A First International Congress of Plastic Surgery
It is said that the “First International Congress of Plastic Surgery” took place in Stockholm in August 1955. But in fact, there was one before this.
Harold Gillies made one of the opening addresses to the “First International Congress of Plastic Surgery” and attended by about 500 delegates from 34 countries. But it is clear from an old photograph held in the Sidcup records that there was in fact a “First International Congress” much earlier than this, in 1925.
The image reproduced here shows a group of the most prominent plastic surgeons of the time from Europe and America, assembled in Paris on the 25th of June 1925. There appear to be only 14 attendees, including Gillies, Sebilaw, LeMaitre, J Eastman Sheehan and Gillies’ Anesthetist, Ivan Magill.
Another image from around the time published in The Sphere, an Illustrated newspaper in 1927, shows the making of a film demonstrating facelift technique and shown to that Congress. It is clear then that shortly following the war, European and North American Plastic Surgeons were already collaborating internationally and they were discussing aesthetic, not purely reconstructive techniques.