Eberval Gadelha FigueiredoPresident of Brazilian Neurosurgical SocietyEditor in Chief,
Brazilian Neurosurgery
“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 its edition of December 2019, Brazilian Neursourgery paid a homage to Evandro de Oliveira,[1] some of the words said by then will be repeated now when the entire neurosurgical
community worldwide has been mourning this inestimable lost. In the current edition
Brazilian Neurosurgical Society and Brazilian Neurosurgery pay its Tribute to one of the greatest neurosurgeons of all time, Dr. Evandro de
Oliveira. The next pages will bring beautiful, sentimental and erudite reports that
illustrate what Evandro de Oliveira represented for his family, friends and colleagues.
Evandro's work and personality inspired several young and experimented neurosurgeons
thorough his life. Surgical technique and art were amalgamated in Evandro's hands.
His unique surgical technique was the perfect summary that reunited art and technique
in the operative treater. However, as said before, rather than art, the Evandro's
School of surgery was 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 were 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. The next pages will tell more and better, nonetheless the
Evandro's surgical school and achievements will echo for years to come. As an English
essayist said: the test of greatness is the page of history.
