It is a great honor to put into words the trajectory of an outstanding master of surgery of Cordoba, of our country and of the entire world, who has been not only our mentor in surgery, but also a permanent support and an immeasurable advisor and friend.

Luis Gramática was born in Villa Dolores, a city in western Cordoba, on November 14, 1940. He was the son of Ferrante José Gramatica and Sara Ema Mateos, for whom he had a special passion. He completed his primary and secondary education there and then entered the Faculty of Medicine of the Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, where he was an outstanding student. When he finished his studies, he started working in the Chair of Descriptive Anatomy, where we had the opportunity to meet him. He did not go unnoticed and impressed us with his knowledge and the ease he displayed. At the same time, he started his activity as a surgeon, joining the Surgery Department 2 of the Hospital de Clínicas de Córdoba, which had been established by Dr. Pablo Luis Mirizzi years before, and continued with his rigorous way of teaching.

After some time, he decided to complete his surgical training in Spain and managed to enter the Hospital de la Santa Cruz y San Pablo, in the Department of General and Digestive Surgery, under the direction of Professor Jaime Pi Figueras, who was recognized worldwide and was considered by Luis to be his true master. There he met Concepción Bosch, who he married and who was his inseparable partner over time. He had three children: Luis, who became a surgeon and worked with him, and Gabriel and Gerard, two renowned lawyers in the city of Cordoba.

After finishing his training in Barcelona, he moved to the United States, where he received his degree from Norwestern University at Chicago. There, he was fully dedicated to research on pancreatic diseases under the supervision of Prof. Marion Anderson. He then travelled to France to complete his studies with Prof. Henry Sarles in Marseille.

Sometime later he returned to Cordoba, where he soon presented his doctoral thesis entitled Cholecystopancreatitis, which obtained the highest qualification. This achievement and his passion for the pancreas placed him on the leading positions among the surgical community.

He also went to St Mark’s Hospital in London where he received training in colorectal surgery. Later, he won the JICA scholarship and moved to Japan where he gained important experience in esophageal and gastric surgery under the supervision of Prof. Endo.

Back in Córdoba, he became Full Professor of the II Chair of Clinical Surgery by competitive selection, and later became head of the Department of Surgery.

But perhaps his trips to Africa in the company of one of his most beloved disciples, Dr. Ernesto Papa, were the most important experiences that would mark him forever, as he commented with passion. Undoubtedly, he provided invaluable help by assisting and operating on many sick people in humanitarian missions in Cameroon and Mali.

He had a special affection for Asociación Argentina de Cirugía, where he acted as president of the 72nd Argentine Congress of Surgery in 2001, and two years later he became president of the institution.

But his dedication to training new generations was the most important aspect of his medical career. He constantly asked himself what he could offer them best. In this way, he was able to make several doctors work in important centers in the country and abroad. He educated many trainees, including professionals with a considerable trajectory as Orlando Mdalel, Jorge Saliba, Rolando Montenegro, his son Luisito, Roberto Badra, Francisco Bergesio, Daniel Beyrne, Cristian Dutari and Federico Garibotti, among others. It was a pleasure to accompany him on a ward round. He always impressed us with his ability to solve problematic cases, and his differential diagnoses were absolutely solid. When we entered the operating room, he impressed us with his skill and precision in applying a surgical technique. He enjoyed sharing a coffee with all his trainees at the bar in front of the hospital after ward rounds or at the end of a surgery. They were real clinical seminars in which most of the physicians participated very relaxed, and he lovingly called these meetings Ortega y Gasset’s Chats.

He was always concerned about assisting surgeons. He was present as soon as he was needed and generously helped many of them with any difficulty or serious complication.

Dear Luis, we will always remember you with great affection, intense respect and deep admiration.

May you rest in peace.