the "Finochietto scissors," and a bench that allowed surgeons to operate while seated. Establishing the Surgical Graduate School of Buenos Aires, he also changed how surgery was taught and performed in Argentina. Finochietto insisted on giving students more practical experience in surgery and included instruction on proper, professional demeanor throughout a surgical procedure. He also taught as a Clinical Professor of Surgery at the University of Buenos Aires, and became the president of the Buenos Aires Surgical Society in 1922. He developed new surgical techniques in 1924 for the treatment of the stomach, duodenum, and small intestine. Dr. Finochietto in 1929 performed the first intervention on a cardiac lesion in Argentina, successfully repairing a bullet wound to the heart of a minor. Dr. Finochietto was also an avid fan of the Tango, and he counted legendary crooner Carlos Gardel among his close friends. One of the best-known composers in the genre, Julio de Caro, composed Buen amigo (Good Friend) in his honor, in 1925. A noted academic, he published over 100 peer-reviewed papers and began work on a sixteen-volume surgical guide with his brother, Ricardo. Finochietto, who had contracted syphilis during his travels abroad, suffered from worsening health, and he accepted retirement from the university in 1933 as professor emeritus. The ailing surgeon extracted a hydatid cyst from a child in 1940 - his last surgical intervention. His condition forced him to abandon his practice and he continued writing until his death on February 17, 1948, at age 66. Bibliography Losardo RJ et al. Alfonso Roque Albanese: Latin American Pioneer of Heart Surgery. Tribute from the Pan American Association of Anatomy. Int. J. Morphol.. 2017;35(3):1016-1025. References and external links 1881 births 1948 deaths Argentine surgeons University of Buenos Aires faculty Argentine inventors Recipients of the Legion of Honour University of Buenos Aires alumni Argentine people of Italian descent People from Buenos Aires Burials at La Recoleta Cemetery 20th-century inventors 20th-century surgeons