 thumb|gasparo tagliacozzi. gaspare tagliacozzi (bologna, march 1545 - bologna, 7 november 1599) was an italian surgeon, pioneer of plastic and reconstructive surgery. ==biography== tagliacozzi was born in bologna. tagliacozzi began his medical studies in 1565. he studied at the university of bologna under gerolamo cardano for medicine, ulisse aldrovandi for natural sciences and julius caesar aranzi for anatomy. at the age of twenty-four, earned his degree in philosophy and medicine. ==career== he was then appointed professor of surgery and later was appointed professor of anatomy. he taught at the archiginnasio of bologna. the amphitheater in which tagliacozzi taught was severely damaged during ww2 american bombings. the theater was rebuilt and currently houses a wooden statue of tagliacozzi. it is in this room that tagliacozzi taught until 1595. in 1568, two years before graduating, tagliacozzi began practicing in the hospital of death, which was a sort of clinic for students since it was near the archiginnasio. the hospital was run by a brotherhood of death whose job was to visit prisons and comfort those condemned to death. through this brotherhood tagliacozzi procured the bodies of executed prisoners for use in dissections. in his will, tagliacozzi gave the responsibility of his burial to the brotherhood. he improved on the work of the sicilian surgeon gustavo branca and his son antonio (who lived in catania in the 15th century) and developed the so-called "italian method" of nasal reconstruction. his principal work is entitled de curtorum chirurgia per insitionem  (1597) (âon the surgery of mutilation by graftingâ). in his book he described in great detail the procedures that were being carried out empirically by the branca and vianeo families of sicily since the 15th century ad. right|thumb|original illustration of the now-called âitalian methodâ. ==death and posthumous trial== tagliacozzi died at bologna on 7 november 1599 and was buried in the church of the nuns of st. john the baptist as he had ordered in his will. on the 26th of the same month a solemn mass was held in the same church in his honor which was attended by all doctors collegiate. during the ceremony muzio piacentini, a colleague of tagliacozzi, gave the funeral oration, while some of the other participants recited rhymes of praise. ==brief history of the italian method== the invention of the method is believed to be about surgeons gustavo branca and his son antonio, who lived in 1400 in catania. branca de branca (the senior) used a skin flap from the cheek and years later, his son antonio branca used a flap raised from the arm.{{cite journal |author=keil g |title=[the history of plas
1546_births 1599_deaths 16th-century_Italian_physicians Italian_inventors Italian_surgeons Medical_educators People_from_Bologna