Abu Al-Qasim Khalaf ibn Al-Abbas ALZAHRAWI

The Arab  physician Abu al-Qasim Khalaf ibn al-Abbas al-Zahrawi (known as Al-Zahrawi or Abulcasis) lived in Andalusia, when this region of modern-day Spain was a part of the Islamic Empire. He is celebrated as one of the greatest Arab physicians and a founding father of operative surgery.

A physician, surgeon, and chemist, Al-Zahrawi made extraordinary contributions to many medical specialties, including surgery, orthopedics, ophthalmology, dentistry, and urology. He is known to have understood the subtleties of the circulatory system, and wrote about the differences between arteries and veins. , His richly illustrated encyclopedia of medicine”translated into Latin by Gerard of Cremonaв”described more than 300 diseases and was used as a standard medical text throughout Europe and in the Islamic world until the 18th century.

Al-Zahrawi invented more than 200 medical instruments and is considered both a pioneering biomedical engineer and one of the greatest contributors to modern surgery. His writings included early descriptions of neurosurgical diagnoses and treatments, the management of skull fractures, head injuries, dislocations and injuries of the spine, subdural effusions, hydrocephalus, and headache. Al-Zahrawi also wrote about pain as a symptom.

A legendary teacher and celebrated practitioner, Al-Zahrawi was personal physician to King Al-Hakam II of Spain.