PROFESSOR AMADEU PIMENTA: THE MAN AND THE INGENUITY

Abstract

Amadeu Pinto de Araújo Pimenta was born on November 29, 1943 in Ponte de Lima, district of Viana do Castelo. He was Professor of Surgery at the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Porto (FMUP), Director of the Service of General Surgery of the Hospital de São João, President of the Portuguese Society of Surgery, Senior Researcher at the Institute of Pathology and Molecular Immunology at the University of Porto (IPATIMUP) and Member of the Northern and National Disciplinary Councils of the Portuguese Medical Association. He graduated in 1968 at FMUP. A few months after starting the Surgery Complementary Internship, in 1971, he was mobilized to Angola, where he served in the Military Service as a Surgeon’s Assistant. Returning from Angola, between 1973 and 1976, he resumed and completed his internship at the Service of Surgical Propaedeutics of the Hospital de São João. In 1977, he did an internship at the Service of Surgical Clinic of the Hospital Beaujon, in Paris, where he perfected his surgical technique, mainly in esophagogastric pathology, with Professors J. L. Lortat-Jacob (1908-1982) and F. Fékété (b. 1929). He started his teaching activity in 1974. In 1985, he presented his doctoral thesis, entitled “Contribution to the Study of the Automatic Suture”, where he described the development of a new eversion automatic digestive suture device and its clinical applicability. Ingenious surgeon, he also developed other important surgical devices. In 2007, he was appointed Full Professor of Surgery at FMUP. From 1990, he was in charge of the development of the Unit of Esophagogastric Surgery of the Service of Surgery 4 (Hospital de São João). He left a vast and rich scientific, filmographic and bibliographic contribution. He was the creator and main organizer of several editions of the “International Updating Meeting on Esophagus and Stomach Surgery”. In 2007, he was appointed Full Professor of Surgery of the FMUP and, in 2008, Director of the Service of General Surgery of the Hospital de São João and President of the Portuguese Society of Surgery, whose term, unfortunately, he did not end. He died on February 17, 2010, having courageously dedicated his life to esophagogastric pathology. He stood out for his Character, for his Humanity and for the Excellence of his journey.