Eugene Braunwald: Lessons and Stories from the Father of Modern Cardiology

On April 22, 2026, we received the news of the death of Eugene Braunwald in Boston at the age of 96, leaving orphaned thousands of cardiologists around the world who, like me, unanimously regard him as the father of modern cardiology. Upon receiving the honorable invitation from the Editor of the Arquivos Brasileiros de Cardiologia , Glaucia Maria Moraes de Oliveira, to write this editorial, I was faced with the difficult challenge of summarizing, in a few words, his trajectory, his teachings, and his importance to our specialty—a task I undertake from the personal perspective of a cardiologist.

I came to know Braunwald through books. During my Internal Medicine residency, I devoured Harrison’s Principles of Internal Medicine , in which Braunwald was the lead editor. Later, during my Cardiology residency, our bible was his Braunwald’s Heart Disease .

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