Nekrolog auf unser Mitglied Peter Theodore Ivanovich

In Memoriam
Peter Theodore Ivanovich (1928 — 2019)

Aut inveniam viam aut faciam
“I shall either find a way or make one.”

The nephrology community grieves for Peter Theodore Ivanovich MD, FRCP, who passed away in his home in Chicago on November 16, 2019. His patients, peers and colleagues will miss a passionate physician and outstanding pioneer of dialysis technology and clinical research with a worldwide recognition in the realm of nephrology. Many of his peers experienced Peter Ivanovich as a gentleman with a humanistic attitude combined with a dedicated intention to help, serve and find solutions whilst responding in a resourceful and positive way. A citation from the conser-vative statesman Marcus Porcius Cato the Elder in Imperial Rome perfectly describe Peter’s personality: “Non quisquam melior medicus, quam fidus amicus” (There is no better physician than a true friend.) Peter Ivanovich was a dedicated nephrologist and a true reliable friend, not only for his patients, but also for many of us who had the privilege to know him.

Born on November 9, 1928 as the youngest son in a Dalmatian immigrant fisher family, Peter Ivanovich learned commercial salmon fishing that assured bread for the family. It was difficult for his parents under these circumstances to provide the necessary economic support to their gifted and promising youngest son to enter a university. They supported his undergraduate work at Seattle University and were happy to see his degree in medicine from St. Louis University in 1955. Peter continued his education at the University of Washington as a nephrologist, although at that time the job title nephrologist for a specialist in kidney failure therapy had not yet been established. The subsequent collaboration with two famous physicians, Belding Scribner in Seattle and Thomas Starzl at that time at Northwestern University in Chicago determined his scientific curiosity and interest, the treatment of patients with kidney failure and the realization of organ transplantation.

WEITER