Egas Moniz (1874–1955)

António Caetano de Abreu Freire Egas Moniz (29 November 1874 – 13 December 1955), known as Egas Moniz, was a Portuguese physician, neurologist and the developer of cerebral angiography. He is regarded as one of the founders of modern psychosurgery, having developed the surgical procedure leucotomy—​known better today as lobotomy -for which he became the first Portuguese national to receive a Nobel Prize in 1949 (shared with Walter Rudolf Hess).

Moniz was born in Avanca, Portugal.
He studied medicine in the University of Coimbra , he later went to France for postgraduate training in neurology and psychiatry.He returned to the University of Coimbra as Chairman of Neurology
Egas Moniz, a student in Coimbra
1902), but soon left it to enter politics as a deputy in the Portuguese parliament (1903--17), as minister of Foreign Affairs (1918) and later as Ambassador to Spain.

Egas Moniz contributed significantly and irrefutably to the history of radiology by becoming the father of angiography – the precursor of angioencephalography. In 1927, Moniz administered a radiopaque contrast medium to an epileptic patient. He postulated that the visualization of blood vessels in the brain by radiological support would allow a more precise localization of brain tumors.
Contribution to medicine

1st Brain Angiography performed in Brazil by Egas Moniz.

In 1936, Egas Moniz and his associate Almeida Lima developed for the first time a surgical technique to interrupt the nerve fibers which connect the thalamus (a relay for sensory information coming into the brain) to the prefrontal cortex (already known at the time as a brain structure involved in higher intellectual functions of the brain, and in emotions, as well).
His technique was widely used around the world in the next decade, and Moniz received many honours and international recognition, culminating with the Nobel Prize.

The Minister of Sweden Handing the Nobel Prize to Prof. Egas Moniz

In 1939, Moniz was shot multiple times by a schizophrenic patient and subsequently confined to a wheelchair.He continued in private practice until 1955. Moniz died from an internal haemorrhage on 13 December 1955.

Conclusion
Professor António Egas Moniz was a noted physician, neurosurgeon, scientist, professor, lecturer, speaker, politician and statesman, who bequeathed much of his valuable heritage to our world.