Petros Ipitis – The infectious disease specialist of the 19th century
Due to the coronavirus pandemic, the attention of all of us has turned to experts. They in turn try to predict evolution and explain in simple words to the world everything that happens. Infectious disease specialists, scientists who study infections, the behavior of viruses and their possible course have the first say in all this. Petros Ipitis was one of the oldest and most well-known Greek infectious disease specialists.
Petros Ipitis was born in Parga in 1795. At a young age he found refuge in Bucharest to escape from Ali Pasha. He was a medical philosopher of the 19th century, something like an infectious disease specialist of that time. Hepitis was involved in the fight against plague and cholera, while he also promoted the spread of the philhellenic movement. In 1816, at the age of just 21, he wrote a book entitled "Infectious Diseases". He studied at the Academy of Lambros Fotiadis and continued his studies in Medicine and Philosophy in Vienna.
The philhellenic movement and the Friendly Society
In 1818 he settled in St. Petersburg and worked as a doctor. Two years later, in 1820, he met Emmanuel Xanthos, who was in St. Petersburg to propose to Ioannis Kapodistrias the leadership of the Friendly Society, which eventually ended up with Alexandros Ypsilantis. He was a personal physician and a close friend of Ypsilantis and played a role in the Revolution of 1821.
Petros Ipitis and his contribution to the fight against the plague
Ten years later in 1830, Petros Ipitis arrived in Athens to work as a doctor. He was appointed a member of the "Medical Conference" which began its work in 1834.
When the plague epidemic reached Poros in 1837, Hepitis was sent there to help deal with it. He never agreed with the way the authorities treated the disease and openly opposed it. Then he refused the teaching position offered at the University of Athens and became involved in the study and control of the plague.
He was one of the founding members of the Educational Society founded in 1836, while he volunteered as a doctor at the School and Boarding School. He died in Athens on June 29, 1861 at the age of 66. His house is located in Plaka at 15 Ipitou Street. The street that took its name and is now home to the 1st Experimental High School of Athens "Gennadeio" since 1960.
