Honorary Citizen of Ljubljana, academician Prof. Dr. Vinko V. Dolenc, has passed away. We will say goodbye to the Honorary Citizen at a commemoration session of the City Council of the City of Ljubljana, which will be held on Friday, 24 January 2025, at 10:00, in the Great Hall of the City Hall.

Prof. Dr. Vinko V. Dolenc received the title of Honorary Citizen of Ljubljana in 2008. Upon presenting the highest recognition of the City of Ljubljana, we wrote:

»Academician Prof. Dr. Vinko V. Dolenc was born in 1940. He completed his medical studies at the Faculty of Medicine in Ljubljana in 1966, passed the specialist exam in neurosurgery in 1974 and received the Master of Medicine title in the same year. He was promoted to Doctor of Science at the University of Ljubljana in 1977. Since 1987, he has been the head of the Clinic for Neurosurgery. Since 23 April 1987, he has been an associate member and since 27 May 1993 a full member of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts. Since 1992, he has been a member of the European Academy of Sciences and Arts.
In his research work, he has devoted himself to microsurgery in neurosurgery since 1968. In 1974, he introduced microsurgical techniques to neurovascular surgery and was the first in Europe to start microsurgical treatment of ruptured aneurysms in the acute phase. He has used microsurgical techniques in the resolution of neurosurgical diseases and then applied them to all other areas of neurosurgery.

In the late 1970s, he devoted his research work to the anatomy and surgery of the central part of the skull base and especially the parasellar space, the so-called cavernous sinus. From 1976 onwards, he organized several high-profile international symposia and congresses, including a congress of French-speaking surgeons in Ljubljana in 1989. In 1989, he published as the sole author of a book entitled Anatomy and Surgery of the Cavernous Sinus, which is a comprehensive overview of his research and clinical work. The importance of this work is evidenced by the fact that the book was rated as the most sought-after professional literature in the field of medicine and was completely sold out within two years. In 2003, he published the book Microsurgical Anatomy and Surgery of the Central Skull Base, in which he critically discusses over 2,500 operations that he performed – at home and abroad – on the skull base. The aforementioned book was also translated into Chinese.
Due to his research and clinical work in the field of the skull base, he was then invited to numerous universities in Europe, North and South America, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, India and other countries, where he helped organize educational workshops in the field of skull base anatomy. In total, he gave over 500 professional lectures, and four times he had the special honour of being the only lecturer invited to the so-called memorial professional meetings (Stockholm, Oslo, Minneapolis, Salt Lake City). In addition to reviews of articles and books in foreign literature, he has published numerous summaries and publications in professional journals and books. Of the published works, seven are considered pioneering works.

He has published three books. He is active on the editorial boards of six international professional journals.

He has received numerous awards for his professional work at home and abroad.

The world's leading neurosurgeons speak highly of him: a top expert, a penetrating and courageous seeker of new solutions, and a man who pushed the boundaries of what is possible. Among his domestic and foreign colleagues, he has earned the reputation of a genius with his numerous discoveries. He deeply encroaches on the doctrine that governs medicine. The methods he discovered are now established around the world, and what's more: many patients have survived thanks to his findings.

He is a three-time academician, a member of the Slovenian, European and American Academies of Sciences, and an ambassador of science.

Due to the exceptional reputation and knowledge of academician Prof. Dr. Vinko V. Dolenc, who brings the glory of Slovenian medicine to the world and is one of the main promoters of the city of Ljubljana and our country, the Awards Committee proposes that he be awarded the title of Honorary Citizen of the Capital City of Ljubljana.«

We will keep the Honorary Citizen Prof. Dr. Vinko V. Dolenc in respectful memory.