Proffesor Gavriil A. Illizarov
Limb lengthening was invented by Professor Gavriil Abramovich Illizarov from Russia in the 1950's. Illizarov didn't begin school until the age of eleven but caught up quickly and graduated from Crimea Medical school.
By using a brocken stick, wires and rings he found that if a bone was broken, stablized, and pulled apart it would heal back together. The Illizarov fixator was used in World War II to treat Russian soldiers that had been wounded. Illizarov successfuly completed limb lengthening surgery on Valery Brumel, a 1964 Soviet olympic gold medalist high jumper, causing limb lengthening to be excepted in the Soviet Union and then USSR. The method was then introduced to the rest of the world by a group of Italian sergeons. It is now used all over the world for limb lengthening, correcting diformities, and correcting fractures.
