Manuel M. Velasco Suárez, M.D.
I am sorry to report on the death in December 2001 of ISHN member Dr. Manuel M. Velasco Suárez, Emeritus Director of the National Institute of Neurology and Neurosurgery in Mexico City, Mexico. Eugenio Frixione kindly excerpted and translated the following text from a farewell address by colleagues: "Dr. Manuel Velasco Suárez, a prominent Mexican neuroscientist and revered teacher of many generations of neurologists for over 50 years, passed away on December 2nd, 2001. Dr. Velasco Suárez was the founding director of the National Institute of Neurology and Neurosurgery [Instituto Nacional de Neurologia y Neurocirurgia] in Mexico City, and a promoter for the establishment of farms where scores of destitute mental patients found an easier life. He also developed a career in public service and eventually became Governor of Chiapas, the southern state where he was born. In parallel to these activities he always kept his scientific interests alive, writing numerous articles and books, as well as attending the meetings of several medical and academic associations, including the International Society for the History of the Neurosciences, of which he was a regular member." In other tributes in the national press in Mexico, Dr. Velasco Suárez was hailed as the father of bioethics in Latin America. International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War, which won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1985, also reported the passing of the 87 year old "leader and inspirational spirit of our IPPNW-Mexico affiliate. His energy, generosity and commitment was the engine for [much progress] the IPPNW achieved toward peace." Russell Johnson ISHN Secretary rjohnson@library.ucla.edu