REMEMBER: 30 YEARS SINCE CONSTANTIN ARSENI PASSED AWAY - THE FONDATOR OF ROMANIAN NEUROSURGERY

Introduction The authors will present one of the great personalities of Romanian neurosurgery, Dr Constantin Arseni, who created it in Bucharest, creating the largest university centre of neurosurgery in Europe at that time.   Material After the tragic loss of his mentor Prof. Dr Dumitru Bagdasar in 1946, Dr Constantin Arseni, took over the management of the neurosurgery service at the Central Hospital for Mental, Nervous and Endocrinologic Diseases, the only department of this kind in this country; He was able to have the first Clinic of Neurosurgery from Romania.   For his merits, Dr Constantin Arseni, became an Associate Professor in 1952 and University Professor in 1963. His neurosurgical activity was complex, but mainly focused on tumoral pathology, cerebral and spinal, and also on spinal degenerative disease.   Under Professor C. Arseni, the Neurosurgical Clinic of Bucharest is transformed in 1975 into the “Prof. Dr D. Bagdasar” Clinical Hospital of Neurosurgery, the largest hospital of Neurosurgery in the Europe, with 550 beds and, subsequently, 650 beds. Also, he developed the departments of neurosurgery in each of the biggest university centres in the country; while being the first President of the Romanian Society of Neurosurgery.   Scientific Activity Scientific activity of Prof. Dr Constantin Arseni includes the numerous publications (54 treaties and monographies), together with all his collaborators, encompassing all domains of neurosurgery: Tumoral, Neuropathological, Vascular, Paediatric, Spinal Degenerative Pathology, Central Nervous System Malformations, History, etc. with high international visibility.   An editorial board under C. Arseni published, with the substantial contribution of the Bucharest Medical Publishing House of the Clinic, the “Treatise of Neurology” in 8 volumes (1979-1981).   Conclusions Professor Constantin Arseni was a dedicated surgeon, he practiced his job asking from those around him as much as he offered - the maximum. He was a schoolmaster and a teacher in the true sense of word. Professor Constantin Arseni, Member of the Romanian Academy, was an exemplary professional, a model of conduct, which will forever remain in our memory, of the neurosurgeons, and of the Romanian neurosurgery, leaving behind a legacy hard to match for those who followed him.