Pan Symeonides: - 2010
On the 8 th of June 2010 Prof. Pan. Symeonides definitely traveled for other worlds after a short, brave and decent but futile battle with illness.
Panagiotis Symeonides was born in a small village of Western Macedonia in North Greece, member of a large middle – urban family. His distinguished abilities and ambitions appeared very soon and even from the time he was finishing High School and the Military Medical School in Thessaloniki he excelled in everything.
After splendid postgraduate studies, mainly in Orthopaedic Centres of Great Britain (near Professor Seddon and C. Adams), USA and Germany he came back to Greece and he was entrusted as Director of the Orthopaedic Clinic of the Air Force Military Hospital. He remained there for many years leading the Clinic to admirable scientific standards. He also served as the General Manager of the Hospital and eventually he retired as a General.
In 1980 he was elected 1 st Prof. in Orthopaedics at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki and he established and organized, along with his associates, the University Orthopaedic Clinic in “Papanikolaou” Hospital, gathering close together all the Orthopaedic Surgeons of Northern Greece setting out postgraduate lessons and other scientific procedures.
He maintained excellent relationships with the Panhellenic Orthopaedic Society and he served as President of the Hellenic Association of Orthopaedic Surgery and Traumatology (HAOST) and the College of Greek Orthopaedic Surgeons, as well as Vice President and Dean of the Medical School of Aristotle University of Thessaloniki.
Of course the acme of his splendid scientific career was his election as a Member of the Athens Academy something he himself and all of us were very proud of.
The scientific work of Prof. Symeonides was remarkable and interesting. He wrote a classic book of Orthopaedics for students and young doctors and he published more than 300 scientific papers in Greek and International Journals and gave a grade number of lectures in Greece and abroad as an invited speaker. His favorite topic was the shoulder and his contribution on the subject was great especially on Shoulder’s Instability. His publications on this subject are considered classic and there are many citations in Campbell’s Operative Orthopaedics as well as in the books of Prof. Sharrard (1980), Rockwood and Green (1991), Rockwood and Matsen (1988) etc. In 1988 in C. Rowe’s book the modification of the Putti – Platt’s operation was listed as “Symeonides operation”.
Furthermore, he participated in the writing of M. Watson’s book: Practical Shoulder Surgery with the Chapter “Shoulder’s Instability”.
Prof. Symeonides was a remarkably pleasant person (as a Company). He loved excursions, nature in general and he was a successful anecdotes teller. He was incredibly hard-working disciplined, frugal, with a developed sense of justice.
He had been married to his beloved Mary for almost 45 years. He was extremely proud of his two daughters (the younger being also a Prof. in Medical School) and his grand children.
It’s not only his family that misses him. All of us friends, colleagues and disciples have lost an important friend and a distinguished teacher. Let him rest in peace and let his memory live on for ever and ever.
