Dr. Varaztad Kazanjian (1879-1974) was an oral surgeon, of Armenian

Armenians

Armenian people or Armenians are a nation and ethnic group native to the Armenian Highland.The largest concentration is in Armenia having a nearly-homogeneous population with 97.9% or 3,145,354 being ethnic Armenian....

 descent, who pioneered techniques for plastic surgery and is considered to be the founder of the modern practice of plastic surgery

Plastic surgery

Plastic surgery is a medical specialty concerned with the correction or restoration of form and function. Though cosmetic or aesthetic surgery is the best-known kind of plastic surgery, most plastic surgery is not cosmetic: plastic surgery includes many types of reconstructive surgery, hand...

. He graduated from Harvard Dental School in 1905. He served as professor of oral surgery from 1922-1939 and he was the first to hold the title of Professor of plastic surgery at Harvard Medical School

Harvard Medical School

Harvard Medical School is the graduate medical school of Harvard University. It is located in the Longwood Medical Area of the Mission Hill neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts....

. He also co-authored the first concise book on plastic surgery.

Dr. Kazanjian's brother's daughter was actress and television celebrity Arlene Francis

Arlene Francis

Arlene Francis was an American actress, radio talk show host, and game show panelist...

 (Kazanjian-Gabel).
He was born in Erzincan

Erzincan

-Trivia:Erzincan has the largest man made of Portrait of Atatürk, located north of the city, 176m×43m. It covers 7,500 square meter. Turkish Army made it 1982, in 29 days by 3,000 soldier, 100 tons of black and white paint was used...

, Turkey

Turkey

Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...

Biography

Dr. Kazanjian was born in Turkish Armenia on March 18, 1879. To escape the civil strife of his homeland, he came to the United States in October 1895. He settled in Worcester, Massachusetts, and took a job in the local wire factory. It was at the mill that Dr. Kazanjian first displayed the natural dexterity that would serve him so well in the field of plastic surgery.

Eventually he decided to try for a career as a dentist, and in 1902 was accepted by Harvard Dental School, qualifying in 1905.
He was happily married and successfully running his own dental practice when the First World War broke out, but he volunteered to join the Harvard Medical Corps, posted to a huge tented hospital complex in northern France. There he began to treat some of the worst injuries suffered in trench war-fare - jaws, noses, cheeks and skulls shattered by bullets and grenades. Working under primitive conditions in makeshift hospitals near the battlefields of France Varaztad H. Kazanjian exhibited humane concern combined with innovative medical procedures that established his reputation and marked his subsequent career as a founder of the modern practice of plastic surgery.

Career

Dr. Kazanjian was Professor of Clinical Oral Surgery at Harvard from 1922 to 1941 when he was named Harvard's first Professor of Plastic Surgery. In addition, Dr. Kazanjian was past President of the American Association of Plastic Surgeons, the American Society of Maxillofacial Surgery, and the New England Society of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery. He was also a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons, the American Academy of Ophthalmology and Otolaryngology, and the American College of Dentists, and a Diplomat of the American Board of Plastic Surgery. He was made an Honorary Fellow of the British Association of Plastic Surgeons in London in 1966 and of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons in Glasgow in 1967. He was also an honorary member of the Massachusetts Dental Society, the American Society of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, and of the Academy of Oral Surgery.