GUIRAUDON, Gérard – Peacefully at University Hospital on February 14, 2019, Dr. Gérard Marcel Guiraudon, of London and formerly of Paris, France, age 87. Beloved husband of the late Colette (2016). Loving father of Virginie, Valérie and Nicolas and grandfather of Jeanne and Gloria. Dear brother of Jean-Claude Guiraudon.
Dr. Guiraudon became a professor of medicine in Paris in 1965 and performed the first heart transplant in Europe in 1968. He moved to Western and University Hospital in 1981 where he continued to pioneer surgical procedures, and engaged in ground-breaking research in cardiac electrophysiology. To the end, he collaborated as an associate at the Robarts Research Institute and with scientists around the world, notably in the Netherlands, France and the US. He cherished imagination and invention in his field to better the lives of patients. Outside of the lab and the operating room, he was a regatta sailor, Alpine skier, mountain cyclist, a cat lover, and avid reader of philosophy and literature. He was a passionate storyteller and an astute observer of our times. He had a big heart, a very generous man.
A memorial gathering will be held at Harris Funeral Home, 220 St. James St. at Richmond, on Wednesday, February 20 from 5-7 pm, with remembrances at 5:30 pm.
Memorial contributions to the Robarts Research Institute Imaging Lab or the Humane Society would be appreciated.