Sofia Ionescu

Romanian neurosurgeon who revolutionized brain surgery techniques during WWII

Dr. Sofia Ionescu-Ogrezeanu (1920-2008) performed the first successful brain surgery by a female neurosurgeon in 1944 under battlefield conditions. When bombing destroyed Bucharest's hospitals, she operated on wounded soldiers using makeshift theaters, developing new techniques for treating skull fractures that are still used today.

Her pioneering work in microneurosurgery included:

• Innovative hematoma evacuation methods
• Early pediatric neurosurgery protocols
• Peripheral nerve regeneration techniques

Despite Communist-era restrictions, Ionescu became chief neurosurgeon at Bucharest's Hospital No. 9, training generations of surgeons. Her 1985 textbook Neurochirurgie remained Romania's standard medical reference until 2002. Modern minimally invasive procedures build on her work with reduced-trauma instruments.

When asked about her groundbreaking career, Ionescu famously stated: "The brain doesn't care about the surgeon's gender, only their skill." Over 54 years, she performed 12,000+ operations while fighting to establish neurology as separate from general surgery in Eastern Europe.