A Brief History of the Symposium Neuroradiologicum

Abstract As the foremost exponent of diagnostic and interventional neuroradiology, the Symposium Neuroradiologicum (SNR) bears witness to a long and powerful tradition of research, innovation, and international collaboration. The history of the SNR started almost a century ago, and the Shakespeare quote at the top of this chapter metaphorically emphasises that the key to success in life lies in knowing when and how to recognise and seize a new opportunity. Timing and location are important in whatever we undertake. And so it was with the SNR, of which the first edition—retrospectively identified as such—was held in 1939, in Antwerp, Belgium, in the turbulent year that was to precede the Second World War. The setting of this first meeting has a deep symbolic meaning for me personally, since Antwerp is the city where I was born and spent most of my professional life.