Abstract
Dr Konstantin Omiros Kalangos, a specialist in internal medicine, was well known in Yeşilköy, a district of Istanbul, for providing long-term care and offering free treatment to patients with limited financial means. His family background included multiple individuals across generations who received medical training and practiced medicine. During the period from the 1950s to the 2000s, when he practiced in Yeşilköy, he treated thousands of patients in the ground-floor clinic of his family's residence. In an era increasingly dominated by technological diagnostics, he maintained that medical assessment was impossible without physical contact, placing the physical examination and direct physician–patient interaction at the centre of diagnosis. Oral history interviews conducted in Yeşilköy repeatedly highlight his compassion, clinical expertise, and ethical commitment; many residents remember him as a physician who embodied the values associated with the Hippocratic Oath. This study examines the life, professional practice, and cultural impact of Dr Kalangos. It draws on materials from the Presidency of the Republic of Türkiye, the Directorate of State Archives, the Ottoman Archives (BOA), the Ayastefanos Greek Church Archives, family papers, oral history interviews, patient ledgers, handwritten medical lecture notes, and relevant secondary literature.
Introduction
Historians of medicine have often focused primarily on physicians’ professional achievements when examining individual lives. Yet a physician's identity is shaped not only by clinical expertise but also by the human relationships they build with the communities they serve. From this perspective, this study examines the life of Dr Konstantin Kalangos, who was born in late Ottoman Istanbul and practiced medicine in the Yeşilköy neighborhood of Republican Türkiye.
Rather than approaching his biography solely through professional milestones, the study situates Dr Kalangos’ life within the broader social, cultural, and medical contexts of the twentieth century. His medical practice in Yeşilköy offers a particularly valuable lens for exploring everyday clinical work, physician–patient relationships, and local medical cultures in Republican Istanbul. At the same time, as a Rum (Greek Orthodox) physician whose family was displaced during the 1923 Greek–Turkish Population Exchange following the Treaty of Lausanne, his life story also reflects processes of social reanchoring and continuity after demographic rupture.
Methodologically, this research adopts a qualitative, biographical approach that integrates historical, archival, and ethnographic methods. The study is based on the systematic analysis of primary archival sources, oral history interviews, and relevant secondary literature, enabling the reconstruction of Dr Kalangos’ life within its historical context. Archival research was conducted at the Presidency of the Republic of Türkiye, Directorate of State Archives, and the Ottoman Archives (BOA), focusing on population registers, passport files, medical records, and official correspondence related to Dr Kalangos and his family from the late Ottoman to the early Republican periods. Ottoman Turkish documents were translated into modern Turkish by the researcher, while Professor Dr Afksendiyos Kalangos translated Greek-language materials from the Istanbul Greek Orthodox church archives. Family papers, patient ledgers, and private documents complemented these sources.
Oral history interviews were conducted with family members, close associates, and individuals who witnessed various stages of Dr Kalangos’ life. Conducted as semistructured interviews in accordance with ethical principles—including informed consent, confidentiality, and secure data management—these testimonies provided insight into both professional practice and local memory. The often laudatory tone of these narratives is understood as part of community-based memory formation and is therefore evaluated with analytical distance and cross-checked against documentary evidence.
Fieldwork further contributed to the study by documenting the spatial dimensions of Dr Kalangos’ life, including visits to the places where he was born, lived, and practiced medicine, and, with permission, by examining family-provided photographs, letters, and personal belongings, situating them in context. By combining documentary analysis, oral histories, and spatial observation within a narrative-based biographical framework, this study aims to present a historically grounded account of Dr Kalangos’ medical practice and ethical orientation, situating his experiences within the wider history of medicine and urban life in Türkiye.
Findings
Family medical heritage and early life (1914–1933)
Dr Konstantin Omiros Kalangos was the son of Afksendiyos Kalangos, a priest at the Agios Stefanos (Yeşilköy) Greek Orthodox Church in the Bakırköy district of Istanbul, and Sofia Zografos of the Zografos family (Figure 1). According to official records of the Republic of Türkiye, his birthdate is listed as April 21, 1916. However, a baptismal certificate dated May 18, 1914, indicates that he was born on April 13, 1914, in the Tarabya district of Istanbul and baptized on May 18 at the Agia Paraskevi Greek Orthodox Church in Tarabya (Figure 1).
Left: Baptism certificate of Dr Konstantin Omiros Kalangos from Tarabya Agia Paraskevi Greek Orthodox Church, illustrating the family's religious and social background; Middle: Dr Kalangos with his wife and children in front of his clinic, highlighting the domestic and professional worlds shaping his clinical practice; Right: The snake-motif ring, symbolizing medicine and personally given by Sultan Abdülaziz, now worn by Prof. Dr Afksendiyos Kalangos, representing the transfer of medical heritage across four generations (Family Archive).
Dr Kalangos’ mother, Sofia Zografos, came from a family with a long-standing tradition in both medicine and the bureaucracy. Her uncle, Dr Xenophon Zografos, served at the Imperial School of Medicine (Mekteb-i Tıbbiye-i Adliye-i Şahane) during the final years of Sultan Mahmud II's reign (1808–1839),1–3 then worked as a palace physician during Sultan Abdülmecid's reign (1839–1861), and was appointed chief palace physician under Sultan Abdülaziz (1861–1876). In recognition of his services, Xenophon Zografos was presented with a special ring by Sultan Abdülaziz, featuring a serpent motif that symbolizes healing and medicine.4–6 This ring was kept across four generations in the Zografos and Kalangos families: it was passed from Xenophon Zografos to Sofia's brother, the family's only physician, obstetrician–gynecologist Andonis Zografos, and then to Sofia's son, Dr Konstantin Kalangos. Shortly before his death, Dr Kalangos also bequeathed the ring to his son, Prof. Afksendiyos Kalangos.5, 6 (Figure 1).
Dr Xenophon Zografos's father, Anton Zografos, married Sofia Karatheodori, a member of the prominent Karatheodori family, whose relatives had served the Ottoman state in roles including palace physicians, provincial governors, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, ambassadors, and university professors. This marriage created a family connection between the Karatheodori and Zografos families, two long-standing dynasties. Through her grandmother, Sofia Karatheodori, Sofia Zografos—the niece of Dr Xenophon Zografos—thus traced her ancestry to both the Karatheodori and Zografos lines.5–11
Dr Kalangos’ father, Afksendiyos Kalangos, was originally from the village of Sinasos in the Ürgüp region of Nevşehir. He was born in Sinasos and, after his first wife died, moved to Istanbul, where he served as the head priest at the Ayastefanos Greek Orthodox Church. His family experienced major historical upheavals, including World War I, the Turkish War of Independence, and the Greek–Turkish Population Exchange of the Rum population, carried out under the provisions of the Treaty of Lausanne, signed on July 24, 1923, 12 and faced significant economic hardships during these years. Under the exchange regulations, Afksendiyos Kalangos was classified as an etabli (established resident) because of his position as the head priest and was therefore permitted to stay in Istanbul. After settling in the Tarabya district, he met and married his third wife, Sofia Zografos. Sometime later, he moved to Yeşilköy, the district where he worked, and lived there until his death in 1945. Their only child from this marriage, Dr Konstantin Kalangos, was born in Tarabya in 1914. In later interviews, Dr Kalangos recalled that the family moved to Yeşilköy when he was about five or six years old. 13 He began his formal education in 1921–1922 at Aynalı Çeşme Primary School in Beyoğlu, a Greek Orthodox community school, where he learned Ottoman Turkish and Greek at an advanced level. He then attended Zografeion High School, a Greek secondary school in Taksim, from 1926 to 1932, where he also gained a strong command of French. In 1932–1933, he continued his studies at Kabataş Boys’ High School. His connection with Kabataş Boys’ High School lasted a lifetime: he was among the founding members of the Kabataş Boys’ High School Foundation. This affiliation was so important to him that, in the final years of his life, he officially transferred his position on the foundation's board of trustees to his son, Prof. Afksendiyos Kalangos.5,14
Education, military service, and early career (1933–1954)
Shaped by his family's medical tradition, Dr Kalangos studied medicine at Istanbul University Faculty of Medicine from 1933 to 1939. The global economic crisis affected Türkiye and put the Kalangos family under severe financial strain; nevertheless, despite these difficult conditions, Dr Kalangos completed his medical training with outstanding distinction. 5
Notebooks containing Dr Kalangos’ university lecture notes are now among the most valuable items in the family archive. These notes cover a wide range of topics, including general pathology and the history of pathology, methods of disinfection and sterilization, contemporary studies on blood and vitamin D, and detailed observations on pertussis. Dr Kalangos primarily kept these notes in French, along with Turkish and Greek, reflecting the multilingual nature of medical education at the time. Six notebooks from 1936 to 1937, along with loose sheets inserted between their pages, clearly demonstrate his thorough preparation for classes and his meticulous record-keeping. Of particular interest is the 1937 urology notebook, on the cover of which his school number, “1044,” appears for the first time alongside his name, providing a concrete record of his student years. These materials are valuable primary sources, both for the family's own history and for documenting the development and curriculum of medical education in the Republic of Türkiye 5 (Figure 2).
Left: Lecture notes from Dr Konstantin Kalangos on the history of pathology, showing his academic approach and teaching style; Right: A patient logbook belonging to Dr Kalangos, which records patients’ names, diagnoses, treatments, and prescribed medications, illustrates his clinical practice and record-keeping methods.
After graduating from medical school, Dr Kalangos was first sent to Çanakkale in 1940 to begin his military service and was later appointed as an army physician in Ürgüp, a district of Nevşehir from which his family had migrated. This posting, early in his career, allowed him to practice medicine directly in rural Anatolia and encounter a wide range of complex clinical cases.5,15
In an interview with Turgay Tuna, who has extensively written about the history of Yeşilköy, Dr Kalangos recalled his early years as follows: “I was a young doctor; I would travel from village to village on horseback to see patients. I often went to Sinasos (today Mustafa Paşa), sat in the coffeehouse drinking tea or coffee. Each time I went, I remembered my elders and thought about their connection to this land.” This account serves as a primary source that documents both the conditions of rural medical practice and his deep sense of historical connection to the region13,15–17 (Figure 3).
Left: Photographs from his youth, when he practiced medicine in villages in Ürgüp, illustrate his early clinical experience; on the right: a portrait from his later years, from the Family Archive, reflecting the mature phase of his career and professional identity.
Another sign of Dr Kalangos’ enduring connection to Sinasos was his visit, at age 82–83, to Nea Sinasos (on the island of Evia) with his son, Prof. Afksendiyos Kalangos, where he sought testimonies about his family's history among the Sinasos emigrants from Türkiye and engaged in lengthy conversations with members of the migrant community. After his posting in Ürgüp, he worked in Silvan and was discharged from military service in 1944 as a first lieutenant. During the same period, he served in the clinic of Prof. Murat Cankat at the Gülhane Military Medical School and Hospital, which laid the groundwork for his surgical training. 15
After completing his training at Gülhane and following his father's death in 1945, Dr Kalangos wanted to return to Istanbul and soon chose to specialize in internal medicine. He was accepted into the Internal Medicine Clinic at the Italian Hospital in Beyoğlu. The clinic's head, Prof. Nihat Reşat Belger—who had extensive training in France, served as a member of the First Grand National Assembly of Türkiye, and, while accompanying Atatürk during his stay in Yalova, was the first to diagnose his cirrhosis and later managed his care until his death—became a significant professional role model for Dr Kalangos. 18
At the Italian Hospital, Dr Kalangos learned Italian from the Italian nuns working there and achieved proficiency that allowed him to read and write the language easily. He completed his specialized training in 1949 and, with a diploma no. 1783/5251 dated May 31, 1949, was officially certified as a first-degree specialist in internal medicine. 5
Dr Konstantin Kalangos: Medical practice, family life, and social impact in Yeşilköy (1950s–2000s)
Medical practice and family life in Yeşilköy
After completing his specialist training, Dr Kalangos began practicing independently and opened his first private practice on Büyük Bayram Street in Beyoğlu, Istanbul. Since his family lived in Yeşilköy, he commuted by train during this period. Starting in 1954, he began seeing patients at his Beyoğlu practice and the family mansion in Yeşilköy, maintaining medical activities at both locations for a while. Over the years, his practice gradually shifted toward Yeşilköy, influenced by his desire to stay close to his family and the need for family support that arose after his father's death in 1945.5,15
This shift also aligned with the sociocultural structure of Yeşilköy at the time. Until the 1960s, Yeşilköy primarily served as a summer resort, where many Istanbul residents stayed only during the warmer months. As the neighborhood gradually transformed starting in the 1960s, one of its most pressing needs was the lack of a permanently stationed physician. Testimonies from both Turgay Tuna and Prof. Afksendiyos Kalangos indicate that this structural gap significantly influenced Dr Kalangos’ decision to focus his medical practice in Yeşilköy.5,13,15–17
In the 1960s, Dr Kalangos closed his practice in Beyoğlu and focused solely on his professional activities in Yeşilköy. Until his retirement, he treated patients on the ground floor of his family mansion and conducted clinical studies that he later presented at many Balkan Medical Congresses. Over time, he became one of the main sources of medical referral in the neighborhood, providing care not only to local residents but also to patients from surrounding districts. As Turgay Tuna reported, it was commonly said in Yeşilköy that almost everyone had been examined by Dr Kalangos at least once, and that even in severe weather, people felt free to knock on his door at night.16,17
In 1958, Dr Kalangos married Andromachi, the daughter of the Şişmanoğlu family. From this marriage, their daughter Sofia was born on August 19, 1959, followed by their son, Prof. Afksendiyos Kalangos, a cardiovascular surgeon, on September 11, 1960. According to family accounts, Dr Kalangos’ marriage was arranged through family-mediated meetings in accordance with the social customs of the period5, 15 (Figure 1).
Contemporary residents described the Kalangos family's life in Yeşilköy as disciplined, respectful, and harmonious. The neighborhood's former headman, Sedat Mumcuoğlu, emphasized the couple's harmony in daily life. In his book “Portraits from Yeşilköy,” Turgay Tuna notes that residents often cited Dr Kalangos’ family life as an example. His son, Prof. Afksendiyos Kalangos, recalls that their home was “filled with warmth and conversation” and that they would welcome their father almost every evening. The early death of his wife, Andromachi, in 1973 marked a major turning point in Dr Kalangos’ life. According to Turgay Tuna, in a 1999 interview, Dr Kalangos could not hold back his tears when looking at his wife's youthful photograph, even many years later. His son also recounts that, following this loss, his father experienced a profound psychological collapse, dedicated himself entirely to his medical work, and took on the responsibility of raising his two children with great devotion.5,15,16
By the 1960s, Dr Kalangos had become a frequently mentioned and widely recognized physician among Yeşilköy residents. In his book, Turgay Tuna writes about him: “Old Yeşilköy residents recalled his name with great respect and gratitude; he was not an ordinary doctor. He exercised great meticulousness in diagnostic and therapeutic processes. For this reason, he treated many patients for many years, and the people of Yeşilköy felt no need to look for another doctor.” Tuna also recalls an episode shared by Şener Köksümer, born in Yeşilköy in 1950: in 1948, when a child named Tamer was brought to the emergency department with meningitis, the attending doctors declared him dead, but after a careful examination, Dr Kalangos determined that the child was in fact still alive.15–17 This story may have been remembered in a somewhat embellished form within the family memory and passed down to young Şener Köksümer. At the same time, it suggests that, in the 1950s, the lack of advanced monitoring techniques and the limitations of clinical assessment could lead physicians to interpret a “prolonged vagotonic crisis” as death. Excessive stimulation of the vagus nerve can cause a sharp fall in pulse rate and make palpation of the heartbeat difficult, creating a transient “death-like” clinical picture that, if not examined carefully, might be mistaken for actual death. However, a more careful evaluation could reveal that the situation was far from truly fatal.5,15,16
Clinical practice and medical contribution
Although he was officially a specialist in internal medicine, interviews with current Yeşilköy residents and accounts from his son, Prof. Afksendiyos Kalangos, suggest that, in practice, Dr Kalangos functioned more like a family physician. He provided care for nearly all of his patients’ health needs, despite being a private-practice doctor. In this context, our study of his life examines both the individual medical practice and the local community impact of private office-based medicine—an often overlooked aspect of the history of medicine in Türkiye. It therefore offers insights into the historical role and potential social importance of private-practice physicians in the Turkish medical context.5,15
Dr Kalangos treated a wide range of conditions, from rheumatic diseases and appendicitis to sore throats and common colds. An examination of the surviving patient ledgers in the family archive shows that, in addition to using various treatment methods, he provided care equally to both Muslim and non-Muslim patients.5, 15 The detailed and organized entries in his notebooks reveal that his consistent record-keeping not only documented individual case histories but also served as a microhistorical source that sheds light on the medical culture of the period, local social networks, and everyday clinical practices. The fact that such personal archives are rarely preserved in private office-based practices makes Kalangos’ records especially valuable for the history of medicine in Türkiye (Figure 2).
Dr Kalangos used his patient ledgers to document the clinical progress of individuals with chronic diseases systematically. He tracked repeat visits by the same patients, observed their medication usage, and monitored their clinical responses. This recording approach is a crucial method for early intervention and for preventing complications in the management of chronic conditions.
Interviews with his son, Prof. Afksendiyos Kalangos, and with residents suggest that the entries in these ledgers not only indicate the symptoms of patients with chronic illnesses but also reflect that he considered their living conditions, dietary habits, and family situations. By relying on fundamental clinical methods to assess his patients, he was able to compensate significantly for the limited availability of laboratory tests and imaging techniques at the time. Furthermore, his practice of offering free consultations and medications to patients facing financial hardships facilitated regular follow-up for chronic diseases and ensured continuity of care. Overall, these medical approaches closely mirror the patient-centered care model promoted in modern chronic disease management and are important for treatment sustainability and long-term health outcomes.5,15–17
The patient ledgers were kept in French, although his lecture notes from 1936 to 1937 show that he took notes in Turkish, Greek, and French (Figure 2). In interviews, his son, Prof. Afksendiyos Kalangos, explained that this was a deliberate measure to protect patient confidentiality in case the notebooks fell into the wrong hands. He remembered that the ledgers were kept locked in a drawer and not taken home at night. 5 The thoroughness and consistency with which Dr Kalangos documented disease management not only ensured clinical accuracy but also, through his focus on confidentiality, contributed directly to the ethical principles of modern medicine. The secure storage of patient information, the restriction of entries in his personal notebooks to data solely for clinical purposes, and the maintenance of a trust-based doctor–patient relationship serve as a notable example from a time when debates on medical ethics in Türkiye had not yet become formalized. His practice can be seen as an early example of the principles of “confidentiality,” “autonomy,” and “privacy,” which were later adopted by modern professional ethics organizations.
Dr Kalangos constantly updated his medical knowledge, especially by following foreign medical literature in French, Turkish, Greek, and Italian. Later, he obtained journals and bulletins through his son, who was working in Geneva. According to Prof. Afksendiyos Kalangos, he used this new literature, along with his own patient records, to select cases of rheumatic diseases and present them at Balkan Medical Congresses, thereby sharing his clinical observations with the broader international medical community. 5
In addition to his working methods, Dr Kalangos’ sensitivity to the needs of poor patients is particularly noteworthy. Testimonies from Turgay Tuna, who conducted numerous interviews with him, and from his son indicate that his family's experience of economic hardship shaped this attitude. On certain days of the week, he treated patients free of charge, covered the cost of their medications himself, or, when necessary, prepared and dispensed his own formulations to ensure continuity of treatment. This approach significantly improved patients’ access to care5, 13 (Figure 4).
Left: A medication formulation created in 1954 by Dr Konstantin Kalangos, written in French; On the right: More examples of prescriptions, showing his pharmaceutical work and clinical choices; Also on the right: The street named after him in Yeşilköy, Istanbul, symbolizing his professional and social legacy.
One of Istanbul's and Turkey's well-known television figures, Uğur Dündar, recalls visiting Dr Kalangos in Yeşilköy in the 1970s and notes that it was one of his free consultation days. He describes Dr Kalangos as a smiling, compassionate doctor. Dündar also recounts that during his mother's illness, Kalangos came to their home to provide care, and he characterizes him as “the Hippocratic Oath made flesh.” Uğur Dündar's characterization of the physician points to the normative resonance of Dr Kalangos’ ethical stance within collective memory. 19
Sedat Mumcuoğlu, who served as the headman of Yeşilyurt, the neighborhood where Kalangos lived in Yeşilköy, stated that “he was a remarkable figure for Yeşilköy.” In every respect, he always received his patients with attention and care in his outpatient clinic. 15
In statements made toward the end of his life, Dr Kalangos remarked that “he had closed his practice, and that having served hundreds of patients over the years had been a meaningful experience for him personally.” 13 Prof. Afksendiyos Kalangos notes that his father “repeatedly emphasized that diagnosis and treatment carried out without direct physical examination of the patient could not realize the full healing potential of medicine, and that his decision to retire was largely driven by the increasingly mechanistic, technology-centered approach to patients in contemporary medical practice.” 5
Dr Kalangos viewed physical examination techniques such as inspection, palpation, and auscultation, along with a detailed medical history, as the foundation of the diagnostic process. He intentionally avoided a purely technology-driven, mechanistic view of medicine. In his opinion, “a doctor–patient relationship devoid of human values cannot be sustained, and under such conditions genuine treatment cannot be achieved.” In this context, television journalist Uğur Dündar recalls: “He always touched his patients and examined them in detail; he was the first to diagnose me as hypertensive,” emphasizing Kalangos’ clinical skill in examination and diagnosis.5,19
One of the family's close friends, the renowned Turkish journalist Hakkı Devrim described Dr Kalangos as “one of the figures closely identified with Yeşilköy” and highlighted his professional reputation: “Do not think of him as an ordinary neighborhood physician; he was a physician of great knowledge and experience, with a strong sense of professional responsibility. He also cared for poor and low-income patients; we still remember his name.” 20
Social resonances of his clinical identity and benevolence, and their transmission as a family legacy
Dr Konstantin Kalangos died in Yeşilköy, Istanbul, on June 30, 2004, at age 90.5, 15 His role in Türkiye's medical history is particularly significant because it demonstrates how a form of medical practice maintained at the local and community levels, outside major institutional health reforms, can be analyzed through scholarly inquiry. In Turkish medical history, the area of “private office-based practice” has often been overlooked; Kalangos’ example allows analysis of this sphere from social–historical, clinical, and ethical perspectives.
Efforts to name a street in Yeşilköy after Dr Kalangos, who lived and practiced there as a doctor for many years, demonstrate his enduring importance in the neighborhood's social memory. In 2008, at the initiative of then-Bakırköy Mayor Ateş Ünal Erzen, it was proposed that his name be placed on Çardaklı Street at the Yeşilköy harbor; however, the process was halted after the proposal failed to pass the Istanbul Municipal Council twice. In a public statement, Erzen highlighted that Dr Kalangos had carried out his 65-year medical career with an “amateur spirit,” supported poor patients, and secured a permanent place in Yeşilköy's collective memory. Among interviewees, the physician's clinical skill is symbolized by the epithet “Healing Hand,” reflecting the enduring recognition of his professional and humanitarian contributions. 21
In June 2024, the effort to name a street after him was renewed, and, following a decision by the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipal Council and the approval of the Governor of Istanbul, the street behind the Kalangos Mansion in Yeşilköy, formerly known as Yeşilzeytin Street, was officially renamed “Dr Konstantin Kalangos Street.” Greek Orthodox Patriarch Bartholomew I shared his thoughts on this decision, saying that “the fact that Konstantin Kalangos’ name has been given to a street makes the memory of the “golden sons” who remember their father at every opportunity honored and immortal.” 15 (Figure 4).
In 2025, the Yeşilköy neighborhood organized an event titled the “Dr Konstantin Kalangos Memorial Concert” to honor his impact on the local community and his place in collective memory. Supported by Bakırköy Municipality and its mayor, Ayşegül Ovalıoğlu, the concert featured Greek and Turkish songs beloved by Dr Kalangos, performed by the group Cafe Aman İstanbul.15,22
Fieldwork and neighborhood interviews conducted in 2025 for this study indicate that Dr Kalangos’ social influence in Yeşilköy and his recognition among residents persist to the present day. In conversations with local inhabitants, he was described not only for his medical practice but also for his generosity and compassion and was characterized as “the Healing Hand of Yeşilköy,” “the Father of the Poor,” and a “Lokman Hekim” figure. Interviewees consistently emphasized that his benevolence and willingness to help were always at the forefront. Even residents who had not known him personally but had heard of his name and deeds largely attributed his reputation to accounts from older generations. The terms ascribed to him by the community are significant for understanding how a physician trained in modern medicine is encoded as a traditional figure by the local population. Accordingly, these designations represent symbolic expressions of the physician's social integration rather than personal praise. 23
Kalangos’ medical practice was built upon a notion of “social responsibility” and “benevolence” inherited from his familial and religious background. This mindset reflected a cultural and ethical legacy passed down from his father, Afksendiyos Kalangos, the head priest of Yeşilköy. Letters preserved in the archives of the Ayastefanos Greek Orthodox Church, shared with the author by Prof. Afksendiyos Kalangos, reveal that the elder Kalangos devoted half of his salary to children's education. Local residents interviewed characterize Kalangos in the collective memory as the “Father of the Poor.” Analytically, this designation shows how benevolence was positioned as part of physicianly legitimacy, facilitating access to healthcare among the people of Yeşilköy.5,15,23 By incorporating the notion of social responsibility acquired through family tradition as an integral component of his medical practice, Kalangos made the social dimension of medicine a visible aspect of his work. In this respect, Dr Kalangos can be regarded not merely as a clinician but as a complex figure in Turkish medical history, in whom ethical, cultural, and social values were tightly intertwined.
The ethos of goodness embodied by Dr Kalangos was carried forward in health services by his son, Prof. Afksendiyos Kalangos. In Geneva, Switzerland, he founded the Kalangos Foundation in 2002. In 2015, the house in Yeşilköy where his father had lived was converted into the foundation's headquarters, which continues to carry out humanitarian activities in more than 25 countries. In this context, the local ethic of kindness and compassion practiced by Dr Kalangos has been transformed into a model that directly enhances global health services and humanitarian efforts, serving as a bridge between the local and international levels. Prof. Afksendiyos Kalangos explains this process as follows: “Through our foundation, saving the lives of more than 20,000 children suffering from heart diseases is the result of the torch of goodness lit by my father; without his memory, we would not have been able to carry out these activities.” 24 In this way, Dr Kalangos’ personal understanding of goodness plays a crucial role in adding an ethical and socially responsible dimension to medical practice and healthcare.
Conclusion
The life story of Dr Konstantin Kalangos highlights the social dimensions of medical practice and shows how a physician's work can shape both local communities and broader humanitarian initiatives. The findings of this study suggest that three interrelated principles shaped his understanding of medicine.
First, his professional identity developed within a family environment in which medical education and practice spanned generations. This background shaped a clinical approach grounded in continuity, discipline, and long-term engagement with patients, rather than in institutional prestige or technological advancement.
Second, his medical practice exhibits a structure that can be defined as a “Sustainable Local Healthcare Model,” grounded in a strong sense of social responsibility. The provision of free medical care to patients unable to afford treatment should be understood as the local reproduction of a healthcare service with a public character. This systematic practice, operating through direct patient contact and based on clinical records (patient ledgers), ensured the continuity of healthcare provision independent of personal initiative. In this context, the practice demonstrates how ethical principles were operationalized in the public sphere and how a locally institutionalized form of healthcare organization developed in historical alignment with modern medical ethics.
The third aspect concerns his contributions to medical ethics and everyday clinical practice. By emphasizing patient confidentiality, maintaining systematic and consistent medical records, and prioritizing traditional diagnostic methods—such as history-taking, inspection, palpation, and auscultation—Dr Kalangos consciously resisted an increasingly mechanistic, technology-centered model of medicine. Through this approach, he contributed to both the profession's ethical foundations and the preservation of patient-centred clinical care.
His locally grounded understanding of medicine later found broader expression through the humanitarian initiatives of his son, Prof. Afksendiyos Kalangos, and through the work of the Kalangos Foundation, illustrating how practices rooted in community-based care can evolve into models with global reach.
In the history of medicine, Dr Konstantin Kalangos stands out as a physician who left a lasting impact on local medical culture through his ethical stance, social responsibility, and patient-centred practice. The naming of a street in Yeşilköy after him and the memorial concerts held in his honor are tangible expressions of society's enduring respect for his medical and moral legacy.
Footnotes
Acknowledgements
The author thanks Prof. Dr Afksendiyos Kalangos (Professor Emeritus, Former Director of the Clinic for Cardiovascular Surgery, University of Geneva Hospital, Geneva, Switzerland), son of the Dr Konstantin Kalangos, for critically proofreading the manuscript.
Funding
The author received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.
Declaration of conflicting interests
The author declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.