different countries. It is surely an important mandate of the IAP to provide this organisational and financial support, particularly for disadvantaged countries, to pathology education worldwide.
Professor Neil A Shepherd
General Secretary, BDIAP
Back to Contents List
|
The First Meeting of The
Western Indian Ocean Pathologists
Antananarivo, Madagascar,
August 15-18, 2007 |
About three years ago, Dr. Frank W Kiel, a retired US pathologist and former pathologist at the National Guard Hospital, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia asked me whether I could help him to get some support from IAP to hold the first meeting for pathologists in countries located on the Western side of the Indian Ocean. These countries include several islands in the Indian Ocean off the coast of Africa as well as African countries fronting the Indian Ocean. They include Kenya, Tanzania, Somalia, Mozambique, South Africa, Madagascar, Mauritius, Reunion, Comoros, and Seychelles.
Above: Participants group picture in front of the meeting place at CHU-HJRA Government Hospital.
Visit to the rural hospital at Moranmanga.
L to R: Mrs Kiel, Dr Rakuth, Samir Amir and Martin Hale.
Members of the organising committee and invited speakers.
Dr. Kiel had been working in Madagascar for over 8 years as a volunteer for Pathologists Overseas, a nonprofit corporation based in California. He trained several local pathologists and supervised the operation of a medical laboratory which belongs to the medical services of the Lutheran Church, named SALFA, in Antananarivo, the capital of Madagascar. Dr. Kiel and his dynamic wife Ruth, thought that having a pathology meeting in Madagascar, the first ever to be held in this under-developed African nation of 18 million people, would help to draw attention to the health problems of that geographic region, and to attract international aid to the region.
A small grant was obtained from the Education Committee of the IAP and support came from Dr. Martin Hale, Vice President for Africa and from the Arab division of IAP. The organising committee consisted of Dr. and Mrs. Kiel, and local Malagasy pathologists, particularly Dr. Andriamanantsoa Rakouth and Dr. Ramiandrasoa A. Lalaoarifetra. The President of the meeting was Prof. Nantenaina Randrianjafisamindrakotroka, from the Medical School of the University of Antananarivo. (In Madagascar they specialise in long names!).
The scientific program included lectures from guest speakers and papers from Malagasy pathologists, oncologists and surgeons. Two interesting presentations stand out. One on the “Peopling of Madagascar” by Dr Himla Soodyall, Professor of Genetics at the University of the Witwaterstrand, Johannesburg, South Africa. The other paper was on medical geography of the Western Indian Ocean presented by Dr Frank W Kiel. He described his trips to medical centers and pathology units in various countries located on the Western side of the Indian Ocean.
Dr. Hale came with a group of speakers from South Africa including Prof. Jill Murray, Prof. Trefor Jenkins and Dr. Soodyall. He also presented a lecture and a slide seminar on pathology of AIDS
Dr Amr gave a paper and also distributed to the participants 30 copies of a DVD containing 4 gigabytes of lectures and slide seminars from USCAP Meetings. These DVDs (courtesy of the USCAP) were a gift from the Arab Division of IAP to the Malagasy pathologists. The local pathologists, with help from Dr Kiel, are working on establishing an IAP Division for Western Indian Ocean Countries.
On the third day of the meeting, there was a field trip to observe Madagascar villages, local hospitals and conservation efforts. The participants watched lemurs and other primitive primates in their natural habitats.
Samir Amr
Vice President for Asia, IAP
Past President, Arab Division of IAP
|
