OBITUARY

Obituary: Paul TessierAugust 1917–June 2008

Ian Jackson

Received: 7 August 2008 /Accepted: 7 August 2008 / Published online: 5 September 2008# Springer-Verlag 2008

I was a young consultant surgeon at Canniesburn RegionalPlastic Surgery Centre when I first heard of the innovativeskull and facial reconstructive surgery being carried out byPaul Tessier in Paris. This was a new approach to thecorrection of congenital deformity and of tremendousinterest to me and my neurosurgeon as we were alreadythinking along those lines. We went to Paris and spent somedays with Paul discussing the basic concepts of the surgery,which would become known as “craniofacial reconstructivesurgery”.

Paul was my hero, but more than that, he was my friend.Our friendship and mutual respect began during that shortvisit to Paris and continued until his death. It was always adelight to spend time with him at meetings and evenalthough he was very frail when we last met in Rotterdamin 2005, we had a few lively conversations as his interest inthe presentations was still strong and his opinions more so!

He introduced a whole new concept of treatment whichwas to, first of all, analyze the problem, develop a solution,and by using a new technique, deal with the problem in athree-dimensional manner. He had no fear and did nothesitate to push the boundaries as far as was necessary toexecute the surgical procedure.

He had an acute knowledge of the anatomy of the neckand skull base areas. In addition to this, he understood the

importance of facial bone growth and the tremendous socialproblems that nontreated patients faced. It was his goal toeliminate these problems, and this he did extremelyeffectively.

Paul changed the world of reconstructive surgery. Heopened new gates and set new frontiers. He allowed us toimprove the problems and futures of young children. Hisconcepts allowed the development of treatment by surgicalmeans of skull base malignancies, temporal bone tumors,and orbital maxillary neoplasms. He not only gave us thetorch but also provided the concepts and methods ofreconstruction following resections.

Paul’s humility, in spite of his success, his willingness tospeak to juniors who had the courage to go and addresshim, and his willingness to share his knowledge and hisexperience made him one of the greatest surgeons of alltime. He showed us the way and he will always be theyardstick by which all craniofacial surgeons are measured.He will not just be missed as a surgeon and an innovatorbut also he will be missed as an amazing human being whowelcomed all to his department. To young surgeons, he wasopen and shared all his knowledge. Although I did notspend as much time with him as I would have liked, he willalways remain my example of the consummate craniofacialsurgeon. The world is a grayer place without him.

Eur J Plast Surg (2008) 31:341DOI 10.1007/s00238-008-0291-6

I. Jackson (*)Institute for Craniofacial and Reconstructive Surgery,Southfield, MI, USAe-mail: eurjplastsurg@juno.com