Mahmut Gazi Yaşargil (6 July 1925 – 10 June 2025) was a Turkish medical scientist and

neurosurgeon Neurosurgery or neurological surgery, known in common parlance as brain surgery, is the medical specialty that focuses on the surgical treatment or rehabilitation of disorders which affect any portion of the nervous system including the brain, ...

. He collaborated with Raymond M. P. Donaghy M.D at the University of Vermont in developing microneurosurgery. Yaşargil treated

epilepsy Epilepsy is a group of Non-communicable disease, non-communicable Neurological disorder, neurological disorders characterized by a tendency for recurrent, unprovoked Seizure, seizures. A seizure is a sudden burst of abnormal electrical activit ...

and brain tumours with instruments of his own design. From 1953 until his retirement in 1993, he was first resident, chief resident and then professor and chairman of the Department of Neurosurgery,

University of Zurich The University of Zurich (UZH, ) is a public university, public research university in Zurich, Switzerland. It is the largest university in Switzerland, with its 28,000 enrolled students. It was founded in 1833 from the existing colleges of the ...

and the Zurich University Hospital. In 1999, he was honored as "Neurosurgery’s Man of the Century 1950–1999" at the Congress of Neurological Surgeons Annual Meeting. He was a founding member of Eurasian Academy.

Life and career

He was born in Lice, Turkey. After attending Ankara Atatürk Lisesi and

Ankara University Ankara University () is a public university, public research university in Ankara, the capital of Turkey. It was the first higher education institution founded in Turkey after the History of the Republic of Turkey, formation of the Turkish republ ...

between 1931 and 1943, he went to Germany to study medicine at the Friedrich Schiller University of Jena,

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. His genius in developing microsurgical techniques for use in cerebrovascular neurosurgery transformed the outcomes of patients with conditions that were previously inoperable. In 1969, Yaşargil became

associate professor Associate professor is an academic title with two principal meanings: in the North American system and that of the ''Commonwealth system''. In the ''North American system'', used in the United States and many other countries, it is a position ...

and in 1973 professor and chairman of the Department of Neurosurgery,

succeeding his mentor, Prof. Krayenbuhl. Over the next 20 years, he carried out laboratory work and clinical applications of micro techniques, performing 7500

intracranial The cranial cavity, also known as intracranial space, is the space within the skull that accommodates the brain. The skull is also known as the cranium. The cranial cavity is formed by eight cranial bones known as the neurocranium that in human ...

operations in Zurich until his retirement in 1993. In 1994, Yaşargil accepted an appointment as Professor of Neurosurgery at the College of Medicine, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences in

Little Rock Little Rock is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Arkansas, most populous city of the U.S. state of Arkansas. The city's population was 202,591 as of the 2020 census. The six-county Central Arkan ...

where he was active in the practice of micro-neurosurgery, research, and teaching. Together with

Harvey Cushing Harvey Williams Cushing (April 8, 1869 – October 7, 1939) was an American neurosurgery, neurosurgeon, pathologist, writer, and draftsman. A pioneer of brain surgery, he was the first exclusive neurosurgeon and the first person to describe Cush ...

, Yaşargil is hailed as one of the greatest neurosurgeons of the twentieth century. In the micro-neurosurgical anatomical laboratory in Zurich, he trained around 3000 colleagues from all continents and representing all surgical specialties. He participated in several hundred national and international neurosurgical congresses, symposia, and courses as an invited guest. Yaşargil was married to Dianne Bader-Gibson Yaşargil, who was the

nurse Nursing is a health care profession that "integrates the art and science of caring and focuses on the protection, promotion, and optimization of health and human functioning; prevention of illness and injury; facilitation of healing; and alle ...

in charge of the operating suite by his side since 1973. He died on 10 June 2025, at the age of 99.

Publications

Yaşargil published his surgical experiences in 330 papers and 13 monographs. The six-volume publication ''Microneurosurgery'' (1984–1996, Georg Thieme Verlag Stuttgart & New York) is the comprehensive review of his broad experiences and a major contribution to the neurosurgery literature.

Membership

* President of the Neurosurgical Society of Switzerland (1973–1975)

Awards

Marcel Benoist Prize The Marcel Benoist Prize, offered by the Marcel Benoist Foundation, is a monetary prize that has been offered annually since 1920 to a scientist of Swiss nationality or residency who has made the most useful scientific discovery. Emphasis is pl ...

(1975) * State Medal of Distinguished Service (2000)Prof. Dr. Gazi Yaşargil'e Devlet Üstün Hizmet Madalyası takdimi töreninde yaptıkları konuşma

References

External links

*
"M. Gazi Yaşargil: Neurosurgery's Man of the Century"
. Biographical article featured in ''

Neurosurgery Neurosurgery or neurological surgery, known in common parlance as brain surgery, is the specialty (medicine), medical specialty that focuses on the surgical treatment or rehabilitation of disorders which affect any portion of the nervous system ...

''. 45(5):1010, November 1999. Th
issue
contains three other articles about or by Yaşargil. {{DEFAULTSORT:Yasargil, Gazi 1925 births 2025 deaths Ankara University Faculty of Medicine alumni Honorary members of the Turkish Academy of Sciences People associated with the University of Zurich People from Lice, Turkey Recipients of the State Medal of Distinguished Service Recipients of TÜBİTAK Science Award Turkish expatriates in Switzerland Turkish medical researchers Turkish neurosurgeons