Jorge Kaplán

Jorge Sergio Kaplán Meyer (27 February 1926–14 April 2009) is a Chilean politician, who served as mayor of Viña Del Mar.^[2]

He was a pioneer in heart transplants in his country and Latin America, performed at the Almirante Nef Naval Hospital in Valparaíso.^[3]

In 1992, in recognition of his career and his contribution to the development of medicine in the country, the University of Valparaíso awarded him the distinction of honorary professor.^[3]

Kaplán studied medicine at the University of Chile, graduating in 1951. He spent much of his professional career in the Valparaíso Region.^[3]

He practiced as a surgeon at the Carlos Van Buren Hospital in Valparaíso; in the Department of Surgery at the Sanatorio de Valparaíso; at the Dr. Gustavo Fricke Hospital in Viña del Mar; at the Almirante Nef Naval Hospital in Valparaíso; and at the Reñaca Clinic.^[3]

Kaplán also served as president of the National Transplant Corporation of the Ministry of Health, and as a professor at the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Chile in Valparaíso, current University of Valparaíso.^[3]

On 28 June 1968, Kaplán led the medical team that performed the first heart transplant in the history of Chile at the Almirante Nef Naval Hospital in Valparaíso^[4] on 24-year-old patient María Elena Peñaloza, a native of Panquehue, who received the heart of 21-year-old Gabriel Véliz, who had died of a brain tumor, marking a milestone in Latin American medical history.^[4]