Mahmut Gazi Yaşargil (6 July 1925, Diyarbakır – 10 June 2025, Stäfa, Switzerland) was a Turkish-Swiss scientist and physician.
He was a specialist in the field of brain and nerve surgery. He is known for his contributions to introducing and popularizing the use of the microscope (microsurgery) in the practice of neurosurgery. In 1999, at the Congress of the American Association of Neurological Surgeons, he was given the title "Neurosurgeon of the Century 1950–2000" by the journal Neurosurgery, and he was honored with the medal of honor of the European Association of Neurosurgical Societies.
On 10 June 2025 he died in Switzerland at the age of 99. His funeral was held in Switzerland.
Family and childhood
Gazi Yaşargil was born on 6 July 1925 in the Lice district of Diyarbakır, where his father served as district governor (kaymakam), as the son of Sehavet Hanım and Azmi Bey. On his father's side he was from the Kayıhan tribe. The year he was born, his family moved with him to Ankara. He spent the first 18 years of his life in İçcebeci, Ankara. He had four siblings, two girls and two boys. His elder sister Selma taught English for 40 years at the Gazi High School in Ankara. His sister Tomris, a chemical engineer, worked as a chemical engineer at the Machinery and Chemical Institution. His elder brother Erdem became a Professor of General Surgery in Basel, and Günay became a Professor of Physiology in Zurich.
Yaşargil summarizes his background as follows:
"I am a Turk born on 6 July 1925 in Lice; my father was a district governor, and I was raised in Turkey. I received my first spiritual nourishment from my family, from neighbors, from the schools I attended, and from my friends. On my father's side I am from the legendary Kayıhan tribe, while my mother's side comes from Sinop."
Education and academic career
In 1943 he completed his high school education at the Ankara Atatürk High School and began at the Faculty of Medicine of Ankara University. The neurology professor Yusuf Şükrü Sarıbaş, a neighbor and family friend, was influential in his and his two brothers' pursuit of medical studies.
From 1944 he continued his medical education for two semesters at the Friedrich Schiller University in Germany, then for ten semesters at the University of Basel. He graduated from the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Basel in the autumn of 1949. Before beginning to specialize in the field of neurosurgery, as a precondition for specialization in this field, he had to work in other branches for three years. He worked on brain anatomy under Josef Klingler at the Institute of Anatomy; then, between 1950 and 1953, he did residencies in neurology-psychiatry, internal medicine, and general surgery. In January 1953 he began his specialty training at the University of Zurich. He received his specialty training at the neurosurgery clinic under Hugo Krayenbühl, Gerhard Weber, and E. Zancler.
During his work at the Neurosurgery Clinic of the University of Zurich, for the first 12 years (1953–1965) he concentrated on the field of cerebral and orbital angiography and performed angiography on numerous patients. Between 1957 and 1965 he performed operations aimed at the treatment of Parkinson's disease and other movement disorders using the stereotactic technique. At the University of Zurich, together with the physiology professor Oscar Wyss, he used the high-frequency coagulation (for stopping bleeding) technique for the first time, and this technique subsequently became widespread in his surgical practice.
In 1965–1966, in the animal laboratory at the University of Vermont in the USA, he learned microvascular surgery (vascular operations performed with a microscope) under Raymond Madiford Peardon Donaghy and the operating nurse Jackie Robert, and applied this technique for the first time on the brain vessels of animals.
Loss and restoration of citizenship
When the military administration seized control of the country's governance after the 27 May coup, Yaşargil was continuing his education abroad. In the days when he was to take his associate professorship examination, a call reached him from Turkey stating that his time for military service had come. At that time his high school friend Ömer İnönü had visited Gazi Yaşargil. He asked Ömer İnönü to convey to his father İsmet İnönü that he would return to the country after his education was finished. However, İsmet İnönü's efforts came to nothing. By a decision of the Council of Ministers formed by the coup administration, he was stripped of Turkish citizenship. He began to live with the "Heimatlos" (stateless) passport carried by stateless persons.
During the period of Turgut Özal, proceedings were begun to restore Yaşargil's citizenship. The then Minister of Industry Şükrü Yürür carried the passport to Yaşargil, who was still hesitant to come to Turkey. He gained the opportunity to return, 45 years later, to the country he had left at the age of 18. He stated that he was deeply moved on his return to Ankara and, not getting out of the car, toured Ankara by car for 3 hours, witnessing for the first time the Ankara that had changed over the years. Afterward he went on to Istanbul and met his old friend Can Yücel.
Discoveries
He designed and put into use the clips employed to clamp ballooning vessels in intracranial aneurysm operations. The Yaşargil clips, with their distinctive features and types, are still in use.
He designed and put into use the Leyla retractor to retract brain tissue that must be gently moved aside in order to reach the operation site, especially in brain operations. It is still an indispensable part of neurosurgical operations. The device took its name from Yaşargil's daughter.
He developed a mobile system called the "floating microscope" to provide a wider field of view in operations performed with a microscope.
Titles
Gazi Yaşargil, the founder of microneurosurgery, holds, alongside academic titles such as "Brain and Nerve Surgeon" and "Professor Doctor," the title "Neurosurgeon of the Century." At the congress held by the European Association of Neurosurgical Societies between 19 and 24 September, Yaşargil, again found worthy of the same association's medal of honor, became the first Turk to earn this award. Yaşargil was given the award at the Tivoli Congress Center in a ceremony attended by more than a thousand neurosurgeons.
Together with Harvey Cushing, he is considered one of the most important neurosurgeons of the 20th century.
In 2000 he was chosen by the newspaper Cumhuriyet as one of the 10 great Turks of Turkish history over the last thousand years, alongside such figures as Atatürk and Avicenna.
Private life
Yaşargil, who married twice, has from his first marriage two daughters named Leyla and Ceylan and a son named Can. His son was given his name in memory of his friend Can Yücel.
Sources
- Turkish Wikipedia: tr.wikipedia.org
- English Wikipedia: en.wikipedia.org