Former Medical Director, U.S. Department of State

Location: Wagner Alumni House
Producer/Interviewer: Anneliesa Clump Alprin (G’06)
Editor: Lisa Fthenakis (C’10)

George Mishtowt describes a very different Washington in the 1930s. He remembers the Great Depression, World War II and his service in the 82nd Airborne, Waco gliders, landing in Holland, moving into France and the Battle of the Bulge covered in snow. In 1955, he was hired as the first doctor to serve the State Department.

As a young boy, Mishtowt moved to Washington where his father was a naval attaché at the Imperial Russian Embassy. His mother had been a lady-in-waiting for the last tsarina. Because of their connections to the imperial government, it was no longer safe for the family in Russia . The family remained in the United States, and Mishtowt was awarded a full scholarship to attend Georgetown. He graduated from the College in 1938 and from the School of Medicine in 1942, where he was first in his class all four years.