Overview

• Favaloro pioneered the first saphenous-vein aortocoronary bypass in 1967, a procedure now standard with 40,000–50,000 annual operations in Argentina.
• He established Fundación Favaloro in 1975 to integrate medical care, research and professional training under a social medicine ethos.
• By 2000 the foundation was burdened by over $40 million in debts, including more than $18 million owed by the state and social insurers.
• In seven letters left before his July 29, 2000 suicide, Favaloro denounced bureaucratic silence and unpaid bills that he had long sought to resolve.
• Memorial events this week include guided heritage tours in La Plata, symbolic lighting in Buenos Aires and floral offerings in tribute to his legacy.