Georgios Papanikolaou was a Greek pioneer in cytopathology and early cancer detection, and inventor of the “Pap smear”.
Georgios Papanikolaou Wiki/Bio:
| Real Name: | Georgios Papanikolaou |
| Date of Birth: | 13 May 1883 |
| Birth Place: | Kymi, Euboea, Kingdom of Greece |
| Nationality: | Greek |
| Death Date: | 19-Feb-1962 |
| Death Place: | Miami, Florida, U.S. |
Georgios Papanikolaou Age, Height, Weight:
| Age: | 78 Years (At the time of Death) |
| Height: | 5 Ft 9 in |
| Weight: | 78 Kgs |
Georgios Papanikolaou Education:
He was cytopathologist who originally studied music and humanities before later deciding to go into medicine at the age of 15. He received his medical degree from the University of Athens in 1904, and a Ph.D. from the University of Munich six years later.
Georgios Papanikolaou Career, Invention:
In 1911 he joined the Oceanographic Exploration Team of the Prince of Monaco before immigrating to the U.S. with his wife, Andromachi Mavroyenis, in 1913.
Georgios Papanikolaou originally struggled to get by in New York, working as a carpet salesman and playing the violin in restaurants despite having both a medical degree and a doctorate. His wife’s job sewing buttons brought in $5 a week.
Georgios Papanikolaou eventually got a job as a researcher in the pathology department at New York Hospital and the department of anatomy at Cornell University, with Mavroyenis working alongside him as a technician and sometimes a test subject.
Georgios Papanikolaou and his wife’s breakthrough arrived after they asked a group of friends to participate in a study for their research looking at how cells in the vagina and uterus change during the menstrual cycle; a test which involved undergoing a Pap smear.
As it happens, one of the couple’s friends had cervical cancer at the time, which Papanikolaou was able to detect by seeing the malignant cells while examining their Pap smear under a microscope.
“The first observation of cancer cells in the smear of the uterine cervix was one of the most thrilling experiences of my scientific career,” Papanicolaou is widely quoted as saying.
Despite first reporting that Pap smears are an effective way to detect cancer early in 1928, his findings were not widely recognized until they were published in the book Diagnosis of Uterine Cancer by the Vaginal Smear in 1943.
Today, The Pap smear is still widely used and is estimated to have reduced fatalities caused by cancer of the reproductive systems in women by half because of early detection.
Georgios Papanikolaou Wife:
| Andromahi Mavrogeni |
Georgios Papanikolaou Death:
In 1961, Papanikolaou moved to Miami, Florida, to develop the Papanicolaou Cancer Research Institute at the University of Miami, but died there on 19 February 1962 prior to its opening. He died at the age of 78 and the cause of death was listed as Congestive heart failure.
Georgios Papanikolaou Google Doodle:
On 13 May 2019, Google Celebrates 136 birthday of Georgios Papanikolaou.
