Physician (1883 – 1962)
He was born in 1883 in Cyme as the son of a politician and member of the Hellenic Parliament. At the age of 15 he began studying medicine at the University of Athens and by the age of 21 he had received his degree. In 1907 he went to Germany and took lessons in Biology. He continued his studies in the University of Munich where he conducted research and was made an assistant professor of natural sciences. He continued his career in Monaco where he worked as an oceanographer.
With the start of the Balkan Wars in 1913, Papanikolaou returned to Greece and served in the army for the liberation of the Greek subjugated lands. In the same year he departed to the United States to pursue his life-long dream of becoming a researcher. Having only 250 dollars, the couple faced financial issues, which forced Papanikolaou to abandon his dream in order to survive. He played the violin in small taverns and sold carpets to make a living.
Eventually Papanikolaou’s papers were cited and he was hired as an assistant preparer in the University Hospital of Cornell. He worked as an assistant professor of Anatomy and slowly began rising in the hierarchy, becoming an associate professor and ultimately a full time professor in Anatomy, Histology and Pathology but without having been assigned teaching duties, for he was dedicated to research. His research on alcohol was decisive on the alcohol prohibition in 1920. The same year, news about his achievements reached Greece. Prime Minister Eleutherios Venizelos offered him to become a Professor of Medicine in the University, which he declined. He continued his researches in the same university on genetics and sex hormones.
The year 1928 was a landmark for modern medicine. Georgios Papanikolaou’s thesis “Diagnosis of Cancer of the uterus by cervical smears” was published. It was the groundbreaking discovery which led to the so-called Pap smear, the main diagnostic method for cervical cancer used successfully to this day. With this discovery, Papanikolaou was opening the gates to a new science called Exfoliative Cytology, a sub-specialty of Pathology. Unfortunately, Papanikolaou’s method was met with utter disregard by the medical establishment as they failed to acknowledge its practical value. In spite of his hostile reception, Papanikolaou was more determined than ever to convince them otherwise.
In 1943, Papanikolaou’s discovery gained worldwide acceptance and was acknowledged by three leading universities Boston, New York and Harvard. Some years more were needed to pass in order for the method to be used routinely for the accurate diagnosis of cervical cancer. Before its application, women who were diagnosed for cervical cancer had already advanced carcinoma and prognosis was poor. Today, with the discovery of the Pap test, the diagnosis can be done before the signs and symptoms of cervical cancer appear.
Georgios Papanikolaou published over 100 research papers. He received the medal of honour from the American Cancer Society, was member of the Academy of Sciences of New York, served as Vice-President of the Council of the Cytologic Society of New York and was nominated five times for the Nobel Prize in Medicine. He died in 1962 at the age of 78.
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