In memoriam: portrait of a good and honest man, John Ioannovich 1939–2003

Excerpt

Professor John Ioannovich passed away on 7 October 2003 after suffering a heart attack while he was in Dubai for a working meeting. I heard this sad news with great emotion; only 2 days earlier I had lunched with him in a little restaurant near the Acropolis, during the meeting of the Greek Society of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery in Athens. He was in fine form, and we talked about our current surgical activities. As always when I saw him he was very animated, and there was no need for the aid of ouzo or retsina with our meal. Once again, he asked me to tell the jokes that he knew by heart but which always made him burst into his hearty, contagious laugh. Between the moussaka, kebab and spanakopita we talked of our careers, and there was no premonition of his untimely decease. He was full of plans and intended to organise a scientific trip to the Middle East and Saudi Arabia. When I was in the car of his assistant, Petros Panayotou, the day before his imminent departure for Dubai, I spoke to him on the telephone and we arranged to meet again very soon. …