Sofia Ionescu-Ogrezeanu (25 April 1920 – 21 March 2008) was the first femaleneurosurgeon in the world.[1][2]
Ionescu was born inFălticeni,Suceava County, daughter of Constantin Ogrezeanu, a bank cashier, and Maria Ogrezeanu, housewife.
Ionescu's interest in medicine began after she met one of her best friends, Aurelia Dumitru, and her father, Dr. Dumitru. The death of one of her school friends, who died inParis due to aninfection after brain surgery, impelled Ionescu to apply to medical school.
She attended high school first in Fălticeni and then inBucharest. Supported by her mother, she applied to the Faculty of Medicine of Bucharest in 1939. In her first internship year, she studiedophthalmology. Next year, she spent inSuceava at a poorly-equipped clinic during atyphusepidemic. During a school break, she volunteered to take care ofSoviet prisoners at Stamate Hospital in Fălticeni. She entered the surgical service of the hospital, doing her first surgical operations, mostlyamputations.
In October 1943, she became an intern at Hospital Nr. 9 in Bucharest. In 1944, during theBombing of Bucharest in World War II, she was forced to perform an emergency brain surgery on an injured boy due to lack of sufficient medical staff. In 1945, she became certified in medicine and surgery.[3]
She was a neurosurgeon for 47 years at Hospital Nr. 9, forming a team with Ionel Ionescu andConstantin Arseni [ro], under the guidance ofDumitru Bagdasar. They formed the first neurological team of Romania, later called "The golden team", which helped develop neurosurgery in Romania.[4]
In 1970, the favorite wife of theSheikh ofAbu Dhabi had become ill. As a man could not enter the harem, they needed to find a female doctor. Ionescu stayed one week at the woman’s side and cured her. As a reward the sheik gave her 2,000 dollars[5] and an expensive piece of jewelry. She died on 21 March 2008 in Bucharest.
