Valentino Martelli, an internationally renowned Sardinian doctor and a pioneer of cardiac surgery on the island, died in Rome at the age of 82.

Born in Cagliari in 1943, after graduating in Medicine, he completed his training in Catania under the guidance of master Luciano Provenzale, before moving to London, where he became a student of Donald Ross, a famous South African cardiac surgeon and world pioneer in heart valve surgery.

In London, he directed the Italian Hospital, transforming it into a center for Sardinian patients, who underwent thousands of operations there. In 1988, he returned to Sardinia, becoming head of the island's first cardiac surgery department, which he brought to levels of excellence, among the most modern and up-to-date in Southern Italy. Among his numerous operations, in 1988 he performed the first heart transplant in the history of Sardinian medicine.

Martelli also had a political career: elected senator in 1992, he was re-elected until 2001 and served as undersecretary of Foreign Affairs in the D'Alema government. Returning to Cagliari, he continued his political career until his retirement in 2006.

(Unioneonline)

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