Transonic joins the neurosurgical community in acknowledging and honoring the contributions of Turkish neurosurgeon Mahmut Gazi Yaşargil, MD who died on June 11th, 2025. Dr. Yaşargil was named by the American Association of Neurological Surgeons (AANS) Neurosurgery’s Man of the Century (1950-1999) in 1999 not only as a humanitarian and educator but also for his achievements and advancements, particularly in microsurgery where he revolutionized the field through the development of microsurgical techniques and instruments. Dr. Yaşargil is perhaps best known for performing the first EC-IC bypasses in a human patient upon his return to Zurich from a sabbatical at the University of Vermont where the techniques for bypasses in dogs were being developed by Professor R.M. Peardon Donaghy. 

Dr. Yaşargil’s passing came just shy of the celebration of his 100th Birthday Anniversary Symposium where renowned neurosurgeons from around the globe gathered in Zurich to celebrate Professor Yaşargil’s life, pay heartfelt tributes, and reflect on his enduring legacy to the field of neurosurgery. The symposium was sponsored by the Department of Neurosurgery at the University Hospital Zurich, in collaboration with the World Academy of Neurological Surgery (WANS).

Dr. Fady T. Charbel, the Dr. Richard L. and Gertrude W. Fruin Professor and Chief of Neurosurgery at the University of Illinois College of Medicine, spoke at the symposium and commented, “Pr. Yaşargil has been recognized as the Father of cerebral microneurosurgery, a pioneer, innovator, master technician, and indeed, the “Neurosurgeon of the Century.” To me, he was all that, but also, he was an eternally curious mind - kind, supportive and most uniquely gracious in his acknowledgment of the contributions of others.”

Dr. Charbel shared a screen shot (below) from a short video where Dr. Yaşargil reported on the importance of flow measurements during a talk he gave via video at a previous symposium in January 2020, also in Zurich. 

 
Birth, Youth, and Education
Dr. Yaşargil’s birth was momentous. At only four pounds, he was born prematurely on July 6th, 1925, in a cold, damp cave in Eastern Turkey (Lice, population 5,000), at gunpoint. His family was being held captive by Kurdish rebels determined to challenge Kemal Atatürk’s newly formed Turkish government. The family was eventually rescued by government troops and his father Asum, the district governor, petitioned and received the government’s permission to use the restricted name: “Gazi” (Arabic for warrior or fighter) for his newborn son. 

Three months later the family moved to the newly formed Turkish capital of Ankara. There, Gazi grew and received an excellent public school education. At home he was surrounded by intellectuals and scholars who, as guests of his father, discussed history, philosophy and biology. His neighbor Professor Sükrü Yusuf Saribas, Turkey’s first professor of neurology, was also a strong influence on the young Yaşargil. From his parents and teachers, he also became imbued with Turkish nationalistic pride and felt that he was destined to do something to make Turkey proud.

After graduating from the Gymnasium, Yaşargil struck out for Vienna in October 1943 to study medicine, only to find that he was not allowed to register for classes because he was suspected of being Jewish. He pushed on into Germany where he became a “nurse-helper” in a hospital until he was able to bargain for enrollment at Jena’s Frederick von Schiller University. There, he experienced firsthand the horrors of war as he cared for the sick and dying. In Jena, he was also harassed by police as a potential spy, but he survived to the end of the war even as some of his classmates died at the hands of allied bombing. 

Training
When the war ended in May 1945, Yaşargil fled overland to Switzerland and eventually matriculated at the University of Basel, from which he received his Doctor of Medicine in 1950. After a time working in the hospital in Interlaken, he went to the University of Zurich for his residency. He trained under Professor Hugo Krayenbühl, the founder of Swiss neurosurgery, a brilliant surgeon and an exceptional teacher and mentor to Yaşargil. The two published a book about cerebral angiography together in 1965. 

Professional Life
In 1965, Yaşargil, then 40 years old with 13 years of neurosurgery experience under his belt, received a 15-month sabbatical to go to the University of Vermont in Burlington to learn microsurgical techniques in the animal laboratory. It was in Donaghy’s laboratory that the technique of performing a vascular anastomosis using the operating microscope was first described in 1961. By the time Yaşargil arrived at the university, they were already achieving a 66% patency rate in experimental microvascular anastomotic techniques. Yaşargil improved on the original techniques to perform the first extracranial to intracranial (EC-IC) bypass from the superficial temporal artery (STA) to a branch of the middle cerebral artery (MCA) in a dog in 1967. 

Upon his return to Zurich, Yaşargil rose through the professional ranks to become Assistant Professor of Medicine and ultimately, full Professor as head of the department, replacing his mentor. In Zurich over the next 20 years, Yaşargil performed 7,500 intracranial operations while continuing his research and development of microsurgical techniques for clinical applications, and training three generations of neurosurgeons (3,000) in microsurgical techniques. 

After retiring from the University of Zurich in 1993, Yaşargil became Professor of Neurosurgery at the College of Medicine, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences in Little Rock, AR where he continued to practice micro-neurosurgery, conduct research, and teach. In 2014, at 90 years of age, Yasargil returned to his homeland to lead the Brain Surgery Department of Yedditepe University in Istanbul, Turkey. 

Legacy
During his professional lifetime which continued well into his nineties, Dr. Yaşargil continually defined what is possible in cerebrovascular neurosurgery and demonstrated how to achieve it. His microsurgical techniques continue to change the outcomes of patients with previously inoperable cerebrovascular conditions. He transformed neurosurgical practice. 

Transonic is proud to join others in acknowledging the legacy of this brilliant and resilient surgeon who has helped shape neurosurgery today.

Thanks for reading,

                   Transonic Systems, Inc

                                     The Measure of Better Results

References:
1.    M Gazi Yaşargil, Father of Modern Neurosurgery. Larry Rogers MD, 2015, Köehlerbooks, Virginia Beach, VA
2.    http://www.neurosurgery.org/cybermuseum/microneurohall/myasargil.html
3.    https://pediatric-house-calls.djmed.net/mahmut-gazi-yasargil/
4.    www.wikipedia.com
5.    https://www.yasargil100.ch