(New York Jewish Week) — In the summer of 1942, a group of determined students and faculty at Germany’s University of Munich banded to speak out against the Nazi regime.
Georgios Nikolaou Papanikolaou presented the findings of his first cervical smear tests in 1928, forever changing the course of female reproductive health screening and cancer prevention protocols. traveler1116/Getty Images/HowStuffWorks
For better or worse, few of us have inherently positive associations with routine medical exams. But while you d be hard pressed to find any woman super stoked to receive a cervical cancer screener known as the Pap smear (or Pap test), learning about the procedure s game-changing introduction into modern medicine might give you a newfound appreciation for its significance. And behind the unprecedented test is a man who collaborated with his wife in an effort to save women s lives: Georgios Papanikolaou.