jcoloproctol(rioj).2017;37(2):87
w w w . j c o l . o r g . b r
Journal
of
Coloproctology
Editorial
Centenary
of
birth
of
Dr.
Walter
Ghezzi
Centenário
de
nascimento
do
Dr.
Walter
Ghezzi
May3rdwasthecentenaryofbirthofProfessorWalterGhezzi. HewasborninPassoFundo,RSandattendedschoolinthat city.HesubsequentlycametoPortoAlegre,wherehe gradu-atedfromMedicalSchoolin1939atUniversidadeFederaldo RioGrandedoSul(UFRGS).Hedefendedhisthesis,becoming aProfessorofAnatomyattheSchoolofMedicineofUFRGS.
Afterabriefperiodinthestatecountryside and intern-shipsin Uruguay,Argentina and SaoPaulo, hereturned to PortoAlegre,startinghiscareerasacoloproctologistin1942. HelatercompletedhisinternshipatMountSinaiHospitalin NewYorkandtheMayoClinicinRochester.Inourspecialty, wasundoubtedlyapioneer.Atthattime,coloproctologywas notseenasaspecialty,beingoccasionallypracticedonlyby somegeneralsurgeons.
BydevelopingcontactsbothinBrazilandabroad,within ashorttimehewasabletocharacterizethespecialtyinour country,alwaysdefendingexclusivededicationtoit.Tohim weowethecreationofColoproctologyinRioGrandedoSul.
Professor Ghezzi developed teaching activities at the SchoolofMedicineofUFRGSasananatomyteacher.Hewas professorofthespecialtyattheformerlyFundac¸ãoFaculdade FederaldeCiênciasMédicasofPortoAlegreandalsoatSchool ofMedicineofPontifíciaUniversidadeCatólicadoRioGrande doSul,wherehewasalsotheCoordinatoroftheDepartment ofSurgery.
Inthecontextoftheprofessionalassociationactivities,he wasalwaysanindefatigablecollaborator.HewasPresidentof theMedicalAssociationofRioGrandedoSul,the Brazilian SocietyofColoproctologyandtheLatin-AmericanAssociation
ofColoproctology.In1967,onitsowninitiative, the Depart-mentofProctologyoftheMedicalAssociationofRioGrandedo Sulwascreated,theembryoofthecurrentAssociation,which completesfiftyyearsofuninterruptedactivitythisyear. Dur-ingtheannualmeetingofthisassociation,theWalterGhezzi AwardisgiventothebestworkpresentedasaPosterorOral Presentation,afairtributetotheonewhocreatedand devel-opedthespecialty,includingfacilitatingthetrainingofnew professionals.
HewasmarriedtoAnaLuizaPedreiraGhezziandtheyhad threechildren,Henrique,acoloproctologist,Marta,an archi-tect,andAlberto,anengineer.
On the centenaryof his birth, Professor Walter Ghezzi, undoubtedly aniconofBraziliancoloproctology,is remem-beredasapioneer,teacher,andmentor,byallwhoknewhim inlifeandbyallwhocameafterandwhoalsoenjoyhislegacy.
ÉricoFillmanna,b
aSociedadeBrasileiradeColoproctologia,RiodeJaneiro,RJ,Brazil
bPontifíciaUniversidadeCatólicadoRioGrandedoSul(PUC-RS),
PortoAlegre,RS,Brazil
E-mail:eepf1@yahoo.com.br 2237-9363/©2017PublishedbyElsevierEditoraLtda.on behalfofSociedadeBrasileiradeColoproctologia.Thisisan openaccessarticleundertheCCBY-NC-NDlicense
(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
