Georgios Papanikolaou

Greek pathologist

Georgios Nikolaou Papanikolaou (or George Papanicolaou /?pæp?'n?k?la?/; Greek: Ge?????? ?. ?apa???????? [papaniko'lau]; 13 May 1883 – 19 February 1962) was a Greek physician who was a pioneer in cytopathology and early cancer detection, and inventor of the "Pap smear".

After studying medicine in Greece and Germany, he emigrated in 1913 to the United States. He first reported that uterine cancer cells could be detected in vaginal smears in 1928, but his work was not widely recognized until the 1940s.

An extensive trial of his techniques was carried out in the early 1950s. In 1961, he was invited to the University of Miami to lead and develop the Papanicolaou Cancer Research Institute there.