Marko Godina (15 April 1943,

Ljubljana {{Infobox settlement , name = Ljubljana , official_name = , settlement_type = Capital city , image_skyline = {{multiple image , border = infobox , perrow = 1/2/2/1 , total_widt ...

− 7 February 1986) was a

Slovenia Slovenia, officially the Republic of Slovenia, is a country in Central Europe. It borders Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the south and southeast, and a short (46.6 km) coastline within the Adriati ...

n plastic surgeon and reconstructive microsurgery pioneer, son of the writer

Ferdo Godina Ferdo Godina (17 October 1912 – 14 July 1994) was a Slovene writer and partisan. He was one of the early activists in the battle against the Hungarian occupation of Prekmurje during the Second World War. He wrote novels and short stories and ...

. He studied medicine in Zagreb (Croatia), in Great Britain and in the United States. He also studied languages (Italian, French, German, English and Latin). Later he specialised for

hand surgery Hand surgery deals with both surgical and non-surgical treatment of conditions and problems that may take place in the hand or upper extremity (commonly from the tip of the hand to the shoulder), American Society for Surgery of the Hand. Retriev ...

and held lectures all over the world. In the Medical Centre Ljubljana (Slovenia), he formed and trained a team of surgeons that has become world-wide known after the surgery of amputated extremities. In 1984, he was the first ever to perform temporary ectopic banking of the amputated hand to the

axilla The axilla (: axillae or axillas; also known as the armpit, underarm or oxter) is the area on the human body directly under the shoulder joint. It includes the axillary space, an anatomical space within the shoulder girdle between the arm a ...

to salvage the mutilated upper extremity, which he re-transplanted back to the receiving stump two months later. He was among the founding members of the

European Hand Surgery Course European, or Europeans, may refer to: In general * ''European'', an adjective referring to something of, from, or related to Europe ** Ethnic groups in Europe ** Demographics of Europe ** European cuisine, the cuisines of Europe and other West ...

. He and his wife Vesna died in a car crash on the road from Zagreb to Ljubljana. The Marko Godina Travelling Fellowship to provide a scholarship for a visiting plastic surgery scholar to visit the centers of their choice including Department of Plastic Surgery and Burns in Ljubljana has been named after him.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Godina, Marko 1943 births 1986 deaths Health professionals from Ljubljana Road incident deaths in Yugoslavia Slovenian inventors Plastic surgeons Slovenian surgeons Yugoslav surgeons Yugoslav inventors