Silvio Weidmann 1921–2005

Abstract

Silvio Weidmann’s death on July 11, 2005, brings to a close a heroic period for cellular cardiac electrophysiology. Silvio was the first to record accurate cardiac transmembrane action potentials and to identify the roles of sodium and potassium currents in excitation, conduction, and repolarization in cardiac cells. From his experiments in the 1950’s has grown the entire field of cardiac electrophysiology. His ideas and their influence on those who entered the field after him set the standard for progress in the last half-century. The field is now a cornerstone of clinical cardiac care. ⇓ Dr Silvio Weidmann. Photograph courtesy of Ruth Weidmann. Silvio graduated from the University of Bern Medical School in 1946, after interruptions for service in the Swiss Army. In 1948 he went from Uppsala to Cambridge, England, to work with future Nobel laureate Alan Hodgkin—an experience that set the stage for Silvio’s major contributions. After four years back in Bern, …