HISTORY
Hellenic Society of Cardiology
The Hellenic Society of Cardiology, was established in 1948 and registered with the Athens Civil Courts in 1950. Initially the founding members were 28, while today the number has risen to approximately 2,200 registered Cardiologists.
In 2017 the Hellenic Society of Cardiology (HCS) celebrates 70 years since its establishment.
The history of HCS parallels the history of Cardiology in Greece.
Revisiting the history of HCS one also observes the advancements in Greek Cardiology, since HCS has offered chances of communication between Greek Cardiologists from the introduction of Cardiology as an independent specialty in the middle of the 20th century.
HCS constitutes a connecting link between Cardiologists and has encouraged educational efforts towards the training of doctors and research activities.
Today, in collaboration with the European Society of Cardiology, HCS takes action towards the homogenization of education of Cardiology trainees in order to acquire the Diploma of European Cardiologist and offers programs of continuing education and lifelong learning for the specialized Cardiologists of the country.
The highlights of HCS during its 70 years of existence are presented below.
MOST IMPORTANT MOMENTS OF HCS
The first steps
The first specialized Greek Cardiologists
The first specialized Greek Cardiologists appeared in Greece after 1930 mainly from Germany and France. These are the first Cardiologists that staffed the major hospitals in Athens and Thessaloniki where Cardiology was not yet acclaimed as an independent specialty. Most departments of Cardiology were headed by general practitioners and cardiovascular disease was treated by Cardiologists from abroad or general practitioners with a special interest in Cardiology.
Founding of HCS
The idea of Cardiology as an independent specialty in the medical community matured after the 2nd World War. In 1954 Cardiology became an official specialty and the title of Cardiology Specialist was introduced. More Cardiologists were already beginning to arrive, among them Professor P. White who arrived with a group of American doctors bringing with him the first direct-writing electrocardiograph. The next step was the founding of the HCS. On the 7th of December 1948, the Cardiologist Dr. Demosthenes Papapanagiotou invited all the Cardiologists who were practising in Athens to his house, at 4 Acadimias Street, for an “all-purpose meeting to exchange opinions and friendly greetings”. Twenty-nine Cardiologists in all attended the meeting. Mr. Papanagiotou stressed that he tried not to forget any Cardiologist from the Athens area and so he spoke: "Ladies and gentlemen, after many discussions with most of you, we thought that it would be time for us to take on the formation of the Society of Cardiology, in order to be able to exchange our opinions, helping to advance our specialty."
First statute
The first statute described the logo and goals of the Society. The first president of HCS was Alexandros Portokalis, whose term of office lasted 1 year. The first hemodynamic laboratory was founded in 1951 at Nea Ionia Hospital, followed by all the major hospitals in Athens and Thessaloniki. In 1954 under the presidency of Dr. George Michailidis, Legislative Decree 3008 recognized Cardiology as an independent specialty.
Offices
In 1960 under the Presidency of Dr. Anastasios Samaras the HCS inaugurated its offices at 17 Sisini st. The year 1958 marked the most significant milestone as the University of Athens established the first Department of Cardiology and in 1961 Dr. Georgios Michailidis took office as the first Professor of Cardiology in Greece. He also served as President of the 5th European Congress of Cardiology.
Presidents of the Hellenic Society of Cardiology
The Cardiologists who were Presidents of the Hellenic Society of Cardiology are the following:
Constantinos Maroulis (1950-1951)
Panagiotis Vatsineas (1952)
Nikolaos Tsouchlos (1953)
Dimitrios Papapanagiotou (1955-1956)
Gerasimos Danilatos (1959)
Anastasios Samaras (1960 and 1965-1966)
George Michailidis (1961-1962 and 1967-1968)
Christos Aravanis (1969-1970)
Frixos Kosteas (1971-1972)
Eftichios Voridis (1973-1974)
Spiridon Moulopoulos (1975-1976)
Meletios Pappas (1977-1978)
Dimitrios Athanasiadis (1979-1981)
George Pipilis (1982-1983)
Dimitrios Avgoustakis (1984-1985)
Pavlos Toutouzas (1986-1987)
Lambros Anthopoulos (1988-1989)
Dionysios Kokkinos (1990-1991)
Ioannis Gialafos (1992-1993)
Apostolos Zacharoulis (1994-1995)
Evaggelos Papasteriadis (1996-1997)
Christodoulos Stefanadis (1998-1999)
Panagiotis Vardas (2000-2001)
Dimitris Sideris (2002-2003)
Ioannis Lekakis (2004-2005)
Harilaos Boudoulas (2006-2007)
Dimitrios Kremastinos (2007-2008)
Vlassios Pyrgakis (2009-2010)
George Parharidis (2011-2012)
Ioannis Kallikazaros (2013-2014)
Stefanos Foussas (2015-2016)
Konstantinos Tsioufis (2017-2018)