Dr. Varaztad Hovnhannes Kazanjian
(1879-1974)

Varaztad Hovhannes Kazanjian was born in Erzinga, in Turkish Armenia, on March 18, 1879. Five years after his birth, a systematic plan for the extermination of the Armenian people was put into action under the Sultan Abdul Ash-I-Hamid-II.

After his father had moved to Sivas, Varaztad was sent to a French Jesuit School. Unfortunately, he was not taught English there. After his father’s death, at the age of 14 Varaztad was offered by his older brother to take him into business as a bookkeeper. Varaztad, however, had no interest or talent for business. During this period Varaztad was politically active and was distributing pamphlets protesting the massacre of the Armenian people. Varaztad’s activities were soon discovered by the Turkish police, and he was being sought out for "passing political pamphlets". Relatives who had immigrated to America had encouraged him to leave for the United States. When he arrived by a ship to Ellis Island in 1895, he only had a bundle on his back and a few coins. He passed the immigration authorities check point with great difficulty after other immigrants’ report of the intensification of persecution in Turkey.

From New York his relatives sent him directly to Worcester, Massachusetts. It had become known as the Armenian metropolis of the country. Young Varaztad worked in a wire mill as a wire drawer. His first week’s pay in America was 90 cents. In 2 weeks it had risen to $6, as he quickly learned the routine. Without fail, he would send a part of his salary to Armenia to sustain his mother, brother and sister. He planned on staying in America only long enough to earn enough so that he could return to his native Armenia when the political situation improved.

His passion for knowledge was so intense that immediately upon arrival he began a night school. He would later admit: "For 7 years, I did not miss a single night... At the wire mill, I worked 10 to 12 hours a day. There was one teacher who used to wait for me to teach me English after work."

One Sunday afternoon while on an outing with some of his fellow workers at the factory, they discussed their future careers. On of the workers suggested to Kazanjian that he become a dentist. After much thought, Kazanjian gave consideration to making dentistry his life work. He enrolled in the freshman class of English High School first to receive a high school diploma. Then he entered the Harvard Dental School. While a student, he became intensely interested in prosthetic dentistry. After his graduation, he innovated a technique for the treatment of fractured jaws by twisting wires together into the form of buttons and realigning the fragments of the broken jaws by means of elastic bands.

In 1911 he entered the Medical School at Boston University and successfully completed his second year in 1912. After he was offered the position as head of the prosthetic laboratory, he was obliged to postpone his medical school studies.

The major event of Kazanjian’s careers was his joining the first Harvard Unit, which was assembled in 1915. Dr. Kazanjian was chosen as the chief dental officer of the Harvard Unit. This was to be the turning point in Dr. Kazanjian’s career. On July 17, 1915, less than 1 year after the beginning of World War I, the Harvard Unit sailed for France. The unit took over General Hospital No. 22 at Dannes-Camiers, a small village 14 miles from Boulogne-sur-Mer.

World War I was mostly fought in trenches. There were many destructive and disfiguring gunshot wounds of the face. One of the surgical wards had admitted two cases with gaping wounds and fractured jaws, and Kazanjian was called to see the patients. He took it all in his stride so easily and the details of the treatment were organized so smoothly and quietly that other patients were rapidly referred to him. The surgeons marveled at Kazanjian’s work and were genuinely relieved to turn over cases for which they had no method of treatment. The secret of Dr. Kazanjian’s success was his knowledge of prosthetic dentistry, and he devised a technique of holding the fragments of the jaws in proper position by means of wires.

As a result of his increased reputation the British Army established the first Maxillofacial Treatment Centre in France with Dr. Kazanjian as Chief. As his reputation grew, Dr Kazanjian became a personality". A British journalist glorified him in one of his articles as "the miracle man of the Western Front".

Plastic surgery, an ancient art, was in times past never looked upon favorably by the medical profession at large. However, the advent of the World War I created in interest and demand for reconstructive surgery.

Dr Kazanjian’s work was recognized by the British Government. In 1919, Honorary Major Varaztad Hovhannes Kazanjian of the Royal Army Medical Corps stood before Kind George V in Buckingham Palace for investiture as a Companion of the Most Distinguished Order of St. Michael and St. George.

Returning to Boston in the fall of 1919, Dr. Kazanjian was 40 years old. He completed remaining 2 years of his study of medicine at the Harvard Medical School. In medical school he was quieter than usual. He never volunteered information about himself, and he apparently was never asked. Dramatically, his position with his classmates was changed with a rather unusual and unforeseen incident. Some surgical demonstration had been planned at the Peter Brent Bringham Hospital for a group of medical students, who crowded the amphitheatre. Dr. Harvey Cushing made his appearance, accompanied by two high-ranking officers from the Royal Army Medical Corps. The attention of the students was fixed on Dr. Cushing and his guests, and the occasion was an impressive one. On glancing up at the group of students above him, one of the British medical officers suddenly grasped his companion’s arm and pointed, and then the students were startled to see these two high ranking officers, with great haste than dignity, climb up the steps and literally drag down into the amphitheatre the quiet black-haired little dentist whom the medical students thought they had successfully ignored. Kazanjian was introduced as the man who had taught these guests the technique that was to be demonstrated. As one of his medical school classmates said, "From then on he was out class hero."

With his association with the Massachusetts General Hospital and the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, Dr. Kazanjian developed large clinic for those who could not afford private care and a large private practice. His numerous publications taught the plastic surgeons his techniques of care of facial injuries and reconstructive operations for those born with congenital malformations or those with defects of the face resulting from removal of cancerous tissue. Endowed with a remarkable physique, his surgical activity was continued until his vision failed at the age of 86.

Dr Varaztad Hovhannes Kazanjian was a founder and past preside of the American Society of Maxillofacial Surgery (ASMS; 1949), and a recipient of their Distinguished Award (1956). He was also past president of American Association of Plastic Surgeons (1940) and received their Distinguished Fellow Award (1958) and Honorary Award (1959) for his significant contribution to plastic surgery. He was also awarded a Special Honorary Citation by the American Society of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgeons (1951).

During his career, Dr. Kazanjian met with lack of appreciation of his work by the other surgeons. This attitude towards Dr. Kazanjian could be explained by the parochial attitude of New Englanders at the time towards the foreigners. Kazanjian was "different". A number of surgeons remarked about him as "That little Armenian is really very clever." His lack of fluency in the English language made it difficult for him to teach and to explain what he was doing during his operations. His colleagues tended to consider him a dentist. Plastic surgery in general had a poor reputation.

Dr. Kazanjian did not like to teach. The language barrier was one factor. The other was his impatience "to get on with the work". As a result, Dr. Converse, another famous plastic surgeon of the 20th century, discovered himself to be Kazanjian’s first student. As Converse says, it was an extraordinary phenomenon that this man of great talent had such difficulty in communication. He was content to perform his work and enjoy the tremendous satisfaction he derived from what he was able to do for his patients.

References:
1. Converse, J.M. The extraordinary career of Doctor Varaztad Hovhannes Kazanjian. Plast. Reconstr. Surg. 71:138, 1983
2. Hallock, G.G. The Plastic Surgeon of the 20th Century. Plast. Reconst. Surg. 107(4): 1014, 2001
3. Photos are curtesy of Kazanjian family

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