Brazilian plastic surgeon Ivo Pitanguy has died at the age of 90, just one day after passing the Olympic torch for the Rio Games.
Ivo Pitanguy died of a heart attack at his home in Rio de Janeiro on August 6, a spokeswoman said.
On August 5, Ivo Pitanguy had held the torch in the Rio neighborhood of Gavea, on the final leg of the Olympic relay.
He cemented Brazil’s place as a destination for plastic surgery, giving the world the “Brazilian butt lift”.
Ivo Pitanguy first earned the respect of his fellow citizens by providing his skills free of charge to victims of a disaster.
After a huge circus tent burned hundreds of spectators in the Brazilian city of Niteroi in 1961, Ivo Pitanguy tended to disfigured victims.
Brazil’s interim President Michel Temer said in a statement: “Ivo Pitanguy dedicated his life to helping people live better.
“He will be missed.”
Trained in Paris and London, Ivo Pitanguy became a pioneer of plastic surgery in Brazil and a “cultural icon” in the “beauty-obsessed” country, Reuters writes.
Yet Ivo Pitanguy still offered his staff and services free of charge to less well-off patients one day a week, the news agency adds.
Salvador Dali painted Ivo Pitanguy and in 1999 he received one of the highest honors in Rio when a samba school used him as their theme: “The Universe of Beauty – Master Pitanguy.”
Ivo Pitanguy’s body will be cremated on August 7.
