STEPHEN VAS

STEPHEN VAS A PIONEER IN PERITONEAL DIALYSIS, PROFESSOR OF MICROBIOLOGY AND MEDICINE UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO 1926 - 2006 Stephen was born on June 4, 1926, as the second child after his sister Veronika, in Budapest. His father was the shopkeeper and owner of a hardware store in central Budapest. Af ter receiving his High School diploma from the Fasor Gymnasium in the Spring of 1944, he was taken right away into a Nazi labour camp in the southeast part of Hungary. Subsequent to the liberation of Romania, Stephen escaped the camp and fled to Bucharest. He originally planned to study physics, yet when the Hungarian University in Cluj (Kolozsvár) opened, he started studying medicine as this was the only discipline offered. After the war finished in Hungary, Stephen returned to Budapest in 1945 and continued his studies there. He received his M.D. in 1950. As a young doctor, Stephen worked in various hospitals and public health research institutes. He also spent three years in the military as an immunologist, and focused on epidemic control and microbiology. Stephen married Dr. Magdalena Raditz in 1954. In 1956 he received his 'Candidacy' (PhD). The same year, Stephen and Magdalena fled Hungary to Vienna, where Stephen received a Rockefeller Scholarship to go to Montreal. Three years later, he started teaching at McGill medicine and microbiology. Five years before leaving Montreal, Stephen became the chairman of the Department of Microbiology and Immunology at McGill. In 1977, Magdalena and Stephen moved to Toronto, where he became Chief of Microbiology and Magdalena joined the hematology department of the Toronto Western Hospital. Stephen Vas when he moved from Montreal to Toronto to become our Microbiologist-in-Chief, he helped us immensely in the diagnosis of treatment of peritonitis in patients on Chronic Peritoneal Dialysis and he applied his vast knowledge of microbiology and infectious diseases to the care of his patients. He was one of the first to study the inflammatory response of the peritoneal cavity and he went around the world lecturing on the principles of treatment of the infectious complications of peritoneal dialysis. Until the end of his life, he was available and gave his opinion freely about these difficult problems to people who called from around the world. He cared deeply for his patients who literally adored him, especially the women, who felt so comfortable with his compassionate care. After his retirement, he was happy looking af ter peritoneal dialysis patients who were totally attached to him. He was always available to the nurses day or night, whenever they needed his advice. Unfortunately five years ago, Magdalena died and Stephen became quite depressed, although he never let his feelings show during our daily interactions. However, at the end his loneliness became quite strong, and the attraction of his family and his roots were so strong that he decided to retur n to Budapest. He was excited by the fact that not only the physicians and nurses there but even the Government officials held him in great respect. He supported with all his strength the Nephrology department of St. Margit Hospital in Budapest. He was deeply involved in teaching, something that he always enjoyed. Stephen died on the 14th of October 2006.