Evandro de Oliveira, “The Brain Whisperer”

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.