Paul ANGHEL (1869 – 1937) - a reputed surgeon, an empathetic teacher and a poetic spirit

Paul Anghel was an outstanding surgeon of the Iași Faculty of Medicine illustrating its first decennia of existence. He contributed to the development of the Romanian medical school by his activity and disciples. Trained in Iasi, Bucharest and also in Paris, as was the case with many of his remarkable compatriots, Anghel practiced general surgery but specialized in orthopedics, where his creative mind and experience enabled him to imagine and achieve new surgical techniques, including bone transplant, and prosthetic devices. He was a university professor at the Iași Faculty of Medicine, head of clinic at the ‟St. Spyridon” Hospital in the same city and member of important scientific societies. Dr. Anghel equally dealt with basic topics such as antisepsis and asepsis, wound treatment and war medicine that continued to be main concerns at the dawn of the XX-th century. A silent introspect with a poetic spirit, a cultivated and knowledgeable analyst of his time, Paul Anghel was interested in medical history, too. His scientific reviews always included retrospective glances into history. He pointed out some aspects of the history of the Faculty of Medicine of Iași and of the national medical tradition, and sketched the portraits of several Romanian medical and cultural personalities, proving his affective attachment to their memory. A skilled doctor, an innovative specialist, an empathetic teacher, and an emotional character, Professor Anghel was awarded medals and orders in recognition of his human qualities and civic involvement. He remained a personality of the Iași surgical school, a forerunner of modern orthopedics in his country and a role model.