Introduction:

Surgery is as old as the history of humanity. It goes back to the most distant times when man made his appearance, as a result of physical, mental and social individuality.

Objective:

To approach important aspects of the history of General Surgery from ancient times to the present and its development in Cuba.

Method:

A bibliographic review was carried out in the database of the National Library of Medicine, PubMed, Google Scholar, Web of Science, ClinicalKey, Elsevier, ResearchGate and web pages of different specialties that recommended articles of interest in relation to the topic for research, to reconstruct the emergence of surgery from antiquity to the present day.

Results:

Chronological notes were compiled, divided into the next categories: Surgery in antiquity, pre-Columbian Americas, The Middle Ages and the Renaissance, Development of general surgery in Cuba (brief journey from 1354 to the present).

Final considerations:

The development of surgery begins from antiquity as a necessity; the specialization of general surgeons in Cuba begins in the eighteenth century, when it is separated from the Anatomy chair to perform as the surgical discipline, which has had a sustained progress throughout history. Its magnitude is consistent with the degree of development of society and society´s external and internal limitations. The development of this specialty in Cuba is considered a milestone, exhibiting high standards of scientific, technical and surgical-anesthetic advances today.

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