Francis Robicsek was an American cardio-thoracic surgeon in Charlotte, North Carolina. Before moving to America, he was one of the surgeons to perform Hungary’s first heart valve replacement surgeries in 1954. He was the first surgeon to perform heart bypass surgeries in the state in 1956 and the first heart transplant in 1986. He was the founder of the Sanger Clinic and the developer of the Robicsek technique.
Childhood and education
Robicsek was born in Hungary as Ferenc Robicsek. He worked as a medic from 1945-1950 while earning his medical license from Péter Pázmány University. He was among the team of surgeons to perform the first heart valve replacement surgery in Hungary in 1954.
Career
Robicsek was the chief of Cardiac Surgery at the University of Budapest when he was 28 years old. He immigrated to America in 1956 and began working in the Carolinas Medical Centre which he managed. He pioneered cardio-vascular procedures in North Carolina and performed the first heart transplant in that state in 1986. In 1965, Robicsek developed the Robicsek technique which customizes a single surgical intervention for people suffering from dented chest. Throughout his career he served as the Chairman of the Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery Department at Carolinas Medical Center in Charlotte, North Carolina, the Medical Director of the Carolinas Heart Institute, and President and Founder of the Sanger Clinic. He also maintained teaching positions as the Clinical Professor of Surgery at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill, and as Adjunct Professor in Biomedical Engineering and Anthropology at University of North Carolina at Charlotte. He retired from surgery in 1998, after operating on more than 35,000 patients. He continued his medical work through humanitarian missions. In adherence to his wishes, which he articulated before his April 2020 death, he was buried in his surgical scrubs.
Philanthropy and humanitarian work
In 1959, he founded the Heineman Medical Outreach Inc., a research organization in Charlotte. Robicsek travelled to Central and South America to offer medical services. In 1976, he was part of a medical team that worked following an earthquake in Honduras. He eventually established a medical facility there and in other Central American countries. He became an expert on the Mayan culture and wrote books about their customs. He was an ancient art collector. He donated the majority of the collection to the Mint Museum.
2018: the Sanger Heart and Vascular Institute endowed a $3.5 million chair in Robicsek’s name.
2019: Southern Thoracic Surgical Association Inspiration Award.
Personal life
He was married to Lily. They fled from Soviet controlled Hungary together via East Berlin; they spent some time in an Austrian refugee camp before arriving in America. The couple had four children.
