Hugo Krayenbühl — An Appreciation

Abstract

Professor Hugo Krayenbühl, the founder of Swiss Neurosurgery, has not only been a brilliant surgeon and physician of highest moral standards but also an exceptional teacher. He trained not only young Swiss neurosurgeons but also a large number of foreign pupils who later returned to their countries of origin and are now leaders in their field. Not all became neurosurgeons. Some worked and contributed later to neighbour disciplines as neurology, electroencephalography, neuroanatomy, neurophysiology, and orthopedic surgery. It was his strong belief that progress in every medical field is only possible with international cooperation. Therefore, as a president of the Société de Neurochirurgie de Langue Française he organized the first European Congress of Neurosurgery that took place from July 16 to 19, 1959 in Zürich. This led to the foundation of the European Association of Neurological Surgeons in 1971 in Prague whose primary object is “to promote the free interchange of neurosurgical knowledge and experience among the member Societies”.