The Swiss Society of Clinical Neuro-Societies mourns the loss of the former director of the Clinic of Neurosurgery at the University Hospital of Zurich Switzerland. He has pioneered microneurosurgery for lesions of the central nervous system and has had an enormous impact not just on the development of neurosurgery but also on neighboring specialties of clinical neuroscience such as neurology and neuroradiology. He is considered one of the major innovators in his field and his impact is still felt in today’s practice, not only in neurosurgery but also in advanced techniques for the exploration of the central nervous system such as angiography.