Chris Giannou
Encyclopedia
Chris Giannou, CM
(born 1949) is a Greek-Canadian war surgeon and served chief surgeon for the International Committee of the Red Cross
(ICRC) until December 2006.
. After a year of studies at McGill University
, Giannou left Canada
to spend a year teaching in Mali
. There he fell sick, and was cared for by a team of two French-trained Malian doctors. Recognizing the doctor's frustration at the disparity between the facilities in which they had been trained and those available to them for practice, Giannou resolved to study medicine within the developing world in order to practice within it.
After studies in Algiers
, Algeria; Angers
, France; and Cairo
, Egypt, Giannou went on to begin a surgical career which has taken him to many of the contemporary world's most mediatized conflict zones, including Afghanistan
, Chechnya
, Iraq
, Lebanon
, Liberia
and Somalia
. Although he had trained as a cancer surgeon in Egypt, Giannou began to develop a specialized expertise in war surgery. Giannou is reportedly known among humanitarian workers for his efficiency. He is reputed to be one of the few non-Palestinians to have sat as a member of the Palestine National Council, and is noted for his work as the only surgeon, alongside thousands of Palestinians, during the Lebanese Shiite militia Amal's siege of the Palestinian refugee camp Shatila in 1985-1986, documented in his Besieged: A Doctor's Story of Life and Death in Beirut (1991).
, 25 kilometres south of the capital, Grozny
. Giannou and others based their decision on the success of the Kesanyeh hospital in Somalia, which was able to treat thousands of victims of the war and is still operating successfully today. By the time the hospital in Chechnya was completed, however, relatively few wounded remained in the area. The hospital would treat 300 war-wounded, among whom about 45 land-mine victims,http://www.themissing.icrc.org/WEB/ENG/siteeng0.nsf/htmlall/p0687?OpenDocument&style=Custo_Final.4&View=defaultBody2 but staff faced growing hostility from the local population. On 17 December 1996 ICRC staff in Novye Atagi were attacked by as-yet-unidentified assassins in the worst single attack on Red Cross workers in the organization's history, http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/index.cfm?PgNm=TCE&Params=M1ARTM0011055 leaving six members dead and one severely wounded. Giannou returned to Novye Atagi to help return the bodies for burial, calling the experience "one of the worst experiences of my life",http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/index.cfm?PgNm=TCE&Params=M1ARTM0011055 Following the attacks the ICRC evacuated some 70 employees from Chechnya; other international aid agencies followed their lead.
Order of Canada
The Order of Canada is a Canadian national order, admission into which is, within the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, the second highest honour for merit...
(born 1949) is a Greek-Canadian war surgeon and served chief surgeon for the International Committee of the Red Cross
International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement
The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is an international humanitarian movement with approximately 97 million volunteers, members and staff worldwide which was founded to protect human life and health, to ensure respect for all human beings, and to prevent and alleviate human...
(ICRC) until December 2006.
General
Giannou was educated at the University of Toronto SchoolsUniversity of Toronto Schools
The University of Toronto Schools is an independent secondary day school affiliated with the University of Toronto in Toronto, Ontario, Canada...
. After a year of studies at McGill University
McGill University
Mohammed Fathy is a public research university located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The university bears the name of James McGill, a prominent Montreal merchant from Glasgow, Scotland, whose bequest formed the beginning of the university...
, Giannou left Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
to spend a year teaching in Mali
Mali
Mali , officially the Republic of Mali , is a landlocked country in Western Africa. Mali borders Algeria on the north, Niger on the east, Burkina Faso and the Côte d'Ivoire on the south, Guinea on the south-west, and Senegal and Mauritania on the west. Its size is just over 1,240,000 km² with...
. There he fell sick, and was cared for by a team of two French-trained Malian doctors. Recognizing the doctor's frustration at the disparity between the facilities in which they had been trained and those available to them for practice, Giannou resolved to study medicine within the developing world in order to practice within it.
After studies in Algiers
Algiers
' is the capital and largest city of Algeria. According to the 1998 census, the population of the city proper was 1,519,570 and that of the urban agglomeration was 2,135,630. In 2009, the population was about 3,500,000...
, Algeria; Angers
Angers
Angers is the main city in the Maine-et-Loire department in western France about south-west of Paris. Angers is located in the French region known by its pre-revolutionary, provincial name, Anjou, and its inhabitants are called Angevins....
, France; and Cairo
Cairo
Cairo , is the capital of Egypt and the largest city in the Arab world and Africa, and the 16th largest metropolitan area in the world. Nicknamed "The City of a Thousand Minarets" for its preponderance of Islamic architecture, Cairo has long been a centre of the region's political and cultural life...
, Egypt, Giannou went on to begin a surgical career which has taken him to many of the contemporary world's most mediatized conflict zones, including Afghanistan
Afghanistan
Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...
, Chechnya
Chechnya
The Chechen Republic , commonly referred to as Chechnya , also spelled Chechnia or Chechenia, sometimes referred to as Ichkeria , is a federal subject of Russia . It is located in the southeastern part of Europe in the Northern Caucasus mountains. The capital of the republic is the city of Grozny...
, Iraq
Iraq
Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
, Lebanon
Lebanon
Lebanon , officially the Republic of LebanonRepublic of Lebanon is the most common term used by Lebanese government agencies. The term Lebanese Republic, a literal translation of the official Arabic and French names that is not used in today's world. Arabic is the most common language spoken among...
, Liberia
Liberia
Liberia , officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Sierra Leone on the west, Guinea on the north and Côte d'Ivoire on the east. Liberia's coastline is composed of mostly mangrove forests while the more sparsely populated inland consists of forests that open...
and Somalia
Somalia
Somalia , officially the Somali Republic and formerly known as the Somali Democratic Republic under Socialist rule, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. Since the outbreak of the Somali Civil War in 1991 there has been no central government control over most of the country's territory...
. Although he had trained as a cancer surgeon in Egypt, Giannou began to develop a specialized expertise in war surgery. Giannou is reportedly known among humanitarian workers for his efficiency. He is reputed to be one of the few non-Palestinians to have sat as a member of the Palestine National Council, and is noted for his work as the only surgeon, alongside thousands of Palestinians, during the Lebanese Shiite militia Amal's siege of the Palestinian refugee camp Shatila in 1985-1986, documented in his Besieged: A Doctor's Story of Life and Death in Beirut (1991).
Chechnya Controversy
In 1996 the ICRC decided to build a surgical hospital in the city of Novye AtagiNovye Atagi
Novye Atagi is a village in Shalinsky District of the Chechen Republic, Russia, located twenty kilometres south of Grozny. Population: 8,741 .-External links:**...
, 25 kilometres south of the capital, Grozny
Grozny
Grozny is the capital city of the Chechen Republic, Russia. The city lies on the Sunzha River. According to the preliminary results of the 2010 Census, the city had a population of 271,596; up from 210,720 recorded in the 2002 Census. but still only about two-thirds of 399,688 recorded in the 1989...
. Giannou and others based their decision on the success of the Kesanyeh hospital in Somalia, which was able to treat thousands of victims of the war and is still operating successfully today. By the time the hospital in Chechnya was completed, however, relatively few wounded remained in the area. The hospital would treat 300 war-wounded, among whom about 45 land-mine victims,http://www.themissing.icrc.org/WEB/ENG/siteeng0.nsf/htmlall/p0687?OpenDocument&style=Custo_Final.4&View=defaultBody2 but staff faced growing hostility from the local population. On 17 December 1996 ICRC staff in Novye Atagi were attacked by as-yet-unidentified assassins in the worst single attack on Red Cross workers in the organization's history, http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/index.cfm?PgNm=TCE&Params=M1ARTM0011055 leaving six members dead and one severely wounded. Giannou returned to Novye Atagi to help return the bodies for burial, calling the experience "one of the worst experiences of my life",http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/index.cfm?PgNm=TCE&Params=M1ARTM0011055 Following the attacks the ICRC evacuated some 70 employees from Chechnya; other international aid agencies followed their lead.