An event dedicated to the life and career of Academician Leon Danaila, an emblematic figure of neurosurgery and medical research in Romania, brought together on Thursday evening numerous personalities from the scientific, cultural, academic and religious area, representatives of the Church as well as the media, in the 'Studio' Hall of the Bucharest National Theatre.
The event, organised by the 'Povestea vietii mele' Association, a cultural association dedicated to promoting the authentic values of Romanian culture and science, in partnership with the Ministry of Culture, the I.L. Caragiale National Theatre and other collaborators, highlighted the impressive path of Academician Leon Danaila, one of the world's greatest neurosurgeons, through a cultural and scientific evening that included documentary screenings, testimonies and artistic moments.
'Emotion becomes the bond between all of us. I would define this evening with a single word: emotion. The emotion of meeting a man who changed destinies, saved lives and wrote history through science, but also through character. We will discover a destiny built from hardships, sacrifices, will and faith, but above all from a profound closeness to people. (...) We are speaking about the man who so often says: I did not want to make a fortune out of the suffering of patients,'' President of the 'Povestea vietii mele' Foundation Vivien Cazan said in the opening of the event.
She underlined that Leon Danaila has performed over 40,000 brain operations and that by introducing the operating microscope and laser technology into neurosurgery, he managed to reduce the mortality rate from 50-60% to 3-4%. 'These are figures that impress, of course, but beyond them are saved lives, reunited families and rewritten destinies,' Vivien Cazan added.
Amid the applause of the audience, Academician Professor Leon Danaila, MD, Phd., was decorated with the Military Order of Romania for an exceptional career, the order being conferred by Colonel Dr Adrian Constantin, honorary member of the Academy of Romanian Scientists.
'We are here among people united by the same thing, by love for Professor Leon Danaila. (...) What is already being felt, decades after the Revolution, is the fact that we cannot speak about democracy without sustainability from culture, meaning that the intellectual must come out of the ivory tower and become, in practice, a shaper of public opinion. Today, the Military Order of Romania is enriched by bringing Professor Leon Danaila into the ranks of its commanders. You are participants, not spectators,' Colonel Adrian Constantin stressed.
This was followed by the solemn moment of the Romanian National Anthem, Leon Danaila being warmly applauded by those present.
'With faith and with science we can win everyone's hearts and achieve great deeds. Faith is very important for human beings and when you start with faith, you will surely succeed in life. Faith and the soul are treated in the Bible. Hospitals treat the human body and these two entities do not exclude each other, they help one another, so that in the end something good emerges from humanity and from our behaviour, which we follow step by step. I embrace you all and thank you for this gesture. (...) I did not come here for applause or for glory, I came to share with you a few words about my life, about the way I helped people,' said Leon Danaila.
During the continuation of the event, Leon Danaila told the story of his life, which culminated in the moments when, during a scholarship in the United States of America, he witnessed brain operations performed with the operating microscope, which he later brought to Romania in 1981, the year in which he founded Section VII of Vascular Neurosurgery and Microneurosurgery, the only one of its kind in the country even today.
The life moments recounted by Leon Danaila highlighted emotional parts of his life, some told with much humour, others with nostalgia. Many of them referred to his relationship with his professor and mentor, Constantin Arseni, the founder of Romanian neurosurgery.
'Longevity does not refer only to the extension of life, but also to ensuring a higher quality of it, with reduced suffering and dependency. Longevity means postponing the process of pathological suffering and improving quality of life at older ages. In short, longevity means a longer and healthier ageing. Medicine is not a profession, medicine is a mission that must be carried through to the end, with vocation, empathy, gift and devotion, but also with the desire to do good for others. My books will speak their own destiny even in my absence, that of the one who laboured to compose them from thousands and thousands of words and which at the Gate of Time' will prove just as relevant as they are today. All my life I have fought for justice, truth, happiness and health. In the history of this struggle, even if sometimes I suffered or rarely lost, I ended up winning great battles in the fight with neurosurgery and together with the appreciation and respect of all Romanians with whom I was fair and sincere. To reach this point, with my poverty and endless hardships, I had to face many storms and waves of life and find the strength to overcome periods full of hypocrisy, mistrust, fears and suspicions. (...) I have regarded neuroscience as one of the most important facets of my activity, the noblest without doubt, the most useful and valuable, the only one I will not regret even when I become a memory,' were some of the conclusions of Leon Danaila's life story shared with those who joined him in the event on Thursday evening, among them former patients.
Academician Professor Leon Danaila, MD, Phd., who has been included by the international scientific community among the 500 geniuses of the 20th century, represents one of the most remarkable personalities of contemporary Romania, a model of dedication, scientific rigour and authentic humanism.
Born on 1 July 1933 in Darabani, Botosani County, he devoted his entire life to serving humanity and knowledge, becoming a living legend of world neurosurgery.
With a medical career spanning more than six decades, he performed thousands of complex brain surgeries, many of them medical firsts, earning recognition as the 'Sculptor of brains,' saving countless lives and restoring hope where medicine seemed powerless.
By introducing the operating microscope and modernising neurosurgical techniques, he revolutionised medical practice in Romania, bringing it up to international standards. Thus, in the case of acoustic neuromas, he reduced operative mortality from 51% to 4%, and in the area of intracerebral aneurysms, from 59% to 4%. He discovered a new brain cell called the 'cordocyte,' which was presented to the world scientific community for the first time in 2006 at the Congress in Cape Town and later in Vienna 2008, San Diego 2009, Los Angeles 2011 and in the 'Chirurgia' magazine.
He published 64 books as well as numerous studies and articles in Romanian and international medical magazines and contributed to the creation of over 18 inventor patents and 10 innovation patents.
Academician Leon Danaila is not only an exceptional surgeon, but also a man of culture, university professor, researcher and prolific writer, author of dozens of scientific works and volumes of humanist reflection. His scientific work is complemented by a profound moral and spiritual dimension, always animated by faith in the value of life and in the power of knowledge.
A member of the Romanian Academy and recipient of numerous national and international distinctions, Leon Danaila remains a benchmark of modesty, perseverance and patriotism. Through his activity, he carried the name of Romania into the great scientific forums of the world, becoming an ambassador of excellence and of the Romanian spirit.
The event at the National Theatre aimed to pay tribute to this emblematic personality, to highlight his human and professional dimension and to convey to the wider public a message of admiration and gratitude towards a man who dedicated his entire existence to the good and progress of humanity.
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