His parents Isac and Haia came from Bessarabia. His chief interest was neu- rosurgery, which led him to work (already as a student) at the Laboratory for Neuroanatomy and at the Neurosurgical Clinic of the university. He received his PhD for his study of the histochemistry of focal epilepsies. In 1982 he became a professor at the Université Libre de Bruxelles and created the Department of Neurosurgery of the Erasme Hospital. nI 1998, this department was nominated as the "First worldwide WHO Collaborating Centre for Research and Training in Neurosurgery" by the WHO. From 1989 to 1992, he was the head of the Belgian Society for Neurosurgery. Between 1991 and 1994, he presided over the French Language Society for Neurosur- gery. Between 1997 and 2001, he became chairman of the Education Committee of the World Federation of Neurosurgical Societies. Since 2003, he is a member of the board of the Francqui Foundation. Jacques Brotchi became senator in 2004. In 2005, he joined the scientific committee of the Baillet Latour Prize and became chairman of the World Federation of Neurosurgical Societies. He is a member of the Belgian Royal Academy of Medicine, the American Academy of Neurological Surgery and of the French Academy of Surgery. In 2000, he was awarded the Joseph Maisin Prize. In 2008, he was one of the two Mensch of the Year oft h e Centre Communautaire Laïc Juif de Belgique. In May 2007, he was made a baron by King Albert I of Belgium.