Hippocrates

 Posted by on July 26, 2013
Jul 262013
 

400 Parnassus
UCSF Medical Center
Inner Sunset

Hippocrates at UCSFHippocrates by Costos Georgakas

A sign on the base of the statue reads:

Provided through the great generosity of Mr. and Mrs. John Nicholas Pappas.  Mr Pappas, A Greek emigrant from Kiparisi, Lakonia, Greece, and his wife, Jennie Pappas, donate this statue in appreciation of San Francisco the home of Mr. Pappas since 1905.

This statue was donated in 1987.

Hippocrates, is a sculptural example of five other versions of a marble sculpture attributed to Costos Georgacas. According to the Smithsonian, they date between 1967 and 1979 and are located on the campuses of University of Alabama in Birmingham, Alabama; Rutgers University in Piscataway, New Jersey; University of Illinois in Chicago, Illinois; University of Arizona in Tucson, Arizona; and Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan

Although mostly of historic and traditional value and not necessarily required by medical schools, the Hippocratic oath is considered a rite of passage for practitioners of medicine in some countries. Nowadays the modernized version of the text varies among the countries and has been rewritten often in order to suit the values of different cultures influenced by Greek medicine.

Born around 460 B.C., Hippocrates is credited with being the first person to believe that diseases were caused naturally and not as a result of superstition and Gods, believing and arguing that disease was not a punishment inflicted by the gods but rather the product of environmental factors, diet, and living habits. While little is actually known about who originally wrote it, the Hippocratic Oath, is an oath historically taken by doctors swearing to practice medicine ethically.

Christopher Columbus

 Posted by on May 23, 2012
May 232012
 
Coit Tower
Telegraph Hill
*
*
Columbus by Vittorio Di Colbertaldo – 1957

This statue of Christopher Columbus sits in the center of the parking lot for Coit Tower. The figure of Columbus, the famous Italian explorer, gazes out over San Francisco Bay standing on a concrete pedestal in the center of a circular flower bed, bordered by a marble ring. Dedicated on October 12, 1957, the newspapers of the time recorded that “Singers, sailors from American and Italian navies, and spectators stood in reverent silence as 12-foot statue of Christopher Columbus is unveiled today on Telegraph Hill. The sculpture piece was the work of Italy’s Vittorio de Colbertaldo. Columbus Day weekend will be highlighted here tomorrow with a parade.”

Little is known of Count Vittorio di Colbertaldo (Forlì 1902- Verona 1979), other than he was a member of, and official sculptor of Il Duce’s bodyguard.

One stone on the ring to the left of Columbus is from the dedication ceremonies and includes a message from Pope Pius XII reading:

PRESENTED TO THE PEOPLE OF SAN FRANCISCO
BY THE COLUMBUS MONUMENT COMMITTEE
WITH GRATEFUL ACKNOWLEDGMENT
TO ALL THE DONORS
WHO MADE THIS MEMORIAL POSSIBLE
INCLUDING THE CITY OF GENOA
FOR THE DONATION OF THE PEDESTAL
AND THE MARINI FAMILY
FOR THE GIFT OF THE MARBLE RING
VITTORIO di COLBERTALDO
DESIGNER and SCULPTOR

June 18, 2020

North Beach – Ben Franklin

 Posted by on May 9, 2012
May 092012
 
North Beach
Washington Square
*
Time Capsule
1979-2979 AD
Dedicated to
The Citzens of
San Francisco
Cal Seltzer
*
*
 Benjamin Franklin – Artist – unknown

This statue of Benjamin Franklin is the earliest – still existing – monument placed in San Francisco. It was originally located at Kearny and Market, but was moved to its present location in 1904.

The statue is cast iron and sits atop a granite pedestal.

The statue was donated to the city by Henry Cogswell, a dentist whose investments in stocks and real estate during the gold rush made him one of the city’s first millionaires. When it was installed here in 1879, a time capsule was placed under the statue. The capsule, which mostly contained objects from Henry Cogswell, was opened in 1979 and replaced with a new one, to be opened in 2079.

Around the base you will find these words, one on each side; Congress, Vichy, Cal Seltzer. These were all famous Mineral Springs in California. Their purpose is to espouse the virtues of regular drinking water, as Mr Cogswell was a staunch temperance advocate.

Mahatma Gandhi and the Controversies

 Posted by on January 17, 2000
Jan 172000
 

Ferry Building
Foot of Market
Embarcadero

Zlatko Paunov

This statue of Mahatma (Mohandas) Gandhi is by Zlatko Paunov.  Presented to the City of San Francisco by the Gandhi Memorial International Foundation, it sits on the water side of the Ferry Building.  Its location is intentional, as to honor Gandhi’s “Salt March to the Sea”  Its objective is to foster principles of nonviolence.

Zlatko Paunov was born in Tryavna, Bulgaria and emmigrated to New York during the communist era.

This seemingly benign statue is not without its critics.

In 2010 the Organization for Minorities of India asked for the removal of the statue that has been in its place since 1988. The group — which seeks to publicize the oppression of Christians, Buddhists, Dalits, Muslims, Sikhs, and other Indian minorities — claimed Gandhi was a racist with violent urges.

“The popular image of Gandhi as an egalitarian pacifist is a myth,” Bhajan Singh, one of the organizers, reportedly said in a statement. “We plan to challenge that myth by disseminating Gandhi’s own words to expose his racism and sham nonviolence.”

The protesters directed their demands at the Ferry Building management, but the statue is actually under the supervision of the San Francisco Arts Commission.

“I suppose Martin Luther King Jr. and Nelson Mandela must have their critics as well,” Arts Commission President P.J. Johnston told the Chronicle in response to the planned demonstration. “These folks are free to lodge their protest, but I doubt that our commission will move to take down the statue.”

The Gandhi Memorial Foundation too is of interest. It was a controversial non-profit organization run by Yogesh K. Gandhi, who claims to be related to Mahatma Gandhi. However, an immediate descendant of Mahatma Gandhi, publicly stated that Yogesh K. Gandhi was a “scam artist”, and “interested primarily in enriching himself.”

The organization’s business dealings were investigated by the United States Senate, in March 1998. On March 8, 1999, Yogesh Gandhi was charged by the United States Department of Justice with “tax evasion, mail and wire fraud and perjury” for dealings related to the Gandhi Memorial International Foundation. The Foundation was reported to have ceased its activities in 1999

This photo shows Gandhi without his eyeglasses.  They are often a victim of theft.  Replacement is done at a cost of approximately $1100.

 

error: Content is protected !!