Lisbon Remembers Nobel Prize Winner Dr. Egas Moniz
Recently there’s been a lot of talk about Portugal’s last Nobel Prize winner, José Saramago. A major Hollywood version of his novel “Blindness” was just released in theatres, he just published a new critically acclaimed book that’s already a best-seller, and not too long ago it was announced that Lisbon’s landmark Casa dos Bicos will be the headquarters of a foundation and cultural institution in his name.
But today is the day to remember another Portuguese Nobel Prize winner, Dr. Egas Moniz. He died on December 13th, 1955, six years after winning the prize for medicine due to his discovery of the therapeutic value of leucotomy in certain psychoses. Basically what that means is that he was the inventor of the lobotomy neurosurgical procedure, the culmination of a long career that started as a graduate of the prestigious Coimbra University.
His accomplishments are honored with a hospital in Lisbon baptised with his name, and you’ll surely see it on your way to the Belem district on tram 15 when you visit Lisbon.
