One of the best-regarded Venezuelan surgeons of his day, Eliseo Acosta (1819-1879) also performed ophthalmic surgery. Acosta studied in Caracas, London, and Paris before returning home to teach at the Central University of Venezuela, where he was to become Director of the Medical Faculty. He was an early proponent of the use of chloroform anesthesia in surgery. He was honored by the Pan-American Association of Ophthalmology on the occasion of its sixth congress, which was held in Caracas, Venezuela, in 1960.