About Sofia Ionescu

Country of Birth

Romania

Industry

Medicine

Top achievements

Sofia Ionescu is a Romanian medical professional known as the world’s first female neurosurgeon. She is widely respected for her exceptional contributions to neurosurgery, especially for her brain and spinal cord surgery.

Early life and education

Ionescu was born in 1929 in Falticeni, a small Romanian city. Her father was a banker, and her mother was a homemaker. After completing primary education, Ionescu enrolled at the Faculty of Human Medicine of Bucharest, where she began her medical studies. A friend’s father, who was a doctor, inspired her. Ionescu’s father was not supportive of her decision and believed that the medical field was not a suitable place for a woman.

Internship and Early Career

During the first year of her internship, Ionescu studied ophthalmology. For the second year of her training, she served as a general doctor in a rural village where an epidemic of typhus broke out. During World War II, Ionescu volunteered to work at Stamate Hospital, treating injured Soviet soldiers. It was there that she performed her first surgeries, including limb amputations. 

In 1944, an unconscious young boy with head injuries arrived at the emergency area. A wound incapacitated the surgeon, who would have operated on the child’s brain, and Ionescu stepped in to perform her first brain surgery. The operation was successful and she changed from becoming an internist to pursuing neurosurgery. 

Pursuing a Passion for Neurology

In 1945, the war ended, and Sofia Ionescu continued her internship at the Neurosurgery Service of Hospital No. 9, where her days began at 5 am and continued long into the night. During this time, Ionescu met her future husband, Ionel Ionescu. The couple married later that year when Ionescu graduated from the Faculty of Human Medicine of Bucharest with a Ph.D. in medicine and surgery and her husband earned his doctorate. 

For 47 years, Ionescu worked at Hospital No. 9, where her days typically included performing brain and spinal surgeries while raising her two children. At one point, she began consulting and writing research papers published worldwide. Sofia Ionescu was an inspiration to women throughout the region.

Achievements

Some of Sofia Ionescus’ most remarkable achievements include being the first female neurosurgeon in a male-dominated industry. She also published 120 scientific papers in respected medical journals like the Journal of Surgery, Revue Roumaine d’Endocrinologie and Acta Chirurgica Belgica. Ionescu is a member of the Romanian Society for the History of Medicine and the Romanian Academy of Medical Sciences. 

Recognition

Throughout her career, Sofia Ionescu received various awards and titles, including:

• Knighthood of Romania’s Steaua Republicii.
• The Star of the Republic, the Romanian state’s highest distinction.
• The Insignia of the Red Cross. 
• The 20th Anniversary of Country Liberation honor.

Additional facts

• Ionescu studied under notable figures in European medicine, including Nobel Prize laureate George Emil Palade, Francisc Rainer, and Professor Alfred Rusescu. 
• Days after being named a knight of Romania’s Steaua Republicii, Sofia Ionescu died at age 88. 
• Her final resting place is in Bellu Cemetery in her home city of Falticeni.