Fotis Papadopoulos:

Dr. Fotis and Eftihia Papadopoulos. "Patients would give me fruits, vegetables, meat and fish as payment for my services," recalls retired Dr. Fotis Papadopoulos. "There was one surgeon who cared for Chios and a neighboring island once a month. I tried to take care of my patients until the surgeon would arrive. That was the life of an island doctor." The physician is a modest, humble person, approachable by all, regardless of economic class.

The modern version of the Hippocratic Oath states that a physician "will remember that there is art to medicine as well as science, and that warmth, sympathy and understanding may outweigh the surgeon's knife or the chemist's drug." Dr. Papadopoulos exemplifies the oath he was administered as a young man.

He is a tall, aristocratic man. When he walks in a room, persons stop to look at him with respect. During my stay at Handris Hotel, administrators recalled how he helped family members. He tried to make their lives bearable in the face of serious illness. This is the image of a traditional, island doctor: one who cares more for his patients than for the acquisition of material wealth or personal well-being.

Papadopoulos was born in the town of Pirghi. It is the largest of the villages in Mastichochoria (the southern part of Chios where the mastic is produced). Its population is less than 1,200 persons. The village is a major tourist attraction of the island, because of the particular geometric decoration called "xysta" ("ksista") on the buildings.

Those who live there love their historic town. "Christopher Columbus lived in Pirghi as well as other members of his family," Papadopoulos said. "His house survives today. My grandmother's name was Colombo. Masticha cultivation brought prosperity to Pirghi, in a profitable trade with Asia Minor across from us. Genoa and Pirghi had mutual political and cultural ties. Columbus was involved in the masticha trade. Currently, 200 tons of masticha is produced a year. One third of masticha is produced in our town. Chios is called Sakiz in Turkish, the island of masticha. We were called Giounan that means Ionians.

"Women have a strong, independent spirit on our island," he said. "They are taking over family businesses. In some villages, women were so strong that their children assumed the mother's name. A child was referred as the son/daughter of the mother. Our young families do not have five or six children. The average family has two children. In previous years, a Pirghi family had an average of eight or more children.

"Chios' wealth came from our naval merchants," said the doctor. "Chiotes from America, Australia and Canada enriched the island. Chios' ship owners, such as the Livanos and Handris families, have made our island internationally known, in addition to the cultivation of masticha. We welcome immigrants from Bulgaria, Russia and Albania to work in heavy labor, construction and olive cultivation.

"Many Russian women are taking care of our elderly, as well as our homes," he explained. "The immigration of Mikrasiates from the prefecture of Smyrna in 1915 and 1922 was a blessing. Their Smyrneiko /Constantinopolitan cuisine is the best. The Greeks learned from the Mikrasiates. Rebetika and laika songs revolutionized Greek music. Our economic life has changed. The Chinese now control the economy of Greece. We are now buying our products from China. Many of the folk arts and traditional embroideries are manufactured in China, based on a Greek pattern.

"I am retired from my medical specialty of ears, eyes and nose," he continued. "I am the godfather and first cousin of Dr. Fotis Benetos, who is active in the Panchiaki Korais society. Our families have lived for generations in Pirghi. Eftihia, my wife, was the daughter of Dr. George Theotokas, the doctor of the villages. I wanted to marry her. I became a doctor, so I could marry the doctor's daughter. For centuries one has to marry from one's village. It was considered a blessing. The proverb 'papoutsia apo to topo sas' is derived from this custom.

"In 1926, my father went to Australia to make his fortune," he recalled. "In 1928, he returned to Chios to marry. My mother was a teacher. She was impressed by my father, who courted her as a handsome young man on a white horse. My father worked in Australia and helped me financially to become a physician at the University of Athens. I have two sons, George, 29, who is a writer and vice-mayor of Chios City and John, 35, who is a physical therapist at Chios City Hospital. They all live on our island. John lived with my godson/cousin Dr. Fotis Benetos for a month. Families stick together. Fotis worked at my clinic before immigrating to New York to pursue his science studies.

"I was a doctor for 39 years, from 1963 to 2002," he recalls. "These were memorable years for me, serving at Skilitsiou Hospital. We did not have an anesthesiologist. For difficult cases, an anesthesiologist would come once a month from Mytilene. We would perform 15 operations in one day. These were difficult years for doctors in Greece. Before retiring, I became the principal laryngologist."

The legacy of Dr. Fotis Papadopoulos is epitomized by the conclusion of the Hippocratic Oath that states "if I do not violate this oath, may I enjoy life and art, respected while I live and remembered with affection thereafter. May I always act so as to preserve the finest traditions of my calling and may I long experience the joy of healing those who seek my help." Internet links: www.pbs.org/ wgbh/nova/doctors/oathmodern.html, www.twcenter.net/forums/showthread. php?t=22709 and www.mesogeia. net/trip/xios/pirgien.html