Charles Schepens

Human eye cross-sectional view. Courtesy NIH National Eye Institute.

Charles Louis Schepens (March 13, 1912 – March 28, 2006) was a Belgian and American ophthalmologist, regarded by many in the profession as "the father of modern retinal surgery", and member of the French Resistance.

Early life: medical training and member of the French Resistance

Schepens was born in Mouscron, Belgium, in 1912; He initially studied mathematics before graduating from medical school in 1935 at State University of Ghent in Belgium. Aware that the Germans had learned of the operation, he escaped to England. and at that time was the largest independent eye research organization in the United States. In 2011, the institute combined with the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary.

In 1967, Schepens founded The Retina Society and was its first president from 1968 to 1969. He was also a pioneer of surgical techniques such as scleral buckling for the repair of retinal detachments. The use of these techniques has raised the success of retinal reattachment surgery from 40% to 90%. In 2006, Schepens died of a stroke at the age of 94.