Dr Konstantin Kalangos (1914-2004): A biographical study of a physician in Republican Türkiye

Dr Konstantin Omiros Kalangos, a specialist in internal medicine, was well known in Yeşilköy, a district of Istanbul, for providing long-term care and offering free treatment to patients with limited financial means. His family background included multiple individuals across generations who received medical training and practiced medicine. During the period from the 1950s to the 2000s, when he practiced in Yeşilköy, he treated thousands of patients in the ground-floor clinic of his family's residence. In an era increasingly dominated by technological diagnostics, he maintained that medical assessment was impossible without physical contact, placing the physical examination and direct physician-patient interaction at the centre of diagnosis. Oral history interviews conducted in Yeşilköy repeatedly highlight his compassion, clinical expertise, and ethical commitment; many residents remember him as a physician who embodied the values associated with the Hippocratic Oath. This study examines the life, professional practice, and cultural impact of Dr Kalangos. It draws on materials from the Presidency of the Republic of Türkiye, the Directorate of State Archives, the Ottoman Archives (BOA), the Ayastefanos Greek Church Archives, family papers, oral history interviews, patient ledgers, handwritten medical lecture notes, and relevant secondary literature.