Doctor Evandro de Oliveira
“Be not afraid of greatness; some are born great, some achieve greatness and others
have greatness thrust upon them.” —William Shakespeare
“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit. ” —Aristotle
“No man is truly great who is great only in his lifetime. The test of greatness is
the page of history.” —William Hazlitt
In this edition, Brazilian Neurosurgery, on behalf of the entire Brazilian neurosurgical community pay its homage to one
of the greatest neurosurgeon of all time, Dr. Evandro de Oliveira. Professor Sebastiao
Gusmao in the next pages will present a beautiful and erudite report that traces parallels
between surgical technique and art, that are amalgamated in Evandro's hands. Evandro's
unique surgical technique is the perfect summary that reunites art and technique in
the operative treater. However, rather than art, the Evandro's School of surgery is
Philosophy, as well.
Nothing less than perfection was tolerable to him. Perfect positioning, bloodless
surgical field, precise microsurgery with no parasitic movements, stepwise revelation
of the beauty of the brain anatomy, these are the Evandro's commandments. These facts
imposed upon his pupils a great amount of pressure, whereas solidified a powerful
mindset and established his surgical school. Many neurosurgeons in the world have
been educated with this kind of surgical philosophy. His work put the Brazilian neurosurgery
in a new and higher standard, that might be unreachable without his contributions.
Our all gratitude to him.
Professor Gusmao will say more and better, nonetheless the Evandro's surgical school
will echo for years to come. As an English essayist said: the test of greatness is
the page of history.
