Padmashree Dr. G. Venkataswamy – A Dedication

Dr.G. Venkataswamy (Dr. V) was born in 1918 in a small village in South India. He received his medical degree from Stanley Medical College, Chennai in 1944. He joined the Indian Army Medical Corps, but had to retire in 1948 after developing severe rheumatoid arthritis – a disease that left his fingers crippled and changed the course of his life. Despite his condition he returned to medical school and earned a Diploma and Masters degree in ophthalmology. With hard work and determination, Dr. V. trained himself to hold a scalpel and to perform cataract surgery. In time, he personally performed over one hundred thousand successful eye surgeries.

He joined the faculty at Madurai Medical College as the head of the department of ophthalmology and later served as the Vice Principal. 

In these capacities he introduced a number of innovative programmes to attack the problem of blindness in India, including the outreach eye camps, the initiation of a training programme for ophthalmic assistants and the world’s first rehabilitation centre for the blind.

For much of his life Dr. V. has been a pioneering eye surgeon. In 1976, upon his retirement at age 58, he formed the GOVEL Trust under which the Aravind Eye Hospital was founded.

Guided by a philosophy that taught the spirituality of service, driven by compassion far beyond the ordinary and backed by the support and assistance of those who believed in his vision, Dr. V. set in motion a 30-year old, and still continuing, crusade against blindness. His work and its remarkable results have gained international recognition. He is the recipient of many national and international awards. The Helen Keller International Award, the IAPB Award, the International Blindness Prevention Award by the AAO and the Padmashree award from the Government of India are a few among them. (Source: www.aravind.org)