Rafael López Nussa (22 February 1885 – 3 March 1943) was a Puerto Rican physician and public servant. In 1916 López Nussa performed the first heart surgery operation in Puerto Rico.

Dr. Rafael López Nussa
Rafael López Nussa
Born22 February 1885[1]
Died3 March 1943[1]
EducationGeorgetown University
New York Post Graduate Medical School
Chicago Laboratory of Surgical Technique
Years activeca. 1915 (?) - 1943
Known forFirst heart surgery operation in Puerto Rico
Co-founder of the Puerto Rico National Guard
Medical career
ProfessionPhysician, Public servant
InstitutionsHospital Tricoche
Hospital San Lucas
Hospital de Distrito de Ponce
Escuela de Medicina Tropical

Early years edit

López Nussa was born in Mayaguez, Puerto Rico, on 22 February 1885. He was the son of Ramon B. López, an Austrian, [2] and Micaela Nussa, a Spaniard[3] from Barcelona.[1] Rafael López Nussa was the brother of María Asunción, who married Bailey K. Ashford.[4]

Education edit

After completing his schooling years and graduating from high school in Puerto Rico, López Nussa entered college and graduated with a degree in medicine from Georgetown University in 1906. He graduated with specialization from the New York Post Graduate Medical School in 1913, and from the Chicago Laboratory of Surgical Technique in 1916.[1]

Career edit

He returned to Puerto Rico and performed as medical director at the Hospital Tricoche in Ponce from 1907 to 1920.[1] He represented Puerto Rico at the International Congress for Medicine in London in 1913.[5] In 1916 he performed a delicate cardiac surgical procedure at Hospital Tricoche in Ponce; it is so registered in the records of the Puerto Rico Medical Association as the first such procedure performed in Puerto Rico.[1]

In 1918 he took a position at the Hospital San Lucas as surgeon and medical director. He was also a surgeon at Ponce's Hospital de Distrito, a public government institution serving south-central Puerto Rico, and was also a medical consultant for the new Escuela de Medicina Tropical in San Juan, Puerto Rico.[1]

Political and other activities edit

In 1915, Lopez Nussa was one of the co-founders of the Puerto Rico National Guard.[6] In 1928, he was president of Ponce School Board. He was also president of the Ponce Rotary Club, vice-president of the Puerto Rico Medical Association, member of the American Board of Surgeons, and the physician for the Ponce Firefighters Corps.[1] In 1930, he presided over the medical group that traveled to the Dominican Republic to care for victims of San Zenon tropical storm.[1] In 1934, Lopez Nussa formed part of the welcoming committee for the arrival of U.S. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt and his wife to Ponce.[7]

Death edit

López Nussa died in San Juan on 3 March 1943.

Legacy edit

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Luis Fortuño Janeiro. Album Histórico de Ponce (1692-1963). Page 277. (Ponce, Puerto Rico: Imprenta Fortuño. 1963.)
  2. ^ Socorro Guirón. Ponce, el teatro La Perla y La Campana de la Almudaina: Historia de Ponce desde sus comienzos hasta la segunda decada del siglo XIX. Ponce, Puerto Rico: Gobierno Municipal de Ponce. 1992. page 399.
  3. ^ Socorro Guirón. Ponce, el teatro La Perla y La Campana de la Almudaina. Historia de Ponce desde sus comienzos hasta la segunda decada del siglo XIX. Ponce, Puerto Rico: Gobierno Municipal de Ponce. 1992. pages 399.
  4. ^ Socorro Guirón. Ponce, el teatro La Perla y La Campana de la Almudaina. Historia de Ponce desde sus comienzos hasta la segunda decada del siglo XIX. Ponce, Puerto Rico: Gobierno Municipal de Ponce. 1992. page 399.
  5. ^ Seventeenth International Congress of Medicine (London, 1913). British Medical Journal. 1913 June 28; 1(2739): 1375–1376. Accessed 18 March 2012.
  6. ^ Luis Fortuño Janeiro. Album Histórico de Ponce (1692-1963). Page 263. Ponce, Puerto Rico: Imprenta Fortuño. 1963.
  7. ^ Luis Fortuño Janeiro. Album Histórico de Ponce (1692-1963). Page 146. Ponce, Puerto Rico: Imprenta Fortuño. 1963.
  8. ^ MENSAJE DE PRESUPUESTO: AÑO FISCAL 2011-2012. Page 29. Archived 2012-04-25 at the Wayback Machine Hon. María “Mayita” Meléndez Altieri, Mayor. Autonomous Municipality of Ponce. Ponce, Puerto Rico. 30 May 2011. Retrieved 18 March 2012.
  9. ^ Sunny A. Cabrera Salcedo. Hacia un Estudio Integral de la Toponimia del Municipio de Ponce, Puerto Rico. Ph. D. dissertation. May 1999. University of Massachusetts Amherst. Graduate School. Department of Spanish and Portuguese. Page 182.
  10. ^ Medicine. TravelPonce Retrieved 18 March 2012.
  11. ^ Health Care Resources: Puerto Rico/VirginIslands. U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Retrieved 18 March 2012.
  12. ^ School Name: DR. Rafael Lopez Nussa. National Center for Education Statistics. U.S.Department of Education. Retrieved 18 March 2012.