Miguel Pérez Camacho (Los Llanos de Aridane, La Palma, 1882 – Santa Cruz de Tenerife, 1957). In his youth he moved to Cuba, where he studied Medicine and Surgery, specializing in Gynecology and Obstetrics.
In 1914 he would achieve great fame as a digestive system surgeon having performed a gastroenterostomy on a patient with a pyloric ulcer.
In Cuba he was a member of the National Society of Surgery, of the Society of Clinical Studies and director of the Maternity and Childhood Hospital of Havana. He would also have his own Clinic, in Cabaiguán, Santa Clara province.
His works: A case of Term Uterus Hysterectomy and Surgical Notes, read in 1925 and 1930, respectively, at the Havana Academy of Medical, Physical and Natural Sciences, were published by the Clinical Studies Society.
He married, by proxy, on July 7, 1915, Austreberta García Camacho, a native of Santa Cruz de La Palma, from whose marriage his daughters Juana and Berta were born.
In 1932 he returned to his native island, practicing as a surgeon at the Hospital de Nuestra Señora de Los Dolores in Santa Cruz de La Palma. He would also open a private clinic -Clínica Camacho-, which would be a true benchmark for health on the Island. This architectural jewel, the work of the Gran Canarian architect Miguel Martín-Fernández de la Torre, is currently the headquarters of the Health Center of the capital palm.
Miguel Pérez Camacho would spend the last seven years of his professional life at the Clínica Capote and the Clínica Bañares in Santa Cruz de Tenerife, earning himself well-deserved professional prestige in these years, since he was the first surgeon to perform cholecystectomy in the Canary Islands. and Gastrectomy, when the latter was not yet practiced in Spain.
For his merits he was awarded the Commendation and Plaque of the Order of Health.
Also, the Hon. The City Council of Santa Cruz de La Palma distinguished him with the City’s Gold Medal, labeled one of its streets with his name, and erected a bronze bust of him in the Plaza de La Alameda.
