"Father Of Modern Retinal Surgery" Receives Award

The French Consul General in Boston M. Francois Gauthier conferred the insignia of Knight of the Legion of Honor on Charles L. Schepens, clinical professor of ophthalmology emeritus, in a special ceremony on March 21. Given on behalf of the French government, the prestigious award recognizes Schepens' patriotic service to the Nazi resistance in World War II, and his lifelong contribution to advancements in the diagnosis and treatment of retinal diseases.

Now 94 years old, Schepens is known worldwide as the father of modern retinal surgery, but was, until recently, little known for his role in the underground movement in Europe. From June 1942 to July 1943, the Belgian-born Schepens directed a highly secret information and evacuation operation in a French Basque village in the Pyrenees. Working in coordination with the Belgian resistance, Schepens adopted the alias Jacques Perot and oversaw a large-scale lumber mill and logging enterprise to camouflage his clandestine work. Among the 100-plus individuals who escaped Nazi occupation through this "underground railroad" were leaders of the Belgian resistance and young French draft dodgers. The story of Schepens' courageous wartime accomplishments only recently came to light with the 2004 release of "The Surgeon and the Shepherd: Two Resistance Heroes in Vichy France" by Meg Ostrum.

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