It was so wonderful meeting up in Lisbon with the renowned Goan Surgeon, Dr. Caetano Winston Gracias and his wife Mitsi Oliveira Pegado Camelo.
Neither are strangers to Ribandar. Dr Winston alias Wini was associated with our Ribandar Hospital till he moved to Portugal while Mitsi is the Great Granddaughter of then Conde de Ribandar whose magnificent grandiosely designed house still stands out on the slope next to our Church.
Dr. Winston who hails from Loutolim has continued the legacy of the illustrious Gracias family. His Grandfather Dr. Caetano Gracias was a Portuguese Physician, Botanist and Historian. He was a member of the Portuguese Academy of Sciences and wrote the Sacred Flora of India ‘Mythology of Indian Plants’. Dr. Winston’s Father Dr. Renato Gracias – Knight of St. Sylvester was the Health Officer in Pune.
Caetano to his colleagues in Goa and Winston in Portugal, has been a very successful Surgeon at Hospital Santa Maria and private hospitals around Lisbon. Highly respected and very well known in the Goan community and by others in Portugal. With his medical acumen he has proven to be ‘the surgeon with the golden hands’.
Very kind, simple and a down to earth person obviously putting all his patients at ease. It is commendable to see this Surgeon also play the violin at functions and is involved in Goan social activities keeping the culture and involving the next generation to partake. It is so exciting to see our Goans across the world who have excelled in their fields and making us all proud.
