On 10 November 2026, Academician Professor Ninoslav Radovanović, MD, PhD, passed away in Geneva at the age of 86. He was one of Serbia’s most distinguished cardiac surgeons, a pioneer of modern cardiac surgery, and the founder of the University Clinic for Cardiovascular Surgery in Sremska Kamenica.
Born on 6 May 1940 in Niš, he graduated from the University of Belgrade Faculty of Medicine in 1965. He began his professional career in Switzerland in 1967, undertaking specialist training in cardiovascular surgery at Geneva University Hospital from 1970 to 1975 under Professor Charles Hahn. He continued his training at some of the world’s most respected medical institutions, including Hôpital Broussais in Paris, the Texas Heart Institute in Houston, Cleveland Clinic, and Harvard Medical School in Boston.
In 1979, he was appointed a full professor at the Faculty of Medicine in Novi Sad. From 1980, he served as director of the Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases in Sremska Kamenica, where the University Clinic for Cardiovascular Surgery was established in 1984, with Professor Radovanović as its first director. Under his leadership, the institution became one of the region’s leading cardiac surgery centres. In 1989, he also performed Serbia’s first heart transplant in Sremska Kamenica.
Over the course of his decades-long career, he participated in more than 30,000 open-heart operations, performing over 15,000 of them independently. He was particularly renowned for his work in coronary, valvular, and congenital cardiac surgery, for introducing advanced surgical techniques, and for developing new methods of treating the most severe heart conditions. From 1986, he also participated in an international research project in Switzerland focused on developing an artificial heart.
His international career included decades of work at prestigious Swiss clinics, including Clinique de Genolier and Clinique Cecil in Lausanne. He was also one of the founders of the international cardiovascular centre MC Medicor in Slovenia, where he continued his surgical and professional work, making a significant contribution to the development of cardiac surgery in that country.
Alongside his exceptional clinical work, he pursued an outstanding scientific and academic career. During his professional life, he presented and published 1,110 scientific and professional papers, including 212 at international conferences worldwide, 484 at European conferences, and 414 at national professional meetings. He authored five monographs of international significance and participated in numerous international research projects.
He was elected a corresponding member of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts in 2003 and a full member in 2009. He belonged to numerous international professional associations, including the Society of Thoracic Surgeons in the United States and the European Society for Cardiovascular Surgery. In 1987, he served as president of the Mediterranean Association of Cardiology and Cardiac Surgery.
In recognition of his exceptional achievements, he received numerous national and international honours, including the Order of the Yugoslav Flag with Golden Star, the Order of Saint Sava (First Class), the Order of Njegoš (First Class), the October Award and the February Award of the City of Novi Sad, the Sretenje Order (First Class), and Slovenia’s Order of Merit for his contribution to the development of cardiology and the treatment of patients with heart disease.
Academician Radovanović left an indelible mark on the history of cardiovascular surgery. His contribution is measured not only in thousands of successful operations and scientific publications, but also in the generations of physicians he taught, the institutions he helped build, and the lives of the patients he cared for.
His passing is a profound loss to the medical community in Serbia and internationally.
The Serbian Society for Cardiovascular Surgery extends its deepest condolences to his family, friends, colleagues, and all those he mentored.