08 06 2007 - Dr. Varaztad H. Kazanjian, Pioneer Plastic Surgeon

Miracle Man of the Western Front:
Dr. Varaztad H. Kazanjian, Pioneer Plastic Surgeon
A Lecture and Book Signing by Dr. H. Martin Deranian
Author of Worcester Is America and translator of Hussenig Miracle Man of the Western Front is the story of Varaztad H. Kazanjian, who helped invent modern
plastic surgery by finding creative ways to restore the faces of soldiers injured on the battlefields of World War I. Kazanjian was smuggled out of Ottoman Armenia in the 1890s and found his way to Worcester,
Massachusetts, then one of the most ethnically
diverse cities of its size in the United States. For
several years, he worked at the Washburn & Moen
wire mill that employed nearly one-third of the city's
Armenian community.

By the time World War I broke out, Kazanjian was chief
of Harvard's Prosthetic Dentistry Department, and had
built both a thriving practice and a reputation for
treating the most difficult cases. In 1915, Kazanjian
accepted a three-month assignment with the Harvard
Medical Unit to treat the wounded on the battlefields of France. Drawing on the dexterity with wire he had acquired as a teenager, his prosthetic work in Harvard's dental lab, and his penchant for innovation,
ìf he devised new ways to reconstruct the faces of soldiers with horrendous facial injuries.

The publication of this book marks the 60th
anniversary of the occasion when Martin Deranian,
then a young dental student, introduced himself to
Kazanjian. No matter how busy Deranian was-with
his family, dental practice, teaching assignments, and
community activities-he never stopped collecting
stories, information, and artifacts about the life and
career of the "miracle man."
Thursday
June 14, 2007

LOCATION:

NAASR Center
395 Concord Ave.
Belmont,
MA
The NAASR Bookstore will open at 7:00 p.m.

Miracle Man of the Western Front: Dr. Varaztad H.
Kazanjian, Pioneer Plastic Surgeon will be
available for purchase and signing by the
author.

Price information: $39.95 for non-members, $33.95 for
NAASR members
* Parking is available around the NAASR building
and in adjacent areas on Concord Avenue.
email: hq@naasr.org
phone: 617-489-1610
web: http://www.naasr.org
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