| MARCOS R. FOJAS, M.D., F.P.O.S. |
Born in Manila, the Philippines; second of eight children
of the late Engineer Angel P. Fojas, Sr. and Felisa del
Rosario. Engr. Fojas, U.P. Engineering Class “22, was
elected U.P. FATHER OF THE YEAR 1962 as all of his
children are graduates of the University of the
Philippines.
Dr. Marcos R. Fojas graduated Valedictorian from the
Torres High School, Manila and With Highest Honors,
Associate in Arts, University of the Philippines, and set a
record by finishing this course in one and a half years
instead of two. He was among the top ten of his
Graduating Class of the UP College of Medicine and
also in the Medical Board Examinations. Appointed
Resident in the then Department of Eye Ear Nose and
Throat, UP PGH Medical Center right after graduation
and later became Assistant Professor of Ophthalmology,
of the late Engineer Angel P. Fojas, Sr. and Felisa del
Rosario. Engr. Fojas, U.P. Engineering Class “22, was
elected U.P. FATHER OF THE YEAR 1962 as all of his
children are graduates of the University of the
Philippines.
Dr. Marcos R. Fojas graduated Valedictorian from the
Torres High School, Manila and With Highest Honors,
Associate in Arts, University of the Philippines, and set a
record by finishing this course in one and a half years
instead of two. He was among the top ten of his
Graduating Class of the UP College of Medicine and
also in the Medical Board Examinations. Appointed
Resident in the then Department of Eye Ear Nose and
Throat, UP PGH Medical Center right after graduation
and later became Assistant Professor of Ophthalmology,
UP College of Medicine much ahead of his counterparts. Very active in Research, Community Medicine,
Medical Politics and above all had a very lucrative private practice together with his wife. He was awarded
a Colombo Plan Scholarship in 1960 in London where he met his wife Dr. Helen Marcoyannopoulou
who was also a recipient of the Alice Hamilton Fellowship of the International Federation of University
Women based in the USA and Consultant at the Brompton Hospital with a very promising future in
scientific and clinical Cardiology. She left all of these and went to the Philippines to be with her husband.
Because of her rigid clinical training in London, she was appointed faculty member of the UP College of
Medicine and became a very successful practitioner of Cardiology in Manila.
In December 1969, Dr. Fojas also had to make a decision of his lifetime and this was the turning point in
his life. His wife is a Greek and Fate had it that she is the ONLY CHILD. Both Fojases already had
successful practices in Manila and had everything that any medical practitioner could ask for. However,
Dr. Helen’s parents were getting sickly and had no one to take care of them so she had to leave all that
they had built up in Manila. To be with his family, Dr. Marcos R. Fojas followed later – with eyes closed –
to a far away country and a completely unknown future ahead of him.
Life in Greece was very difficult in the beginning. He was now a completely unknown foreigner and did
not even speak Greek. He found the Greeks to be strange and although he was not discriminated
against, the Greeks also found him strange. He was the first and ONLY Filipino in Athens at that time.
However his wife stood by his side and supported him all the way. She saw to it that he had the proper
Licensures and helped him get an appointment as a Consultant at the Evangelismos University
Hospital, the biggest General Hospital in the Balkan area.
As in any European country, Greeks have a very closely knit society which is very hard to penetrate. For a
foreign physician, especially an Asian, to be accepted to practice a very refined and delicate specialty as
Ophthalmology in such a society, is already a big achievement. Dr. Fojas did not only “break the barrier”
but was able to integrate and establish a very lucrative practice with Greek patients. He attributes this big
success above all, to the full and solid support of his wife, to his rigid training in the University of the
Philippines, his vast experience in Manila and our very well known Asian virtue of tender loving care for
patients. Later, his being Asian became an asset and brought more patients. His first two surgeries,
considered “hopeless” by other colleagues, were successes and word got around Athens that there was
this Asian Ophthalmologist who was performing “miracle cures” thus attracting more patients.
From 1971 to 1973 the Fojases accepted an invitation from the World Health Organization to re-organize
the Ophthalmological and Cardiological Departments of the then Congo General Hospital in Kinshasa in
the Republic of Zaire. He was the Chief and Director of the Department of Ophthalmology and she was
Chief of the Cardiac Intensive Care Unit. For outstanding services to the people of Zaire, both were
inducted by the President of the country into the “Grand Ordre des Medicins du Zaire”.
Dr. Fojas returned to Athens in October 1973 where his practice grew bigger and bigger so that in the 70’
s, 80’s, 90’s and early 2000’s, he was one of the top practitioners of Ophthalmology in Athens. The
Philippines might have lost a valuable Ophthalmologist but this was far outweighed by his big success
as a practitioner in Athens and because of this, the Philippines became known to the Greeks and Greek
physicians, most of whom, at that time, knew very little, if at all, about our country. As far as is known, he
is the ONLY Filipino practicing Medicine in the whole Balkan Area. He is adored by his patients and
respected by his colleagues and this has projected a very positive image of our country, of Philippine
Medicine and Ophthalmology to the Greeks.
As the Philippines did not have an Embassy in Greece up to 1989, Dr. Fojas, being the most prominent
Filipino in Athens was the “Father Figure” of his countrymen who looked up to him and to his wife, as
well, for advice and help because of their connections with national and local (especially police and
immigration) government officials. They also gave free medical services to Filipinos who cannot afford to
pay.
Because of his prominent standing in the Greek and Filipino Communities, he was repeatedly elected
President of the Filipino Community School which gives formal Philippine Education to Filipino children
of Athens and instill into their young minds our language, history, culture and traditions thus shaping
their Filipino identity and character and making them proud of their country. This school is of high
standard and the only one accredited by the Philippine Department of Education in the whole of Europe;
and has the distinction of having an official permit to operate by the Greek government, (again, the only
Filipino School with such in all Europe), granted through the efforts of Dr. Fojas in his capacity as Special
Adviser to the Philippine Ambassador on the School Affairs.. In recognition of all the above
aforementioned achievements, he was conferred the Philippine Presidential “Banaag” Award in
December 2002, the highest honor that a Filipino living and working abroad can receive from the
President of the Philippines.
Because of his invaluable contributions to the Filipino Community School, named the Katipunan
Philippines Cultural Academy (KAPHILCA for short), from its very beginning up to the present, he was
given the distinct honor of being the Commencement Speaker for its Fifth Graduation Exercises last
June. This also marked the Tenth Anniversary of the Founding of the School.
Dr. Fojas has no regrets. He has kept his family together, achieved fame and fortune in a far flung
country and at the same time leaving a lasting heritage to Philippine Ophthalmology having been actively
involved in the birth and beginnings of this Specialty in our country in the nineteen sixties. Dr. Fojas is
now slowly leaving his practice to his son, Dr. Angel Constantino M. Fojas, a well trained and able
Ophthalmologist. He is a graduate of the University of Bologna Faculty of Medicine and served indigent
patients in the Philippines. His other son, George, a graduate of the Florida Institute of Technology, is
actively involved in business in the Philippines. Dr. Helen Marcoyannopoulou Fojas is a highly respected
researcher and clinician in Cardiology. She is considered as one of the world’s renowned sixty seven
experts in the Metabolic Syndrome.
As the Greeks say: Behind every successful man is an encouraging and supportive wife. Dr. Fojas pays
tribute to his wife for having stood solidly behind him and supported him in all that he has done.
Together, they have made sacrifices in their lives for the sake of their family and left promising bright
futures in London and Manila to keep that family together. The Good Lord rewarded them by making
them successes in their new lives in Greece. They heartfully thank The Almighty for all that they have now
and hope that He will continue to shower them and their families with more blessings!
Athens, 07/07/07
Medical Politics and above all had a very lucrative private practice together with his wife. He was awarded
a Colombo Plan Scholarship in 1960 in London where he met his wife Dr. Helen Marcoyannopoulou
who was also a recipient of the Alice Hamilton Fellowship of the International Federation of University
Women based in the USA and Consultant at the Brompton Hospital with a very promising future in
scientific and clinical Cardiology. She left all of these and went to the Philippines to be with her husband.
Because of her rigid clinical training in London, she was appointed faculty member of the UP College of
Medicine and became a very successful practitioner of Cardiology in Manila.
In December 1969, Dr. Fojas also had to make a decision of his lifetime and this was the turning point in
his life. His wife is a Greek and Fate had it that she is the ONLY CHILD. Both Fojases already had
successful practices in Manila and had everything that any medical practitioner could ask for. However,
Dr. Helen’s parents were getting sickly and had no one to take care of them so she had to leave all that
they had built up in Manila. To be with his family, Dr. Marcos R. Fojas followed later – with eyes closed –
to a far away country and a completely unknown future ahead of him.
Life in Greece was very difficult in the beginning. He was now a completely unknown foreigner and did
not even speak Greek. He found the Greeks to be strange and although he was not discriminated
against, the Greeks also found him strange. He was the first and ONLY Filipino in Athens at that time.
However his wife stood by his side and supported him all the way. She saw to it that he had the proper
Licensures and helped him get an appointment as a Consultant at the Evangelismos University
Hospital, the biggest General Hospital in the Balkan area.
As in any European country, Greeks have a very closely knit society which is very hard to penetrate. For a
foreign physician, especially an Asian, to be accepted to practice a very refined and delicate specialty as
Ophthalmology in such a society, is already a big achievement. Dr. Fojas did not only “break the barrier”
but was able to integrate and establish a very lucrative practice with Greek patients. He attributes this big
success above all, to the full and solid support of his wife, to his rigid training in the University of the
Philippines, his vast experience in Manila and our very well known Asian virtue of tender loving care for
patients. Later, his being Asian became an asset and brought more patients. His first two surgeries,
considered “hopeless” by other colleagues, were successes and word got around Athens that there was
this Asian Ophthalmologist who was performing “miracle cures” thus attracting more patients.
From 1971 to 1973 the Fojases accepted an invitation from the World Health Organization to re-organize
the Ophthalmological and Cardiological Departments of the then Congo General Hospital in Kinshasa in
the Republic of Zaire. He was the Chief and Director of the Department of Ophthalmology and she was
Chief of the Cardiac Intensive Care Unit. For outstanding services to the people of Zaire, both were
inducted by the President of the country into the “Grand Ordre des Medicins du Zaire”.
Dr. Fojas returned to Athens in October 1973 where his practice grew bigger and bigger so that in the 70’
s, 80’s, 90’s and early 2000’s, he was one of the top practitioners of Ophthalmology in Athens. The
Philippines might have lost a valuable Ophthalmologist but this was far outweighed by his big success
as a practitioner in Athens and because of this, the Philippines became known to the Greeks and Greek
physicians, most of whom, at that time, knew very little, if at all, about our country. As far as is known, he
is the ONLY Filipino practicing Medicine in the whole Balkan Area. He is adored by his patients and
respected by his colleagues and this has projected a very positive image of our country, of Philippine
Medicine and Ophthalmology to the Greeks.
As the Philippines did not have an Embassy in Greece up to 1989, Dr. Fojas, being the most prominent
Filipino in Athens was the “Father Figure” of his countrymen who looked up to him and to his wife, as
well, for advice and help because of their connections with national and local (especially police and
immigration) government officials. They also gave free medical services to Filipinos who cannot afford to
pay.
Because of his prominent standing in the Greek and Filipino Communities, he was repeatedly elected
President of the Filipino Community School which gives formal Philippine Education to Filipino children
of Athens and instill into their young minds our language, history, culture and traditions thus shaping
their Filipino identity and character and making them proud of their country. This school is of high
standard and the only one accredited by the Philippine Department of Education in the whole of Europe;
and has the distinction of having an official permit to operate by the Greek government, (again, the only
Filipino School with such in all Europe), granted through the efforts of Dr. Fojas in his capacity as Special
Adviser to the Philippine Ambassador on the School Affairs.. In recognition of all the above
aforementioned achievements, he was conferred the Philippine Presidential “Banaag” Award in
December 2002, the highest honor that a Filipino living and working abroad can receive from the
President of the Philippines.
Because of his invaluable contributions to the Filipino Community School, named the Katipunan
Philippines Cultural Academy (KAPHILCA for short), from its very beginning up to the present, he was
given the distinct honor of being the Commencement Speaker for its Fifth Graduation Exercises last
June. This also marked the Tenth Anniversary of the Founding of the School.
Dr. Fojas has no regrets. He has kept his family together, achieved fame and fortune in a far flung
country and at the same time leaving a lasting heritage to Philippine Ophthalmology having been actively
involved in the birth and beginnings of this Specialty in our country in the nineteen sixties. Dr. Fojas is
now slowly leaving his practice to his son, Dr. Angel Constantino M. Fojas, a well trained and able
Ophthalmologist. He is a graduate of the University of Bologna Faculty of Medicine and served indigent
patients in the Philippines. His other son, George, a graduate of the Florida Institute of Technology, is
actively involved in business in the Philippines. Dr. Helen Marcoyannopoulou Fojas is a highly respected
researcher and clinician in Cardiology. She is considered as one of the world’s renowned sixty seven
experts in the Metabolic Syndrome.
As the Greeks say: Behind every successful man is an encouraging and supportive wife. Dr. Fojas pays
tribute to his wife for having stood solidly behind him and supported him in all that he has done.
Together, they have made sacrifices in their lives for the sake of their family and left promising bright
futures in London and Manila to keep that family together. The Good Lord rewarded them by making
them successes in their new lives in Greece. They heartfully thank The Almighty for all that they have now
and hope that He will continue to shower them and their families with more blessings!
Athens, 07/07/07
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