In Memoriam

Emmanuel Shapira, M.D., Ph.D. 1933–1998

Emmanuel Shapira, M.D., Ph.D., died on May 5,1998, from complications following surgery. The com-munity of Medical Genetics has lost a respected col-league, a gentle physician, a devoted mentor, and abeloved friend.

Emmanuel was born in Kovno, Lithuania, in 1933,and immigrated with his family to Israel two yearslater. He graduated from Hebrew University and in1958 received his M.D. degree from Hadassah MedicalSchool in Jerusalem. Medical school was followed by

three years of military service, during which he metand married his wife, Shoshana, who was also servingas an officer in the Israeli Army. On returning to civil-ian life Emmanuel completed a residency in pediatricsat the Kaplan Hospital in Rehovot and thereaftertrained under Dr. Ruth Arnon at the Weizman Insti-tute of Science in Rehovot. He received a doctorate inimmunochemistry in 1968 and was a senior lecturer inpediatrics at the Hadassah Medical School for the nextfive years.

In 1973 Emmanuel and Shosh moved with theirthree daughters, Sigal, Noah, and Yael, to the UnitedStates to accept a faculty appointment in pediatrics atNorthwestern University Medical School and in the Di-vision of Genetics at Children’s Memorial Hospital inChicago. After five years in Chicago, Emmanuel ac-cepted an invitation to become head of the section ofgenetics in the Department of Pediatrics at TulaneUniversity School of Medicine. He moved his family,now including a fourth daughter, Roni, to New Or-leans, and became professor of pediatrics and pathol-ogy and adjunct professor of biochemistry. In 1984 Em-manuel was granted tenure and was appointed directorof the interdisciplinary Human Genetics Program andthe newly endowed Hayward Genetics Center, both ofwhich were created as a result of Emmanuel’s tirelessefforts. In 1993 he was honored by Tulane with inves-titure as the first Karen Gore Chair in Human Genet-ics.

Dr. Shapira was widely acknowledged as an enthu-siastic researcher and a meticulous diagnostician ininherited metabolic disorders, and he published prolifi-cally in both Hebrew and English. His early papers,co-authored with colleagues in Israel, focused on im-munochemistry but were interspersed with papers oninfectious disease and clinical syndromes. As Em-manuel’s interests shifted to biochemical genetics andthe lysosomal storage diseases, his enthusiasm andbreadth of knowledge in biochemical genetics becamethe cornerstone of a laboratory that provided compre-hensive services and management to the people ofLouisiana and to patients referred by distant col-leagues for evaluation. His students worked on cysticfibrosis, organic acidemias, the sphingolipidoses, car-nitine deficiency, and a host of clinical genetic syn-dromes. And in the realm of public service, Emmanuelwas a driving force in the establishing and evaluatingnewborn screening programs under the aegis of theMaternal and Child Health Bureau of the Departmentof Health and Human Services and the Council of Re-

*Correspondence to: Mary Kay Pelias, Ph.D., J.D., Departmentof Biometry and Genetics, LSU Medical Center, Box P5-2, 1901Perdido Street, New Orleans, LA 70112-1393.

Received 31 July 1998; Accepted 31 July 1998

American Journal of Medical Genetics 80:441–442 (1998)

© 1998 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

gional Networks for Genetics Services. Emmanuel wasa member of numerous professional organizations inIsrael, in Europe, and in the United States, and heserved many of them as an officer and as a participantin various service committees.

Beyond the rigorous demands of supervising a busyresearch program and laboratory, Dr. Shapira was a‘‘doctor’s doctor,’’ a thorough, compassionate pediatri-cian and clinical geneticist. He was direct, though notdirective, when counseling parents and children aboutthe difficult problems that had brought them to an in-timidating tertiary medical center. As a clinician andcounselor he was skilled and communicative, althoughalways concerned about the Israeli accent that hefeared would interfere with imparting genetic informa-tion that his patients sought. To this end he always hada ‘‘back-up’’ in clinical interviews to review and re-explain, if necessary, the information and message thatEmmanuel wished to impart. His approach to prob-abilities in genetic counseling was to talk about a ‘‘rollof the dice’’ or ‘‘dealing the cards’’—ideas that werequickly grasped by persons with limited educationalexperience. As a gentle physician he held his youngerpatients with love and softness, and he consoled theolder ones with a firm tenderness. Though a man ofimmense heart and compassion, he fumed quietlywhen confronted with an infant with fetal alcohol syn-drome. And he slumped when he had to give patientsinformation that they would never want to hear. Theconvincing evidence of his great love for his patients,and their love for him, was found in the ongoing com-munication and gentle affection on both sides of theirmany relationships.

As a mentor and a teacher, Dr. Shapira reveled inseeing his students blossom. He always had time for astudent’s question. He always had time for a fellow’sdilemma. And he always had time for a colleague’s con-fusion. He guided all of us with strength and kindness,even when he felt compelled to push us harder. Heconsulted and consoled, and he continually insisted

that our erudite—and at times unmercifully compli-cated—seminar presentations be summarized insimple language that would be of use to the ‘‘countrydoctor.’’ As he guided students, fellows, and colleaguestoward the board exams, he took care to ensure thateach one had a broad range of experience and expertisethat would serve well at every level of testing. And, asEmmanuel grew older, he took care to acknowledgethat he had, at times, perhaps been a bit too strongwhen he pushed us to excel.

Beyond the traditional relationships of academics totheir proteges, Emmanuel was a caring friend, a de-voted husband, and a doting father. His dedication tohis family, and his immense pride in their accomplish-ments, were constantly evident in his spontaneouscomments at lunch and during relaxed conversationsin his office. His desk held older and newer photo-graphs of his family, including the most recent addi-tions, his son-in-law, Mel Levy, and his sparklinggrandson, Adam. Emmanuel never failed to have timeto hear, to console, to advise both younger and olderfriends who sought his help—always selflessly, alwayswith care and sympathy, and always with wisdom.

At the memorial service held on July 13, 1998, Em-manuel’s daughter Sigal read passages from the PirkeiAvot that had special meaning in the life and thoughtsof her father. Among the bits of traditional wisdom wasmention of the mensch, and the thought that this worddescribed Emmanuel most thoroughly. In Yiddish theword mensch has significant implications beyond itsoriginal meaning of ‘‘human being.’’ Sigal called up foreveryone the Jewish expansion of the meaning of men-sch to incorporate the ideas of irreproachable characterand unbounded humanity. Emmanuel Shapira was amensch. The world is a better place for his having beenwith us and a lesser place now that he is gone.

Mary Kay Pelias*Louisiana State University Medical CenterNew Orleans, Louisiana

442 Pelias