[Posthumous homage to Professor Héctor Orrego Puelma, MD]

Professor Hector Orrego Puelma was born in 1897 and deceased in 1995, in Santiago, Chile. After completion of his studies at the School of Medicine, University of Chile (1922), he followed an outstanding career in Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases, becoming a founder of this medical specialty in Chile. After obtaining consecutive fellowships in Europe (France in 1927 and then Germany, Italy and England) he returned to the University of Chile becoming assistant and then full professor of Tisiology (1934). He was the founder of the Chilean Thoracic Society (1930) and the editor of the first Chilean Journal of Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases (1935). A very prolific author, he published more than 200 articles in medical journals and he wrote the first Chilean textbook on tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases (1932-1934) as well as an autobiographical novel. He was chairman of the tuberculosis and respiratory diseases' clinics in several hospitals in Santiago. In 1954 and after 15 years of efforts he was able to found the Thoracic Hospital, a national center for tuberculosis and respiratory diseases. He was a consultant for antituberculosis programs of the Ministry of Public Health. After being designated the first director of the Graduate School Faculty of Medicine, University of Chile, he played a crucial role in leading the systematic training of physicians from Chile and from other Latin-American countries in several clinical specialties. Because of his merits and achievements he was honoured not only by Chilean academic and governmental institutions but also by international medical organizations and foreign governments.