The whole world knew who Sava Perović was.

Somewhere at the crossing between American and European urological doctrine, along the road between an operating room and a congress hall, our Sava left us, our sorrow stirring the memories of all the things he managed to give us.

And we knew that he wanted to go even further; in each of his gazes we read his desires. Ever in motion and with unrelenting strength, he always gave more. Innumerable congresses, operating rooms, medical journals or books.

In his long and very fruitful career, Sava Perović achieved the greatest results in the field of urogenital reconstructive surgery, as a pioneer and perhaps the only person in the world to have encompassed treatment of all anomalies of the genital system regardless of gender or age.

He dedicated most of his professional work to the breakthrough and introduction of Serbian medicine to the world. Each of his papers presented new surgical approaches or techniques that took their place in the armamentariums of surgical techniques of almost all clinics in the world.

Many would have accepted him as an ambassador for a people, a people previously unlisted on the map of the contemporary world, wondering at knowledge and skill that captivate and transform a surgical doctrine into a new form of art.

He was elected Manager of the Belgrade Training School for colleagues from around the world. In 2004 - 2005, in 12 weeks of operations and over 150 surgical procedures, he trained colleagues from every corner of the globe, from Seoul to Vancouver, from Cape Town to Sao Paolo, selflessly sharing his experience and showing them the tricks and the pitfalls of what he believed to be the most creative of trades.

He was special, yet ordinary. He was great, yet modest.

We needed him here and now. Sadly, he is not among us today, but it is only in flesh. His work remains engraved deep in our hearts, thoughts and words.

Without him just as he was, we would not be here where we are now. The energy he invested in his work was immense, as was his aspiration to transfer his experiences to masses of hard working, talented people.

I am certain that in the heart of each one of us, who had the privilege to be with him, there is a hidden place in which we kept him and from which he still guides us and sends us signals on how to carry on.

Professor Dr Sava V. Perović

21.02.1937 - 04.04.2010.