Clinics in Dermatology (2007) 25, 147 – 150
DERMATOLOGIST OF DISTINCTION Edited by Larry E. Millikan, MD
Joa˜o Ramos-e-Silva: my grandfather* (June 11, 1898–November 26, 1983) Marcia Ramos-e-Silva, MD* Sector of Dermatology and Post Graduation Course, HUCFF/UFRJ and School of Medicine, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Introduction Joa˜o Ramos-e-Silva (Fig. 1) left us more than 20 years ago, but the longing we feel has not stopped, even now. I was very close to my grandfather, and as early as the age of 12, I set out to follow his footsteps and decided I wanted to become a physician. I can assure you that he was a great man — for his family, for medical science, and especially for dermatology, which was still in its beginning at his time and to which he devoted almost 70 years of his life. With a forceful personality, honest, and righteous, of the type one finds so seldom nowadays, my grandfather was a strong and good example to all those who shared their time with him.
couple always kept it friendly open and closely united by their presence, example, dedication, and love. Born on June 11, 1898, despite his official registration stating the date November 29, 1896, he entered medical school at the age of 15. (That change was made in 1913 with the help of his teachers and with the initial opposition of
Early years He was a Carioca (person born in the City of Rio de Janeiro), son of Joa˜o Joaquim (Judge of the Brazilian Empire) and Elvira Ramos-e-Silva. In 1924, he married Emery, with whom he almost was able to celebrate 60 years of a very happy life. It was in my grandmother that lay much of the strength and enthusiasm that made him go so far in his studies and research work. She helped him very much and was always enthusiastic about his achievements. They had 2 children, 5 grandchildren, and 8 great grandchildren, of which he only knew 4. The family was small, but the
* Corresponding author. Rua Dona Mariana 143/C-32, 22280-020 Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Tel.: +55 21 22864632; fax: +55 21 22864632. E-mail address:
[email protected]. 0738-081X/$ – see front matter D 2007 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.clindermatol.2006.07.016
Fig. 1
Joa˜o Ramos-e-Silva photographed in 1958.
148
Fig. 2 Inauguration of the Joa˜o Ramos-e-Silva Auditorium at the Rio de Janeiro School of Medicine and Surgery.
M. Ramos-e-Silva Department, teaching lepra (1942), venereology (1944), and cancer (1945) extension courses. In 1948, through a contest with diplomas and accomplished works, he achieved the position of Head of the Dermatology Department of the Policlı´nica Geral of Rio de Janeiro, where he had already worked as intern and associate physician, contributing great development and national and international prestige until he left in 1971. In addition, he was a sanitary inspector right after his graduation, during the surge of Spanish Influenza that decimated the population of Rio de Janeiro at the first part of the last century, and a physician at Santa Casa de Miserico´rdia of Rio de Janeiro. From 1972 to 1982, he was an honorary consultant in tropical dermatology for the Oswaldo Cruz Institute at the Evandro Chagas Hospital. In 1961, he was honored with the appointment for the National Medicine Academy. He was a member of several Brazilian scientific entities as well as of a number of foreign medical and dermatology associations. In addition to having been president and vice
his father.) He graduated as a physician in 1918, at age of 20, and on April 25 of the following year, he defended his thesis entitled bAccidents in Syphilis ArsenotherapyQ for his doctorate degree.
Career in dermatology In 1931, he was appointed Head of the Dermatology and Syphilographic Clinic of the Rio de Janeiro School of Medicine and Surgery, and in 1935, he became a professor after passing the exams at the School of Medicine of Rio de Janeiro in a contest in which diplomas are also valued. He was Head of the Rio de Janeiro School of Medicine and Surgery from 1931 to 1966 without interruption, being retired compulsorily because of his age but not without receiving the honorary title of bProfessor EmeritusQ (Figs. 2 and 3). He was a professor for the National Public Health
Fig. 3 Also at the inauguration of the Joa˜o Ramos-e-Silva Auditorium at the Rio de Janeiro School of Medicine and Surgery.
Fig. 4 Newspaper interview for the announcement of the Congress of Dermatologists of Portuguese Language and the 22nd Annual Meeting of Brazilian Dermatologists—November 22-27, 1965 at the Copacabana Palace Hotel, Rio de Janeiro.
Joa˜o Ramos-e-Silva: my grandfather (June 11, 1898–November 26, 1983)
Fig. 5 From left to right: Luis Pierini (Buenos Aires, Argentina), Joa˜o Ramos-e-Silva, Antar Padilha-Gonc¸alves (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil), and Tancredo Furtado (Belo Horizonte, Brazil).
president in several international congresses, he frequently attended dermatological meetings abroad wherein he was always presenting his works. My grandfather was an active ambassador for Brazilian dermatology, helping to divulge it worldwide. He was well known and respected, having been bestowed with honors from several countries, among which are the French Honor Legion, in the grade of officer; Order of the Infant D. Henrique of Portugal, in the grade of Commander; Order of Instruction of Portugal, in the grade of Grand Officer. He also received the Commendams Jose´ Maria Vargas and the Andre´s Bello Order, both from Venezuela, and also the Alfred Jurzikowski Prize, awarded by the Alfred Jurzikowski Foundation from the United States. He was a member of the Pan-American Medical Association, and in 1962, he was elected as a member of the
Fig. 6 Front of the medal given as a token of respect by Prof. Ramos-e-Silva to Dr. Clelia Berthier, as well as to all the Medical Students of the Class of 1967, who honored him in their Graduation Ceremony.
Fig. 7
149
Back of the same medal as in Fig. 6.
International Committee of Dermatology, which is the Board of the International League of Dermatologic Societies, the highest entity within our specialty, having been the first Brazilian to obtain such a distinguished position. Joa˜o Ramos-e-Silva was the inspirer and president of the First Annual Dermatology Meeting, later renamed Brazilian Dermatology Congress and is now already in its 61st edition, wherein dermatologists meet annually to exchange scientific information. He was also the organizer and president of the First Congress of Dermatologists of Portuguese Language held together with the 22nd Annual Meeting of Brazilian Dermatologists (Fig. 4). Of his more than 250 works, notes, comments, theories, conferences, and chapters of published books, it is difficult to find a dermatological subject he did not address; however, from among the ones he studied, what stood out were the first Brazilian case of the Zinsser-Fanconi syndrome1 and the Urbach-Wiethe disease,2,3 the descrip-
Fig. 8 Joa˜o Ramos-e-Silva speaking at the Opening Ceremony of the 28th Brazilian Congress of Dermatology, 5th Brazilian Meeting of Leprosy and 3rd National Meeting of Pemphigus, Porto Alegre, State of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, Sep. 20 to 25, 1971.
150 tion of marginal keratoderma of the palms known as Ramose-Silva disease,4,5 the study of scabies, mainly in its nodular form,6-8 macrocheilitis in the South American blastomycosis,9-12 pulvulus digiti,13 allergic vasculitis of Churg and Strauss,14 besides his researches on leishmaniasis and leishmania nodules,15,16 leprosy,17-20 Pasini-Pierini syndrome,21 tinea nigra,22 syphilis,23 chromomycosis,24 sporotrichosis,25,26 and many more. Even now, I often receive requests from friends who need offprints of his works. My grandfather studied a lot; every day he spent hours in his office, reading and writing. This is one of the images I retained since childhood: my grandfather sitting at his desk, studying and writing works, and me, perhaps 8 years old, browsing through his dermatology books and magazines to look at the pictures of patients with those bhorribleQ skin diseases. Of course he tried to only let me see the mildest books, but I always found a way of also looking at the ones that had pictures of more serious and buglyQ diseases. He liked to delve in all subjects; he was an extremely educated man, and regarding dermatology, he always said that the best way to learn it was with the patient, with a more experienced dermatologist, and with a good textbook. It was necessary to see the patient, to get guidance from the teacher to orient the diagnosis, and soon after to study that disease or that group of diseases in the books. Joa˜o Ramos-e-Silva was that guiding teacher for many, and among his students and assistants, who presently are names of outstanding professionals both in Brazil and in the world, he demonstrated his great commitment as fosterer for study and research (Figs. 5-8). Several of his students and assistants reached, as himself, leadership and cathedrae of great importance in Brazil.
Remembrance He was a doctor dedicated to his patients, for whom he had a special affection. Several times I saw him consulting patients at his home, in cases of urgency or for poor people, on weekends or holidays. Countless old clients came at the time of his death and brought a friendly word to his family, and until today when they come to see me, they speak with great respect, longing, and affection. Joa˜o Ramos-e-Silva will remain forever present through his descendants, in his students, assistants, patients, and in the legacy of his scientific works. I, particularly, hope to follow his tracks in my career through his advice, guidance, and excellent example. I share my longing here with all those who met him and had the privilege of sharing time with him; I also record the great admiration that, I am sure, is experienced by those who know him through his works.
M. Ramos-e-Silva
References 1. Ramos e Silva J. Syndrome de Zinsser-Fanconi. Ann Dermatol Syphiligr (Paris) 1966;93:497 - 502 [French]. 2. Ramos e Silva J. Sobre a doenc¸a de Urbach-Wiethe. Medicina Cutaˆnea 1970;4:471 - 6 [Portuguese]. 3. Fleischmajer R, Nedwich A, Ramos e Silva J. Hyalinosis cutis et mucosae. A histochemical staining and analytical biochemical study. J Invest Dermatol 1969;52:495 - 503. 4. Ramos e Silva J. Queratodermia marginal das palmas. Med Cutan 1962;2:27 - 36 [Portugese]. 5. Ramos e Silva J. Sur la bke´ratodermie marginal des paumesQ. Ann Dermatol Syphiligr (Paris) 1962;89:24 - 31 [French]. 6. Ramos e Silva J, Olivi WR. Endemo-epidemiologia da escabiose no Rio de Janeiro. An Bras Dermatol 1970;45:241 - 8 [Portuguese]. 7. Ramos e Silva J. Sarna nodular. Uma interpretac¸a˜o de suas leso˜es. Med Hoje 1975;1:58 - 9 [Portuguese]. 8. Ramos e Silva J. Sarna nodular e sarna nodular, sua diferenciac¸a˜o. An bras dermatol 1977;52:407 - 14 [Portuguese]. 9. Ramos e Silva J. Colo´quio sobre blastomicose brasileira. J Bras Med 1962;6:439 - 43 [Portuguese]. 10. Ramos e Silva J. Blastomicose brasileira. O Hospital 1964;65:53 - 65 [Portuguese]. 11. Ramos e Silva J. Sobre as macroqueilites especialmente as macroqueilites parasita´rias da blastomicose sul-americana. J Bras Med 1967;13:435 - 9 [Portuguese]. 12. Ramos e Silva J. A macroqueilite da blastomicose sul-americana. Dermatol ILA 1967;9:343 - 56 [Portuguese]. 13. Ramos e Silva J. Coussinets deˆs phalanges bPulvillus digitiQ. Ann Dermatol Syphiligr (Paris) 1956;83:22 - 33 [French]. 14. Ramos e Silva J. Vasculite ale´rgica de Churg-Strauss. Bol Acad Nac Med 1975;146:13 - 33 [Portuguese]. 15. Ramos e Silva J. Sobre o conceito de leishmanide. Hospital (Rio J) 1959;55:883 - 92 [Portuguese]. 16. Ramos e Silva J, Netto MP. Leishmanids. Int J Dermatol 1973;12: 104 - 9. 17. Ramos e Silva J. Uma concepc¸a˜o clı´nico-evolutiva dos diferentes aspectos da leprose. Hospital (Rio J) 1954;45:391 - 6 [Portuguese; [A clinical and evolutionary concept of the different aspects of leprosy.] English transl, 397-402]. 18. Ramos e Silva J, Peryassu D. Algumas observac¸o˜es sobre o tratamento da lepra, particularmente da forma tuberculoide, pela estreptomicina, so´ ou associada a` sulfona. Bras Med. 1954;68:439-50 [Portuguese]. 19. Ramos e Silva J. L’innervation de la peau ne paraıˆt jouer aucun roˆle dans le me´canisme de la sensibilisation de la peau au di-nitrochlorobenzene: expe´ riences sur des malades atteintes de le` pre anesthe´sique. Dermatologica 1955;111:1 - 8 [French]. 20. Ramos e Silva J. Tendances actuelles de la prophylaxie de la le`pre au Bre`sil. Bras Med 1956;70:225 - 30 [French]. 21. Ramos e Silva J. Sindrome di Pasini-Pierini. G Ital Dermatol Minerva Dermatol 1966;107:1179 - 94 [Italian]. 22. Ramos e Silva J. Die keratophytia nigra (tinea nigra). In: Jadassohn J, editor. Handbuch Der Haut-Und Geschlechtskrankheiten. Berlin7 Springer-Verlag; 1963. p. 436 - 51 [German]. 23. Ramos e Silva J, Padilha Goncalves A. Sur leˆs dyschromies des tre`ponematoses. Ann Dermatol Syphiligr (Paris) 1954;81:491 - 506 [French]. 24. Ramos e Silva J. Cromomicose extrapodal. Hospital 1961;60:227 - 39 [Portuguese]. 25. Ramos e Silva J, Goncalves AP. Sobre as formas clı´nicas da esporotricose. Hospital (Rio J) 1954;45:155 - 8 [Portuguese]. 26. Ramos e Silva J. La sporotrichose au Bre´sil. Laval Med 1963;34: 739 - 43 [French].