Nicholas Gonatas, physician

Dr. Nicholas K. Gonatas, 84, Philadelphia pathologist, researcher and founder of the Division of Neuropathology at the University of Pennsylvania died of pancreatic cancer Tuesday, Oct. 7.

Born March 15, 1930, Dr. Gonatas was raised in Thessaloniki, Greece, capital of the province of Macedonia. His son Dinos recalls stories his father told about living through the Nazi occupation of Greece between 1941 and 1944, including leaving home to live on the island of Euboea.

"And they had no electricity. They did not even have meat or fresh vegetables. They had vegetables if they grew them. . . . They did have fish, and made and sold soap to make money," Gonatas said.

After the war, Dr. Gonatas graduated from a dual program at Anatolia College in 1947 and Aristotle University of Thessaloniki School of Medicine in 1952. During that period, he served in the Greek army as a medical officer for his regiment, exempt from bearing arms because of his medical skills.

Dr. Gonatas moved to the United States to practice medicine in 1957. He took two residencies for medical training, one at the Jersey City Medical Center, where he studied internal medicine. He took another residency at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine at Montefiore Medical Center in New York from 1957 to 1960, studying anatomic and clinical pathology, followed by a fellowship in neuropathology until 1961. He was also trained in experimental pathology and cell biology.

In 1964, Dr. Gonatas was recruited by G. Milton Shy, then chairman of neurology at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, whom he assisted in skeletal muscle pathology research. In 1984, he was elected a corresponding member of the Academy of Athens and established a national and international neuropathology training program. He went on to educate more than 30 neuropathologist fellows.

He contributed to 227 published manuscripts in medicine during his scientific and clinical career, many of them included in journals such as the American Journal of Pathology, the Journal of Neuroscience, the Journal of Cell Biology, and Nature. Zissimos Mourelators, a Philadelphia pathologist, praised Dr. Gonatas for introducing "the concept of organelle pathology as a key underlying factor in pathogenesis of many inherited neurological diseases, paving the way to better classification of these disorders."

Dr. Gonatas received numerous fellowships and awards including from the Guggenheim and Josiah Macy Foundations, two Senator Jacob Javits Neuroscience Investigator Awards, and the Meritorious Award for Contributions to Neuropathology from the American Association of Neuropathologists.

Dr. Gonatas served the University of Pennsylvania until his death. On Oct. 3, Penn President Amy Gutmann issued him a letter of congratulations for more than 50 years of success in making the neuropathology group at Penn a national model of excellence.

Dinos Gonatas described his father as "very humble but very knowledgable, and well-regarded by people in his field. He was very thoughtful."

In addition to his son, Dr. Gonatas is survived by his wife of 54 years, Jacqueline Orloff; another son, Constantine; daughter Maria; and three grandchildren.

No services are planned.