Javier Arias Stella (August 2, 1924 – February 25, 2020) was a Peruvian pathologist, politician, diplomat, academic, and lecturer who variously served as Minister of Public Health of Peru (1963-1965, 1967-1968), Minister of Foreign Relations of Peru (1980-1983), and President of the United Nations Security Council (March 1984, April 1985), the former two positions having been served under Peruvian president Fernando Belaúnde Terry. He was best known in medical circles for having discovered the eponymously-named Arias-Stella reaction.

Javier Arias Stella
President of the United Nations Security Council
In office
1 April 1985 – 30 April 1985
Preceded byBlaise Rabetafika
Succeeded by
In office
1 March 1984 – 31 March 1984
Preceded byS. Shah Nawaz
Succeeded byVolodymyr O. Kravets
Minister of Foreign Relations of Peru
In office
1980–1983
PresidentFernando Belaúnde Terry
Minister of Public Health of Peru
In office
1967–1968
PresidentFernando Belaúnde Terry
In office
1963–1965
PresidentFernando Belaúnde Terry

Education

edit

Arias Stella's undergraduate studies were done first at the San Marcos National University's School of Science in Peru from 1942 to 1944 and then at the Faculty of Medicine from 1945 to 1951, from which he earned his bachelor's in 1951. His doctorate was also earned from that faculty in 1959.[1]

Research

edit

Arias-Stella reaction

edit

Arias Stella found that a reaction previously thought of as a cancer in the endometrium was rather a normal reaction of hormones from placental tissue.[1][2][3] It can also refer to changes occurring in the cervix.[4]

Altitude changes in anatomy and histology

edit

Later in his life, he became involved in researching how altitude changes in the Andes affected anatomy and histology in human beings, men specifically. It had long been thought that the multiple cases of pulmonary hypertension in Andes men came from the altitude they lived in. Arias Stella's research showed that "hypoxia-induced thickening of the pulmonary arteriolar walls" was the main cause for the hypertension. Considering that the natives had no access to vasodilators, their cases of hypertension were found to be different from known cases of acute hypoxic pulmonary vasoconstriction.[5]

Career

edit

Early career

edit

Arias Stella began teaching as an instructor in pathology by 1949 in the same university and faculty that he already was attending. Over time he became a senior lecturer in clinical pathology. In 1961, he co-founded the Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia, where he began as an associate professor of pathology. By 1969, he was the principal professor and then head of the pathology department by 1975. He became the consulting professor for the National University of Caracas in 1974 and then the same for the Central University of Venezuela in 1975. He continued to have various professional standings in many hospitals in both South America and the United States. He also traveled as a visiting professor to many universities in the United States.[1]

He was asked to join multiple medical societies, including the American Association of Pathologists and the International Academy of Pathologists then went on to found the International Society of Gynecological Pathology, the Latin American Society of Pathology, and the Peruvian Society of Pathology.[1]

Political career

edit

Arias Stella was public health minister in 1963–65 and 1967–68 and became the foreign minister of Peru from 1980 to 1983 because of his involvement in the Belaunde regime.[6][7] Arias Stella was the foreign minister during the Paquisha War in 1981 with Ecuador. During the early skirmishes over an outpost in Paquisha, he was quoted in newspapers as stating that Peru would proceed to recapture the rest of the territory that Ecuadorian forces were encroaching on.[8]

From 1983 to 1985, Arias served as the Permanent Representative of Peru to the United Nations.[9] In 1984 and 1985, Arias Stella served as the President of the United Nations Security Council.[10]

Personal life

edit

He married Nancy Castillo Arias Stella and had four children.[1] Arias Stella died on February 25, 2020, at the age of 95.[11]

See also

edit

References

edit
  1. ^ a b c d e "Semblanza del Dr. Javier Arias Stella". Pontifical Catholic University of Peru (in Spanish). Archived from the original on March 12, 2008.
  2. ^ Wicherek L, Basta P, Pitynski K, et al. (April 2009). "The characterization of the subpopulation of suppressive B7H4(+) macrophages and the subpopulation of CD25(+) CD4(+) and FOXP3(+) regulatory T-cells in decidua during the secretory cycle phase, Arias Stella reaction, and spontaneous abortion - a preliminary report". Am. J. Reprod. Immunol. 61 (4): 303–12. doi:10.1111/j.1600-0897.2009.00696.x. PMID 19260861. S2CID 28178199.
  3. ^ Arias-Stella J (January 2002). "The Arias-Stella reaction: facts and fancies four decades after". Adv Anat Pathol. 9 (1): 12–23. doi:10.1097/00125480-200201000-00003. PMID 11756756. S2CID 26249687.
  4. ^ Félix A, Nogales FF, Arias-Stella J (March 2010). "Polypoid endometriosis of the uterine cervix with Arias-Stella reaction in a patient taking phytoestrogens". Int. J. Gynecol. Pathol. 29 (2): 185–8. doi:10.1097/PGP.0b013e3181b7015e. PMID 20173505.
  5. ^ Reeves JT, Grover RF (January 2005). "Insights by Peruvian scientists into the pathogenesis of human chronic hypoxic pulmonary hypertension". J. Appl. Physiol. 98 (1): 384–9. doi:10.1152/japplphysiol.00677.2004. PMID 15591308. S2CID 1336203.
  6. ^ Ellenbogen, Gustavo Gorriti (1999). The Shining Path: A History of the Millenarian War in Peru. University of North Carolina Press. p. 155. ISBN 9780807846766.
  7. ^ "Inter-American Consultative Group on Coca Leaf Problems, Lima, 14–21 December 1964". UNODC. 1965. pp. 37–41.
  8. ^ "Peruvian Forces Recover Territory". The Victoria Advocate. Associated Press. January 31, 1981. p. 7C – via Google News.
  9. ^ "Misión del Perú § Representantes Permanentes del Perú ante la ONU". Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
  10. ^ "Presidents of the Security Council: 1980–1989". United Nations. Archived from the original on June 4, 2011. Retrieved March 16, 2010.
  11. ^ "Excanciller Javier Arias Stella falleció a los 95 años". El Comercio (in Spanish). February 26, 2020.
edit