Madrid, Sept. 29 (AFP): The man widely credited with inventing modern plastic surgery argued that people today are obsessed with physical beauty and ignore the importance of intelligence and spiritual well-being.

Speaking at a breast surgery conference in Madrid yesterday, Brazilian Ivo Pitanguy said today’s fascination with the cult of the body was “exaggerated” and that “the spirit, the cult of intelligence” was more important.

He insisted the problem “was not the fault of plastic surgery, but of the marketing industry, which sells an image of youth and beauty.”

Quoted by the Europa Press Agency, he added that plastic surgery “should help people feel at ease with themselves, it should not be for other people”.

The surgeon also said he had noticed a large increase in the number of men going under the cosmetic surgeon’s scalpel, notably to have bags under their eyes removed.

Pitanguy, who is 79, is considered by many celebrities as the best plastic surgeon ever.

He began performing plastic surgery in his home country in 1953 after studying in the US, France and Britain.

In 1961 he treated scores of burns victims after a burning circus tent fell on 2,500 spectators in the Brazilian city of Niteroi, killing 500 people.

The episode was a turning point for him.

Over the years Pitanguy has performed over 60,000 operations and trained more than 400 plastic surgeons worldwide.