Origins & Early Life

Sir Harold Delf Gillies (17 June 1882 – 10 September 1960) was the father of modern plastic surgery for the techniques he devised to repair the faces of wounded soldiers returning from World War I. He initially trained as an otolaryngologist and subsequently developed reconstructive techniques that culminated in the advent of plastic surgery. Gillies was born in Dunedin, New Zealand, the son of Member of Parliament in Otago, Robert Gillies. He attended Whanganui Collegiate School and studied medicine at Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge.

Pivotal Works & Achievements

Despite a stiff elbow from a childhood accident at home, he was an excellent sportsman. He was a golf blue in 1903, 1904 and 1905 and also a rowing blue, competing in the 1904 Boat Race. At Caius he became a freemason and rose to be Master of Caius Lodge. Gillies was a student at St Bartholomew's Hospital and won the Luther Holden Research Scholarship in 1910. He was also lecturer on plastic surgery in that medical school.

Enduring Legacy & Impact

Following the outbreak of World War I he joined the Royal Army Medical Corps. Initially posted to Wimereux, near Boulogne, he acted as medical minder to a French-American dentist...

Contemporary Figures & Related Historical Timelines

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• Éamon de Valera — Contemporary (Born in 1882) (1882): Dominant Irish statesman, leading figure in the establishment of modern Irish governance.
• Adam Clayton — Contemporary (Born in 1960) (1960): Irish-English bassist and founding member of the globally renowned rock band U2.
• Adam Schiff — Contemporary (Born in 1960) (1960): Long-serving Democratic politician, former Congressman, and current U.S. Senator from California.
• Albert Camus — Contemporary (Died in 1960) (1960): Philosopher and writer known for Absurdism, The Stranger, and The Plague.
• Alan Brooke, 1st Viscount Alanbrooke — Shared historical date (06-17 · Died) (1963): British Field Marshal and Chief of the Imperial General Staff during WWII.
• Alexander Shulgin — Shared historical date (06-17 · Born) (1925): Pioneering biochemist known for synthesizing and exploring over 200 psychoactive compounds.
• Agostinho Neto — Shared historical date (09-10 · Died) (1979): Angolan communist revolutionary, poet, and first President of Angola.
• Alonso de Guzmán y Sotomayor, 7th Duke of Medina Sidonia — Shared historical date (09-10 · Born) (1550): Spanish aristocrat and patron, famed for his role in the 1588 Spanish Armada.
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