Riccardo Galeazzi-Lisi

Riccardo Galeazzi-Lisi (1891 - 1968) was an Italian doctor who served as Pope Pius XII's personal physician from 1939 until Pius' death in 1958. Officially titled "Archiatra Pontificia", this position entitled him to stand behind the pontifical throne at all papal liturgical ceremonies (cappella papale). He is notorious for selling sensationalistic photographs of the dying and dead Pope to the magazine Paris-Match. Although commonly believed to have been a quack, responsible for worsening the pontiff's medical problems and hastening his death, all evidence points to this being unintentional. In 1955, a medical commission of five doctors was established by the Vatican Curia and the Pacelli family, of which Galeazzi-Lisi was a member. After the Pontiff's death, the doctor attempted to embalm the body, but his self-made technique (which he called "aromatization") instead hastened the decomposition of the body. One of the first acts of Pius' successor, Blessed Pope John XXIII, was to ban the former Papal Physician from Vatican City for life. In 1960, Galeazzi-Lisi attempted to dispel accusations in his book "Dans l'Ombre et la Lumière de Pie XII" (In the Shadow and the Light of Pius XII).

Related Topics:
1891 - 1968 - Italian - Doctor - Pope - Pius XII - 1939 - 1958 - Paris-Match - Quack - Embalm - Aromatization - Pope John XXIII

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