Ivo Pitanguy

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Ivo Hélcio Jardim de Campos Pitanguy (b. 1926 in Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil) is a plastic surgeon based in Rio de Janeiro.

Dr. Pitanguy studied at the Bethesda Hospital in Cincinnati, where he worked with John Longacre. Soon after, Pitanguy went to France and England where he studied plastic surgery under early pioneers of the field.

In 1953 he began working at a Brazilian hospital performing plastic surgeries. On December 17, 1961, a burning circus tent fell on 2,500 spectators in the Brazilian city of Niterói, and Pitanguy worked tirelessly to treat burn victims for weeks on an emergency basis. He later referred to the event as life changing, as it taught him that for many, physical appearance was critical to living. Dr. Pitanguy founded a private clinic called Clínica Ivo Pitanguy in the Botafogo section of Rio de Janeiro where he operates on VIPs and trains young surgeons.

Pitanguy is also a renowned philanthropist who renovated a ward at the public Santa Casa da Misericórdia Hospital in Rio where, for four decades, he has operated on hundreds of impoverished patients at no charge.

Pitanguy's private clinic on Rua Dona Mariana in Rio where VIPs and wealthy clients are treated developed a line of skin care products for its clientele to supplement aesthetic and surgical procedures. The clinic donates financial proceeds from the skin care line to charities to perpetuate Pitanguy's philanthropic legacy. The skin care line is called Beauty By Clinica Ivo Pitanguy, and it is sold at Neiman Marcus stores.

Pitanguy is a member of the Brazilian Academy of Letters and of the Brazilian Academy of Medicine. One room at his Rio clinic displays scores of medals, plaques and citations from governments, professional societies and academic institutions from four continents heralding his medical accomplishments and charitable service.

The Pitanguy clinic in Rio also includes an auditorium and library for Pitanguy's lectures and writings for medical students who compete worldwide for the opportunity to study under Pitanguy.

Along with Marília Pêra, Simone, supported his close friend and right wing Fernando Collor de Mello.