Manuel Velasco-Suarez was one of Mexico's wise elders and was usually revered in his home country with the title of “maestro.” He became an early leader of and perennial pillar of support for International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War, and he was in no small measure responsible for the inspired and visionary role that Mexico had in efforts to rid the planet of nuclear weapons.

The son of a judge, who went on to become governor of the province of Chiapas, Manuel moved to Mexico City at the age of 14 to continue his education. His social activism began at an early age, and in 1938 he was one of the student leaders who attended the World Youth Congress against war and fascism that was sponsored by the United States' then first lady, Eleanor Roosevelt.

Manuel trained in medicine at the National Autonomous University of Mexico and in neurosurgery in Boston. Returning to Mexico as chief of neurosurgery at Hospital Juarez, one of Mexico's largest, he became the “father of neurosurgery” in Mexico and the teacher of generations of surgeons. He founded and directed the National Institute of Neurology and Neurosurgery, which now bears his name.

Elected governor of his southern home province of Chiapas in 1970, Manuel supported recognition and justice for indigenous people. He consistently articulated the nexus between peace, health, and justice; and he masterfully understood the need for political engagement to achieve social and public health goals.

Out of the ruins of the 1985 Mexico City earthquake, he directed the rebuilding of Hospital Juarez, and created the inspiring Physician's Peace Park in Tlatelolco, from where the Latin American Nuclear Weapons Free Zone Treaty, the world's first, takes its name. A deeply religious man, Manuel was the founding president of the Mexican National Commission on Bioethics. He remained active, lucid, and indefatigable well into his 80s.

My wife and I first came to know him well during an IPPNW trip to Armenia and Azerbaijan in 1986. There are many things about him that we treasure—shared cognac and whisky, always without ice; lunch in grand style at San Angeline; tequilas on the verandah at five in the afternoon at his retreat at Guernavaca; the breakfast lesson in the dissection of bananas Manuel-style, sagittally; the morning dispensation of the allotted dose of vitamin C for each person for that day; his quiet personal prayers in his chapel; his phone calls, always in the wee morning hours; his precise and expansive handwriting and delightful letters.

Predeceased by his wife, Elvira, and two children, he leaves nine children.

Manuel Velasco-Suarez, neurosurgeon; b San Cristobal de las Casas, Mexico, 28 December 1914; q National Autonomous University of Mexico; d Mexico City 2 December 2001.