Madjid Samii: Omagium

Abstract

Prof. Madjid Samii is an internationally recognized neurosurgeon who has conquered the highest levels of 21st-century neurosurgery. Born in Iran, he decided to take medical courses at the University of Mainz, Hanover, Germany. He earned his medical degree in 1963, marking the highest achievable score, and started his residency, guided by Emeritus Professor Dr Kurt Schurmann. Numerous various surgeries and studies that reshaped the field of neurosurgery describe his career. Starting with a publication regarding a new technique, pneumencephalotomography, he has steadily been ascending, studying and writing about cranial nerves, developing the surgery of the skull base and proving that the transnasal approach is preferred in clivus chondromas. Prof. Madjid Samii founded, 1990, the Foundation of National and Continental Skull Base Societies, and since 2001, he has been the Honorary President of the World Federation of Neurosurgery Societies(WFNS). Not only was he successful in his scientific path, but he also gave an example for the future generation of what astonishing results can be obtained with hard work, commitment, and a leader's spirit. He wanted to take worldwide neurosurgery to a whole new level, so he came up with an idea, the concept of an international neuro-excellence centre, which quickly became the reality of the International Neuroscience Institute of Hanover.