Eugene Braunwald

Abstract

In the last issue of Circulation Research ,1 we heard from esteemed cardiologist Eugene Braunwald (Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston, MA) about his family’s escape from Nazi-occupied Austria. Braunwald arrived in the United States with his family in 1939, aged 10. He went on to become one of the most influential and highly regarded clinical cardiovascular scientists of the last 50 years. It is safe to say that through his research, Braunwald has contributed to the survival of countless heart attack patients across the globe. In part two of this interview, we learn how Braunwald’s passion for cardiology developed and how at 80 years of age that passion, as well as his work ethic, show no signs of diminishing. ### So, a New Life in Brooklyn Began… Thankfully, we were out of danger, but my parents were now concerned about our future as strangers in a country that, contrary to current belief, was not yet out of the depression. We were as poor as the proverbial church mice, and my father had to figure out how to support us. I don’t know how, but he always managed to put bread on the table. Life was nothing like it had been in Vienna before March 1938. But, my father was a very enterprising, strongly motivated, and hard-working man, and after a few false starts, he managed, with my mother’s help, to create a second successful wholesale clothing business. ### Tell Me About Your School Days in Brooklyn I started in an elementary school and did well. In fact, I was the class Valedictorian, which was quite an honor for a relatively recent arrival. Then, I went off to Brooklyn Technical High School, an elite public high school that required passing a very tough entrance examination. ### You Were Already Leaning Toward the Sciences. At What Point Did You Decide to Study Medicine? I started high school with the desire to become an engineer. It was the “in thing” to do …