John Eremu
1 May 2003
Kampala — ALTHOUGH born in Italy, the late Dr. Piero Corti left the luxurious life in Milan to spend more than half of his life in the impoverished Acholi region practicing medicine. To the Acholi, he is not an Italian, but a true son of the soil.
So a sombre mood engulfed Our Lady of Africa Church, Mbuya yesterday as Government officials and friends praised the late Corti for the great work he did in Acholi, despite the insurgency.
Corti, 78, died of abdominal tumour in Italy on Easter Sunday, his daughter, Dr. Dominique Vergani Atim, told mourners.
His body was flown into the country yesterday.
He will be buried at Lacor Hospital tomorrow after a funeral service at Gulu Cathedral at 11:00am.
Corti is remembered for treating injured soldiers and civilians caught in the northern conflict, the treatment of HIV/AIDS which claimed his first wife, Lucille, and the recent Ebola outbreak which killed his student and former Lacor Medical Superintendent, Dr. Matthew Lukwiya.
The Gulu District Council will pass a resolution recognising Dr. Corti's dedicated service before he is laid to rest next to Lucille and Lukwiya.
State minister for higher education Betty Aketch said Corti's name and dedicated service would never be forgotten in Acholi.
"He accepted to stay in that turbulent place until he went back because of his health," she said.
The deputy secretary to cabinet, Opio Lukone, described the deceased as 'one of the greatest sons of Acholi'.
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