The neurosurgical department of Military Hostital in Prague was first opened on October 29, 1959. The founder, Major-General Prof. M.D. Zdeněk Kunc, was a famous Czech neurosurgeon who significantly contributed to the development of neurosurgery on international level. The neurosurgical department in the Central Military Hospital became an independent department in 1956 when it was separated from surgical department and started to cooperate with the Medical Faculty of Charles University in Prague and later also with the Institute of Postgradual Medical Education. However, the first neurosurgical procedures in the Central Military Hospital may be documented back to 1948 when Zdeněk Kunc, M.D., first began to work here.

When Zdeněk Kunc retired from the post of the head of the department in 1985, his successor was Col. Prof. Ivo Fusek, D.Sc. Col. Prof. Eduard Zvěřina, M.D., D.Sc. was the head of the department from 1994 to 1996. In 1997, Col. Prof. Vladimír Beneš, M.D., D.Sc. became the head of the department and has held the position since.

Important personalities, not counting the heads of the department, fall into two groups. The first group includes all founders of neurosurgery in the Czech Republic, the original surgical team of Zdeněk Kunc: Prof. Ivo Fusek, M.D., D.Sc., Prof. Vladimír Beneš Sr., D.Sc. who helped found a separate pediatric neurosurgical department at the University Hospital Motol, Prof. Karel Šourek, M.D., D.Sc., Ass. Prof. Vilibald Vladyka, M.D., emeritus head of stereotactic and radiation neurosurgical department at Na Homolce Hospital, Ass. Prof. Vladimír Škorpil, M.D., Miroslav Metelka, M.D., Jiří Bret, M.D., the founder of modern neuroradiology. Another important figure in the history of our department is Ass. Prof. Václav Trávníček, M.D. who has played a significant role in the field of neuroanesthesiology.

In the 1960’s, Prof. Zdeněk Mraček, M.D., a longtime head of the department of neurosurgery in Pilsen, and Zdeněk Malý, M.D., D.Sc., the founder of neurosurgery in Ústí nad Labem, were among the members of the neurosurgical team. Yet another name from the first generation of neurosurgeons is Prof. Lubor Stejskal, M.D., D.Sc. who still works here at the department as well as František Tovaryš, M.D., D.Sc. who is a member of the neurosurgical team at Na Homolce Hospital.

The second generation of neurosurgeons came to the hospital in the 1970’s and 80’s and some of them have remained in our team - Ass. Prof. Jaroslav Plas, M.D., Ass. Prof. Petr Kozler, M.D., PhD. and Ivan Pěkný, M.D. Others have left to other hospitals such as Ass. Prof. Petr Suchomel, M.D., PhD., the head of the neurosurgical department at Liberec Hospital, Irena Škodová, M.D., Oldřich Šubrt, M.D., Vladimír Dbalý, M.D., MBA, who is the current managing director at Na Homolce Hospital, Michal Šetlík, M.D., the head of the neurosurgical department at Na Homolce Hospital, Luděk Prokop, M.D., Pavel Klener, M.D., Dušan Urgošík, M.D., D.Sc, Ladislav Houšťava, M.D., Prof. Pavel Haninec, M.D., D.Sc., who is the head of the department of neurosurgery at University Hospital Královské Vinohrady.