Prof. Dr. med. Dr. h. c. mult. Madjid Samii

Prof. Dr. med. Dr. h. c. mult. Madjid Samii is regarded as one of the most internationally influential neurosurgeons of his generation and as one of the pioneers of modern microneurosurgery and skull base surgery. For more than five decades, he has played a major role in advancing the surgical treatment of complex disorders of the brain, skull base, cranial nerves, and craniovertebral junction. Numerous microsurgical techniques that he developed, refined, and taught internationally have become an integral part of modern neurosurgery.

After studying medicine at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, Madjid Samii completed his medical degree in 1963 and received his doctorate in 1964. In parallel with his medical studies, he pursued additional studies in zoology and botany at the Faculty of Natural Sciences of the University of Mainz. Following clinical training in several medical disciplines, he began his neurosurgical career at the Department of Neurosurgery at the University of Mainz.

His exceptional clinical and academic development became apparent at an early stage. In 1970, he received his specialist certification in neurosurgery, was appointed senior physician and deputy director of the department, and completed his habilitation in neurosurgery in the same year. He was subsequently appointed professor. During this early phase of his career, he established regular microsurgical training courses, laying an important foundation for the systematic teaching and international dissemination of modern microsurgical techniques.

In 1977, Madjid Samii became Director of the Department of Neurosurgery at Nordstadt Hospital in Hannover. Under his leadership, Hannover developed over the following decades into an internationally recognized center for complex neurosurgery. Particular areas of expertise included surgery of the skull base and cranial nerves, complex intracranial tumors, and the development of microsurgical strategies aimed at preserving neurological function.

Beginning in 1979, Prof. Samii organized and directed regular international courses in skull base surgery. These training programs attracted neurosurgeons from numerous countries and contributed substantially to the worldwide dissemination of advanced techniques in microneurosurgery and skull base surgery. Generations of neurosurgeons who later assumed leading positions in academic and clinical medicine were influenced by his surgical work, his teaching, and his philosophy of neurosurgery.

Alongside his clinical career, Madjid Samii received numerous international academic appointments, calls, and invitations from leading universities and medical institutions worldwide. Throughout his career, he has held an exceptional number of visiting professorships across Europe, North America, Asia, and other regions of the world. Selected examples include Harvard University in Boston, the University of Toronto, the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), and the University of Florida. He also received prestigious academic calls from renowned universities, including Leiden University.

In 1983, he organized and directed one of the first worldwide medical telecommunications conferences, bringing together participants across several continents. At a time when international digital communication was still in its infancy, this visionary initiative demonstrated his early commitment to technological innovation and global scientific exchange.

In 1988, Prof. Samii became Professor and Chairman of Neurosurgery at Hannover Medical School (MHH). For many years, he directed the neurosurgical departments of Hannover Medical School and Nordstadt Hospital, further establishing Hannover as an internationally recognized center of neurosurgical excellence.

A major part of his scientific and clinical legacy is closely associated with the development of modern skull base surgery. Madjid Samii was a founding member and the first President of the German Society of Skull Base Surgery and held leading positions in major international scientific societies. He served as President of important international organizations in the field of skull base surgery and presided over the first International Congress of Skull Base Surgery.

From 1997 to 2001, Prof. Samii served as President of the World Federation of Neurosurgical Societies (WFNS), the global umbrella organization representing neurosurgery worldwide. He was subsequently appointed Honorary President of the WFNS. These positions reflect his exceptional international standing and his contribution not only to surgical innovation but also to the worldwide development and advancement of neurosurgery.

His vision of bringing together highly specialized patient care, scientific research, technological innovation, and international education ultimately led to the creation of an independent center dedicated to the neurosciences. Madjid Samii realized this vision with the foundation of the International Neuroscience Institute (INI) Hannover. Since its opening in 2000, he has shaped the institute as its founder and president.

The INI was created with the objective of providing highly specialized interdisciplinary care for patients from Germany and around the world with complex neurological and neurosurgical disorders, while simultaneously bringing together research, education, technological development, and international scientific collaboration under one roof. This concept embodies the central principles of Madjid Samii’s professional life: the highest level of surgical specialization, international cooperation, continuous innovation, and the transfer of medical knowledge to future generations.

Prof. Samii achieved particular international recognition through his work in skull base and cranial nerve surgery. His extensive surgical experience and the techniques he developed contributed significantly to the advancement of microsurgical treatment for complex tumors, including vestibular schwannomas, meningiomas, and other skull base lesions, as well as disorders involving the cranial nerves. A fundamental principle of his surgical philosophy has always been to combine the most complete and effective treatment possible with the greatest achievable preservation of neurological function.

The education and training of younger generations of neurosurgeons constitute another central element of his life’s work. For decades, physicians and scientists from countries throughout the world have come to Hannover to learn from his surgical experience. Many of his students and fellows subsequently assumed leading academic and clinical positions and carried his microsurgical philosophy to neurosurgical centers around the world. In this way, an extensive international network of neurosurgical schools, specialists, and scientific collaborations emerged that extends far beyond Hannover.

For his clinical, scientific, and academic achievements, Madjid Samii has received an exceptional number of national and international honors. Among his major distinctions are the Lower Saxony Prize for Science, the Federal Cross of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany, the Olivecrona Medal awarded at the Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm, the Aristotle Gold Medal of the University of Thessaloniki, and numerous other prestigious international scientific awards and medals.

Universities and medical faculties around the world have awarded him numerous honorary doctorates, honorary professorships, and further academic distinctions. He is also an honorary member of numerous international neurosurgical and medical societies. Together, these honors reflect the extraordinary global recognition of his contribution to neurosurgery, academic medicine, and international medical education.

His scientific work comprises more than 400 original publications as well as numerous books, book chapters, and scientific monographs. Over several decades, his publications have accompanied and influenced the development of microneurosurgery, skull base surgery, and cranial nerve surgery.

Prof. Madjid Samii represents, like few other neurosurgeons, the combination of surgical excellence, scientific innovation, international collaboration, and medical education. His life’s work has had a lasting impact on modern neurosurgery. With the foundation of the International Neuroscience Institute in Hannover, he also created an institution in which these principles continue to guide highly specialized patient care, research, innovation, and the education of future generations.

Prof. Dr. med. Dr. h. c. mult. Madjid Samii, President and Founder of the INI – International Neuroscience Institute®. He studied medicine at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz from 1957 to 1963. From 1958 to 1962, he pursued a second course of study in zoology and botany at the Faculty of Natural Sciences at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz. Madjid Samii passed the medical state examination in 1963 and earned his doctorate at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz in 1964.

In April 1963, he began his medical internship in internal medicine and gynecology. From March 1965, this also included obstetrics and surgery, as well as an eight-month period of training in neurosurgery.

From April 1965, Prof. Dr. Dr. Madjid Samii served as an academic assistant at the Department of Neurosurgery at Mainz University Hospital. In 1970, he obtained specialist certification in neurosurgery and was appointed chief senior physician and deputy director of the department. That same year, he completed his habilitation in neurosurgery. He was also appointed senior physician at a university. The following year, Madjid Samii was appointed adjunct professor. During this period, he took over the organization and direction of annual courses in microsurgery.

He continued this work until 1977. In 1974, Samii was appointed academic councilor and professor at a university, with lifetime civil servant status.

Since 1977, he has been director of the Department of Neurosurgery at Nordstadt Hospital in Hannover.

Since 1979, Samii has organized and directed annual courses in skull base surgery. In 1982, he accepted a visiting professorship at Harvard Medical School in Boston.

In 1983, he led the organization and implementation of the first worldwide medical telecommunications conference, with participants on every continent.

In 1986, Prof. Dr. Dr. Madjid Samii assumed the chair of neurosurgery at Leiden University in the Netherlands. From 1986 to 1988, he served as president of the “International Society of Skull Base Study Group.” In addition, in September 1987, he delivered an Olivecrona Lecture and was awarded the Nobel Medal at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden. At the end of 1987, Samii accepted an appointment to the chair of neurosurgery at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz.

The following year, he assumed the chair of neurosurgery at Hannover Medical School (MHH). Also in 1988, he received the Lower Saxony Science Award. He was also awarded the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany for his outstanding contributions to the scientific and practical development of neurosurgery, presented to him by Federal President Richard von Weizsäcker. That same year, Samii was appointed honorary professor at the Faculty of Medicine of the Military Academy in Beijing, China.

He also held a Keith Professorship at the University of Toronto, Canada, and became vice president of the “International Skull Base Society.” In 1989, Samii became president of the German Society of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery e.V. He was also appointed visiting professor for life at the medical school of the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), USA, and visiting director of the Skull Base Center at UCLA's Department of Neurosurgery. Also in 1989, he delivered the Obrador Lecture and was awarded the medal in Madrid, Spain.

In 1991, Prof. Dr. Dr. Madjid Samii was a founding member and first president of the German Society of Skull Base Surgery, a founding member and first president of the Neurobionic Foundation, founding president of the Board of Trustees of the AWD Children's Aid Foundation in Hannover, and guest of honor of the North American Skull Base Society.

In 1992, he delivered a Lars Leksell Lecture in Charlottesville, USA, served as president of the International Skull Base Society and president of the First International Congress on Skull Base Surgery, and was appointed honorary professor by the medical school of the University of Uruguay.

In 1994, he was awarded honorary citizenship of the city of Osario, Argentina, and Samii also received an honorary doctorate in medicine from the Pontifical Catholic University of Rio Grande do Sul in Porto Alegre, Brazil. In 1995, Madjid Samii was a member of the Board of Trustees for Expo 2000 in Hannover.

The following year, he was elected first chair of the German Society of Neurosurgery. Since 1996, he has been director of the Departments of Neurosurgery at Hannover Medical School and Klinikum Hannover Nordstadt.

In July 1997, he assumed the presidency of the WFNS (World Federation of Neurosurgical Societies), serving until 2001. In June 1998, Samii was awarded the “Aristotle Gold Medal” by the University of Thessaloniki.

In April 2000, he was appointed honorary professor of neurosurgery by the University of Florida in Gainesville, USA. In 2000, he became medical director of the “International Neuroscience Institute” and received the Rudolf Frey Award for outstanding achievements in pain management.

The following year, in 2001, he was appointed honorary president of CURAC, the German Society for Computer and Robot-Assisted Surgery e.V., and honorary president of the World Federation of Neurosurgical Societies.

In honor of his 65th birthday and his 25th anniversary as a neurosurgeon in Hannover, Prof. Samii was awarded the Badge of Honor in Gold of the German Road Safety Association in June 2002.

In 2003, he received a special honor with the “McLaughlin-Gallie Visiting Professorship of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada with the award of $10,000.” He was the first German recipient of this award since 1960 and the first neurosurgeon worldwide to receive it.

More than 15 books and book chapters and 400 original research publications.