We are honored to welcome Dr. Lindsey Fitzharris as a guest lecturer at our congress. Dr. Fitzharris is an award-winning historian and the internationally acclaimed author of The Facemaker: A Visionary Surgeon’s Battle to Mend the Disfigured Soldiers of World War I. Her groundbreaking work brings to life the remarkable story of pioneering plastic surgeon Harold Gillies, highlighting the transformative impact of medicine and human ingenuity during wartime. Dr. Fitzharris will be joining us virtually, bringing her engaging storytelling and deep historical insights to our audience. Her lecture promises to be an inspiring and thought-provoking experience for all attendees.

Abstract

The astonishing story of the pioneering plastic surgeon Harold Gillies, who dedicated himself to restoring the faces – and the identities – of a brutalized generation. Gillies, a Cambridge-educated New Zealander, became interested in the nascent field of plastic surgery after encountering the human wreckage on the front. Returning to Britain, he established one of the world’s first hospitals dedicated entirely to facial reconstruction in Sidcup, south-east England. There, Gillies assembled a unique group of doctors, nurses and artists whose task was to recreate what had been torn apart. At a time when losing a limb made a soldier a hero, but losing a face made him a monster to a society largely intolerant of disfigurement, Gillies restored not just the faces of the wounded but also their spirits.