figure a

It was a Saturday in April 2004. At 4.00 a.m., at the Luz de Gas discotheque, we were celebrating our successful two-day dissection course for my residents. We talked about life. “I will not get old”, he said. And he looked serious, “another 10 years”. Then, we laughed and took another beer.

figure b

Lateral view of the ankle. Anatomic dissection showing the relationship between the calcaneo-fibular ligament and the peroneal tendons

Pau Golanó died on Wednesday 23 July 2014 from a massive stroke. Out of the blue, at the top of his career. So many plans, so many horizons to cross. Pau Golanó was 49 years old.

figure c

Anterior view of the syndesmotic ligaments

Pau was Professor of Pathology and Experimental Therapeutics at the University of Barcelona. His exceptional anatomic dissection skills and passion for education were quickly recognized by the orthopaedic surgeons around him. Nor did it take long for his skills to be recognized worldwide, and he became the last decade’s leading expert on orthopaedic anatomy.

figure d

Anterior and lateral view of the knee

He devoted his career and life to the education of orthopaedic surgeons, making them better doctors by teaching anatomy right down to the smallest detail. The door of his department in Barcelona was always open.

figure e

Vascularization of the fingertip. Anatomy becomes Art

Over the years, he wrote many inspiring papers on orthopaedic surgical anatomy in the KSSTA Journal and his lectures at ESSKA courses and congresses were always extremely well attended. His contributions involved a wide spectrum such as the shoulder, hip, knee and ankle. He was a teacher for all the orthopaedic surgeons involved in ESSKA and a highly respected member of the orthopaedic ESSKA community. Together with the love of his life, Celine, he enjoyed travelling the world, meeting friends and sharing his knowledge.

He was a scientist who devoted his energy to orthopaedics in general and ESSKA in particular. Pau Golanó enabled us to be better doctors for our patients. In 2012, he won the KSSTA Best Paper Award for Anatomy of the Ankle Ligaments: a Pictorial Essay [1]. In May 2014, at the ESSKA Congress in Amsterdam, he was honoured with the prestigious ESSKA AWARD for the Most Dedicated Individual ESSKA Member. This award gave him the international recognition he deserved. This recognition was very important to him.

Pau Golanó was a nonconformist. His unique strength was his artistic vision. He was not quickly satisfied with his achievements and set himself an extremely high standard. No concessions! As a result, he sometimes collided with the people around him, who were not always able to understand or follow him. However, he was an artist who always had a smile on his face. With his charm, he was liked by everyone. He worked best under pressure. Deadlines were never met. And the projects and deadlines kept piling up. He was at the top of his career. Projects in Qatar, Pittsburgh, Amsterdam and the ESSKA Academy lay ahead. Recently, he also started a career as a contemporary artist. The first successful Pau Golanó Art Exhibition in Bologna and the second one planned in October in Beirut demonstrated his capacity for being at the top in everything in which he was involved: where anatomy becomes art!

Although he was a team player, he liked to work on his own, spending hours in the laboratory, listening to music while making the best anatomical preparation, no rush, only the perfection of the anatomy and pictures was his goal.

An anatomist among orthopods. Alone among many friends. Friends who characterize him as: extremely generous, creative and a genius. At the same time, he was also eccentric, meticulous and temperamental.

His work became better and better. Always in search of new techniques and better ways to expose our inner world. He collaborated with surgeons worldwide. The interaction was always fruitful, and many ideas were born in his laboratory, showing new insights into different joints (hip, knee and shoulder). His favourite joint was the ankle. The recent publication of almost 100 pieces of his artwork represented the culmination of his skills [2]. Each pictures an example of his unsurpassed eye for detail and his skill in disclosing the beauty of the human body. One of his contributions to world literature is the rediscovery of the forgotten Rouvière-Canela ligament. Together with Peter de Leeuw, he started working on this publication in 2006. It is ready to be submitted.

His legacy will live on. The “Golano’s” will pop up now and then in future presentations all over the world. And you will recognize a Golanó when you see one.

The man who made anatomy an art! An anatomist among orthopods. He was one of us!

We will miss him.

Niek van Dijk, Angel Calvo, Stefano Zaffagnini