[The Golden book of the French plastic surgery].

Susruta, Tagliacozzi and Dieffenbach are considered to be the first plastic surgeons. Many French surgeons deserve to figure in the "Golden Book" of the specialty. From Pierre Franco to Paul Tessier, many famous or sometimes unknown surgeons introduced important innovations. In the XVIth century, Pierre Franco realized the first autoplasty of the face as well as the first suture of a cleft lift. This was modified by Mirault, three centuries later. Delpech created at Montpellier a real "school" dedicated to plastic surgery where there was an attempt to oppose a French technique to the success of surgeons from Berlin. Roux was the first (or the second according to Von Graefe) to succeed a cleft palate closure. The first Z plasty was performed by Denonvilliers and Morestin devoted many works to plastic surgery insisting on scar discretion. After World War II, the main cosmetic procedures were described and performed by French surgeons: Bourguet, Passot, Dartigues… Suzanne Noel was the first female plastic surgeon and the first to perform outpatient operations. After the creation of the French Society of Plastic surgery, Paul Tessier conceived the craniofacial surgery. An important step in cosmetic surgery was liposuction described by Y.G. Illouz. More recently, French teams performed the first allotransplantation of the face and of the upper limbs.