Historia de la neurocirugía española. La escuela de Valencia: J.J. Barcia Goyanes

Professor Juan José Barcia-Goyanes started neurosurgical practice from anatomy and neuropsychiatry in response to a vacancy at a department known as “Nervous diseases”, in 1931 at Hospital General in Valencia, Spain. Since the first intervention, based on the methods and surgical instruments already used in Europe and the U.S.A., the neurosurgical practice became the mainstay of the department, from which other auxiliary specialties emerged, such as neuroradiology, neurophysiology, neuropathology and also new techniques such as stereotactic surgery, functional neurosurgery and palencephalography. This year, the department celebrates its 80th anniversary. The broad spectrum of Prof. Barcia's scientific work included fields like neurology, neurosurgery and psychiatry, as well as anthropology, medical thought, history of medicine, morphology and history of anatomical language in his work “Onomatologica anatomica nova”, in addition to an interesting poetic work. He was a founding member of the Luso-Spanish Neurosurgical Society and the Neurosurgical Society of Levante.