Govindappa Venkataswamy
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Govindappa Venkataswamy (b. Vadamalapuram, Tamil Nadu 1918 - 2006) is an Indian ophthalmologist and 1973 recipient of Padma Sri award.
| Govindappa Venkataswamy | |
|---|---|
 Dr.V |
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| Born | Govindappa Venkataswamy October 1, 1918 Vadamalapuram, Tamilnadu, India |
| Died | 2006 |
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[edit] Life
Born in 1918 in Vadamalapuram, Tamil Nadu, India, G. Venkataswamy was educated at American College, Madurai and Stanley Medical College, Madras, before qualifying with a MSc in Ophthalmology at the Government Ophthalmic Hospital, Madras. He served with the Indian Army as a Physician during 1945-48 and was then appointed Head of Department of Ophthalmology at the Government Madurai Medical College, and eye surgeon at the Government Erskine Hospital, Madurai. He held these posts for 20 years and contributed to research, clinical service and community programmes. He performed over 100,000 successful eye surgeries, and this despite having fingers that were badly affected with a rare disease.
As a young man he followed the teachings of Gandhi.
In 1977, at the mandatory retirement age of 58, Venkataswamy founded the Aravind Eye Hospital at Madurai. Begun as an eleven-bed hospital manned by four medical officers, it is now one of the largest facilities in the world for eye care. He declared that the mission of the hospital was “to eradicate needless blindness” and developed mass marketing and surgical processes resembling an assembly line in order to assist with the estimated 12 million blind people of India, 80 per cent of whom suffer so because of cataract. His system enabled Aravind to provide free eye care to two-thirds of its patients from the revenue generated from its one-third paying patients.
Venkataswamy was conferred Padma Shri by the Government of India in 1973.
[edit] Degrees earned
- Bachelor of Arts in chemistry from American College in Madurai in 1938
- Doctor of Medicine from Stanley Medical College in Madras in 1944
- Doctor of ophthalmology at the Government Ophthalmic Hospital in Madras in 1951
- Honorary Doctorate from University of Illinois, 1985
[edit] Awards
- Padma Shri
- International Blindness Prevention Award, American Academy of Ophthalmology, 1993
- Helen Keller International Award, 1987
- WHO Award for Health for All
- Academy International Blindness Prevention Award
- International Social Entrepreneurship Award
- Medal of the Presidency of the Italian Republic.
- Raja-Lakshmi Award for the year 2001 from Sri Raja-Lakshmi Foundation, Chennai.
- Lifetime Service Award from the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness, 1982
- Harold Wit Lectureship, Harvard Divinity School, 1991
- Pisart-Lighthouse for the Blind Award, 1992
- Susruta Award, Asia Pacific Academy of Ophthalmology, 1997.
- World Telugu Federation honoured him in the year 2000.
- Dr.B.C.Roy Award – 2001
