Honoring the Legacy of Prof. Dr. M. Gazi YAŞARGİL

Honoring the Legacy of Prof. Dr. M. Gazi YAŞARGİL
 

Prof. Dr. M. Gazi YAŞARGİL was born on July 6, 1925, in Lice, a district of Diyarbakır, where his father was serving as the district governor. Later that same year, his family moved to Ankara. All five children of the Yaşargil family were educated in Ankara. His sister Selma worked as an English teacher at Ankara Gazi High School for 40 years, while his sister Tomris served as a chemical engineer at the Machinery and Chemical Industry Corporation. His brother Erdem became a professor of general surgery in Basel, Switzerland, and his brother Günay was a professor of physiology in Zurich. The entire education of the Yaşargil children was funded through the great personal sacrifices of their family. Contrary to some online sources, they did not receive government scholarships.

Prof. Dr. Gazi YAŞARGİL graduated from the Classical Latin Department of Ankara Atatürk High School in 1943. That same fall, he began studying medicine at Friedrich Schiller University in Germany. Due to the ongoing war, he had to leave his studies after two semesters and relocated to Switzerland in 1945. He completed his medical education at the University of Basel and graduated in the fall of 1949. After graduation, he worked for three months at the Institute of Anatomy under the world-renowned Dr. Josef Klingler, studying brain anatomy. Between 1950 and 1953, he completed one-year internships in neurology-psychiatry, internal medicine, and general surgery.

In January 1953, he began his neurosurgery residency at the University of Zurich’s Neurosurgery Clinic under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Hugo Krayenbühl, Prof. Dr. George Weber, and Prof. Dr. Emil Zander. He became an associate professor in 1960, a full professor in 1965, and was awarded the title of "Ordinarius Professor" in 1973. He served as the head of the clinic until his retirement in 1993.

During his first twelve years at the University of Zurich (1953–1965), he performed percutaneous cerebral and orbital angiographies on thousands of patients and published numerous influential articles and books in the field. From 1957 to 1965, he conducted groundbreaking surgeries for Parkinson’s disease and other movement disorders using stereotactic techniques. In these procedures, he utilized the high-frequency coagulation method developed by Zurich’s Professor of Physiology, Oscar Wyss—a technique that soon gained worldwide recognition.

Between 1965 and 1966, he collaborated with Prof. Dr. M.P.R. Donaghy at the University of Vermont in the United States, where he learned microvascular surgery. He was the first to apply this technique to brain vessels in animals, and in 1967, he successfully performed a bypass surgery in Zurich on a patient with three blocked cerebral arteries. This operation marked the beginning of a new era in cerebrovascular surgery.

Between 1967 and 1973, he played a key role in the development of numerous microsurgical innovations, including surgical microscopes, operating chairs, micro-instrument tables, aneurysm clips, microsuture sets, and automatic retractors.

From 1967 onward, he developed a new surgical technique based on microsurgical approaches to the cerebrospinal fluid pathways. This method revolutionized the surgical treatment of vascular diseases, aneurysms, arteriovenous malformations (AVMs), cavernomas, tumors, temporal epilepsy, and herniated discs. Between 1968 and 1993, he trained neurosurgeons from all over the world in the microsurgery laboratory he founded. He published eight books on microneurosurgery.

He retired from the University of Zurich in 1993. In 1994, he joined the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (Little Rock, USA) as a professor. Alongside Prof. Dr. Ossama Al-Mefty, he founded the first Microneurosurgery Center in the United States. There, he continued performing surgeries, teaching, establishing microsurgery laboratories, and organizing training programs. He retired from the University of Arkansas in 2013.

From 2013 onwards, he continued his academic and scientific work at Yeditepe University Faculty of Medicine’s Department of Neurosurgery in Istanbul, in collaboration with Prof. Dr. Uğur Türe.

In June 2024, under the leadership of Prof. Dr. Uğur Türe and with the participation of leading neurosurgeons from around the world, the Yaşargil Microneurosurgery Academy was established in Istanbul. Its inaugural congress was held on June 4, 2024, with the attendance of Prof. Dr. Gazi Yaşargil.

Microsurgery laboratories named after Prof. Dr. Yaşargil have been founded in Oxford (UK), Little Rock (USA), and Beijing (China). The University of Arkansas established the "Yaşargil Chair" and honored his work through the annual "Gazi and Dianne Yaşargil Lecture." The American Association of Neurological Surgeons regularly organized the "Yaşargil Lecture" for years. Similarly, the Turkish Neurosurgical Society has long celebrated his legacy through its "Yaşargil Lecture" series. The University of Zurich Faculty of Medicine has commemorated his scientific contributions since 2014 through its "Yaşargil Conferences."

Prof. Dr. M. Gazi YAŞARGİL passed away on Tuesday, June 10, 2025.

Academic Life

• 1960 - 1964 Associate professor of neurosurgery
• 1965 - 1973 Assistant professor of neurosurgery
• April 1, 1973 - December 31, 1992 Ordinary Professor and Chair of the Department of Neurosurgery, University Hospital Zurich
• 1974 - 1976 President of the Swiss Association of Neurosurgeons
• August 1994 - October 2013 Professor of Neurosurgery UAMS (University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences)
• November 2013 Yeditepe University Istanbul, Professor of Neurosurgery

Vocational Training

• January 1944 - February 1945, Friedrich von Schiller University Medical School Jena, Germany (two semesters)
• May 1945 -September 1949, Basel University Medical School, Switzerland (10 semesters)
• September - December 1949, research in brain anatomy at the anatomy department of the University of Basel
• March 2, 1950, University of Basel, Doctor of Medicine Diploma
• March 15, 1950- May 15, 1951, Psychiatry assistant, Münsingen, Bern, (Switzerland)
• May 16, 1951 - December 30, 1951, Internal medicine assistant at the hospital in Interlaken, (Switzerland)
• January 1, 1951 - December 15, 1952, general surgery resident at the hospital in Interlaken, (Switzerland)
• December 15, 1957 - April 15, 1965, Chief Assistant
• January 4, 1953 - December 14, 1957, Neurosurgery clinic assistant at the University of Zurich
• October 25, 1965 - January 4, 1967, microvascular surgery laboratory research (Professor R.M.P. Donaghy) at the Department of Neurosurgery, University of Vermont at Burlington (Burlington, USA)
• January 1967 - April 1973 Associate Professor, application of microtechniques in the laboratory and clinic at the neurosurgical clinic of the University of Zurich
• April 16, 1973 - January 1, 1993, Ordinary Professor and Chair of Neurosurgery at the University of Zurich
• January 1, 1993 Retired from the Neurosurgery Clinic of the University of Zurich at the age limit.
• October 1994 to October 2013 Little Rock ARKANSAS
• Professor of neurosurgery at UAMS (University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences)
• November 2013 Istanbul, Yeditepe University Hospital, Professor of Neurosurgery

Laboratory Courses

• Sydney, Australia
• Newyork, Cincinnati, San Francisco, St. Louis, Little Rock (USA),
• Tokyo, Kyoto, Nagoya, (Japan)
• Peking, Xiang, (China)
• Taipei (Taiwan)
• BRASILIA, Sao Paulo (Brasilia)
• Yeditepe Istanbul (Turkey)
• Tutlingen (Germany)
• Zurich (Switzerland)
• Taipei, Taiwan, Nagoya (Japan)

Conferences

• 1978 H.Olivecrona Conference Stockholm, Sweden
• 1981 Wilder Penfield conference Calgary, Canada
• 1984 William Cone Conference Montreal, Canada
• 1985 Hollins conference New York, USA
• 1985 J.Bonnal Memorial Day Brussels, Belgium
• 1987 Sixto Obrador Conference Madrid, Spain
• 1989 Stanley Gore Conference Zermatt, Switzerland
• 1990 W.Dandy conference Baltimore, USA
• 1990 II Egaz Moniz Conference Lisbon, Portugal
• 1991RMP Donaghy Conference New Orleans, USA
• 1993 Charles Drake Conference Charlottesville, USA
• 1994 European Lecture, EANS Kuipo, Finland
• 1996 Wilder Penfield Conference London, Ontario, Canada
• 1997 E.H. Botterel Conference Toronto, Canada
• 1999 Charles Drake Conference London, Ontario, Canada
• 2000 Gurdijan Conference Detroit, USA
• 2000 George T. Tindall Conference Atlanta, USA
• 2000 Mayfield Conference Cincinati, USA
• 2000 Greenwood Conference Galveston, USA
• 2001 Bennett-Tarkington Conf. Evanston, USA
• 2002 Puussep Conference Tartu, Estonia
• 2003 Theodor Kurze Conference San Diego, USA
• 2004 First Zeiss Lecture Frankfurt, Germany
• 2005 Kuske Conference Irvine Unv. CA, USA
• 2005 N.H and J.A Pracky Lecture Washington D.C
• 2008 Swami Dayananda Lecture Calcuta, India
• 2008 Gardner Lecture Cleveland, USA
• 2011 Rasmüssen Lecture Montreal, Canada
• 2011 L. MALI Lecture Detroit, USA
• 2011 First Yaşargil Lecture Denver, USA
• 2012 First Yaşargil Lecture Antalya, Turkey
• 2014 South East Europe Neuroscience Congress, Skopje-Macedonia
• 2014 Konya Selçuk University Opening Speech
• 2014 Izmir Ege University Opening Speech
• September 2014 Yeditepe University
• 2014 October Turkish Medical World Congress
• 2014 December UNIVERSITY OF ZURICH, Launch of the Annual YAŞARGİL "Lecture"
• 2014 TÜBA 46 years Inaugural Conference

Publications

With 13 being Monograph, out of 340 publishings;

• 1957 Roentgenologic diagnosis of exophtalmus unilateralis (German)
• 1957 Vascular diseases of the vertebral and basilar arteries (German)
• 1958 Cerebral aneurysm (German)
• 1962 Vertebral angiography (German)
• 1965 Cerebral angiography (German)
• 1967 Micro - Vascular Surgery (English)
• 1968 Cerebral angiography (English)
• 1969 Microsurgery applied to neurosurgery (UK)
• 1984 Microsurgery Volume I: Intracranial Aneurysms (English)
• 1984 Microsurgery Volume II: Intracranial Aneurysms (English)
• 1987 Microneurosurgery Volume IIIA: Brain AVM (English)
• 1987 Microsurgery Volume IIIB: Brain AVM (English)
• 1994 Central Nervous System Tumors (English)
• Microsurgery Volume IVA:
• Microsurgery Volume IVB:
• 1996 Central Nervous System Tumors

Honorary Medical Doctor

• 1990 Ankara University Ibni Sina Hospital
• 1991 Istanbul University Cerrahpasa Medical Faculty Hospital
• 1999 University of Lima, Peru
• 2000 Hacettepe University
• 2014 Izmir Ege University

Honorary Professor

• 1990 Ibni Sina University, Ankara, Turkey
• 1991 Cerrahpaşa University, Istanbul, Ankara
• 1993 Honorary Neurosurgery Prof. Yasargil, University of Zurich
• 1999 Univercity of Lima, Peru
• 2000 Hacettepe University Ankara, Turkey
• 2001 Capital University of Medical Sciences Beijing, China
• 2001 Fourth medical university, Xian, China
• 2003 University of Tartu, Tartu - Estonia
• 2003 Ondokuz Mayıs University Samsun, Turkey
• 2003 Friedrich Schiller University, Jena, Germany
• 2005 Moscow, Burdenko University
• 2013 UAMS, Little Rock Arkansas (USA)

Microneurosurgery Courses in Other Centers (1967 - 2014)

Visiting professorship at universities in 5 continents, lectures on microsurgical techniques and anatomy to the younger generation of neurosurgeons and medical students. Annual conference at Chicago for Residents Rewiev Course Chicago, USA (1994-2013)

Microneurosurgery Operations in Other Hospitals

• Cape Town South Africa 1970
• Boston, MGH, USA 1972
• Barcelona, Madrid, Seville (Spain) 1973
• Mexico City, Mexico 1973
• Lucerne, Bern, St. Gallen (Switzerland) 1993
• Bonn, (Germany) 1994
• Helsinki, (Finland) (2001, 2002, 2003)
• Beijing and Xian (China) (2001, 2003)

Microsurgery Laboratories Established in the Name of YASARGIL

• Radclife Royal Infarmary, Oxford, England
• Capitol University Hospital, Beijing, China
• University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Little rock, arkansas USA

Memberships

• 1976 Brazilian medical academy
• 1977 Society of Neurological Surgeons, USA
• 1979 American Heart Association Dallas Texas, USA
• 1981 Canadian Neurosurgical Society
• 1986 Congress of Neurological Surgeons (USA)
• 1987 Japanese Neurosurgical Society, Neurosurgeon Association
• 1989 Harvey Cushing Foundation, (USA)
• 1989 Swiss Society of Neuroradiology,
• 1990 Royal Society of Medicine London Section Nephrology Royal Society of Medicine London Section Nephrology
• 1990 Turkish Neurosurgical Society
• 1990 International Skull Base Society (ISBS)
• 1993 Swiss Neurosurgical Society
• 1994 Argentine Neurosurgical Society
• 1998 American Society of Neuroradiology
• 1999 Peruvian Neurosurgical Society
• 2000 Turkish Academy of Sciences (TÜBA)
• 2000 Italian Neurosurgical Society
• 2002 Hong Kong Neurosurgical Society
• 2004 Georgia Neurosurgical Society (USA)
• 2004 Polish Neurosurgical Society
• 2006 Turkish-American scientists and scholars association
• 2006 Postugal Neurosurgical Society
• 2006 Taiwan Neurosurgical Society
• 2008 Greek Neurosurgical Society