Obituary—Giovanni Esposito M.D., PhD (1926–2015)

Abstract

On July 22nd 2015, the world of Pediatric Surgery lost a pioneer who died just short of his 89th birthday. Prof. Giovanni Esposito was born in Ercolano (near Naples), in Italy, and he completed his undergraduate studies at Castellamare di Stabia in Ercolano and then medical school at the University of Naples. After medical school, he specialized in General and Pediatric Surgery. His two main teachers were Prof. Ettore Ruggeri and Prof. Giuseppe Zannini. In addition, he spent three years in France between Lyon and Paris where he was involved in the General and Cardiac Surgery program. This time in France was when he first made contact with the pioneers of French Pediatric Surgery, Drs. Denis Pellerin and Michelle Carcassone, and they became his good friends. In 1968, at 42 years of age, he was appointed Chief of General Surgery and Emergency at Cardarelli Hospital of Naples, one of the biggest hospitals and emergency centers in Italy. In 1975 he was appointed Full Professor of Pediatric Surgery at the Federico II University of Naples, a position that he held until he retired in 1998. During his years in Naples, Prof. Esposito made several contributions to general and, in particular, to pediatric surgery, which brought him worldwide recognition. He gave invited lectures throughout the world. His nearly 500 publications include papers on liver diseases, cardiac diseases, pulmonary and thoracic malformations, trauma, urology, resections for intestinal anomalies, intersex disorders, endocrine disorders, gastrointestinal disorders in the newborn and children, gastroesophageal reflux, Hirschsprung's disease, oncology, ethics, among other topics. In addition, he was the pioneer of pediatric laparoscopy in Italy, starting this activity in 1987 together with one of his colleagues, Dr. Aurelio Porreca. Among his several contributions to laparoscopy, we have to remember the publication of the Atlas of Pediatric Laparoscopic Surgery in 1991, one of the first books on Pediatric Laparoscopic Surgery. In 1996, he founded the Italian Society of Videosurgery in Infancy (called SIVI) together with Prof. Vincenzo Jasonni. He developed pediatric surgery in Italy, France and Europe working closely with his French friends and colleagues Drs. Michelle Carcassone, Denis Pellerin, Claire Feketè, Gerard Monfort, Philippe Montupet, Jeff Valla, Jean Michel Guys, and Paul Mitrofanoff. Together, these friends and colleagues published several important papers in the French, Italian and English literature. In 1999, he was Editor of the May Issue of the Seminars of Pediatric Surgery which focused on pediatric mediastinal tumors. He also edited several books and his last book: “Pediatric Surgical Diseases. A case study approach” was published by Springer in 2010. When he died, he was working on a new book about Pediatric Surgery in Italy. Prof. Esposito produced over 50 trainees, all distinguished individuals, and some of them became leaders in Pediatric Surgery and General Surgery, such as Drs. Gennaro Rispoli, Alessandro Settimi, Giuseppe Ascione, Antonio Savanelli, Pietro Vecchio, Bruno Cigliano, Aurelio Porreca, Ugo De Luca, Giovanni Severino, and Giovanni Palazzo. Also, he took great pride that his son, Ciro, became a pediatric surgeon as well as himself, and especially when he was appointed Full Professor of Pediatric Surgery at Federico II University of Naples in December 2014. He helped to develop Neonatal Surgery in Naples and, together with his friends, Drs. Salvatore Auricchio, Generoso Andria, Armido Rubino, Luigi Greco, Riccardo Troncone, Annamaria Staiano, Salvatore Cucchiara, Pietro Strisciuglio, and Alfredo Guarino developed research programs in Pediatrics and Pediatric Surgery. He was President or held positions of leadership in a number of surgical organizations including SICP (Italian Society of Pediatric Surgery), SIVI, and SFCP (Societè Francaise de Chirurgie Pediatrique). Prof. Esposito was an honorary member of several international surgical societies, and he received many distinguished awards, in particular a Gold Medal for Public Health given to him from the Italian Minister of Health, and the Ettore Ruggeri Prize from the Italian Society of Surgery. He was appointed Chief Emeritus of Joined Neapolitan Hospitals in 1995 and Knight of Italian Republic in 2000 and President Emeritus of SIVI in 2005. He was appointed Emeritus Professor of Pediatric Surgery at the Federico II University of Naples in 2007. In 1959, he married Anna Sorriento, and together they raised one son Ciro and one daughter Paola who is a dentist in Chieti. Those of us who were fortunate enough to know him well and were influenced by his professionality celebrate his contributions to the field of pediatric surgery and to the joy of our world.