A few weeks ago, one of the leading figures in medical science and champion of Family Planning in Peru, Dr. Roger Guerra-García Cueva, ceased to exist, possessing a number of qualities that need to be highlighted and imitated.

Dr. Roger Guerra-García was born on April 02, 1933 in the city of Pacasmayo, La Libertad, although his ancestors came from Cajamarca, where he used to go frequently to enjoy nature and fulfill the responsibilities of his position.

Dr. Guerra was a doctor from San Marcos University, with a postgraduate degree at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York and the Boston University School of Medicine, having achieved his doctorate at Cayetano Heredia Peruvian University.

He has always devoted himself to university and academic life, having worked at the Andean Biology Institute of the Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos, the Altitude Research Institute of the Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia (UPCH) -where he developed intense activity and was Director of the same-, in the Alberto Hurtado Chair of the UPCH -very close to the illustrious teacher and mentor Dr. Alberto Hurtado, in the Peruvian Association of Medical Faculties, the Multidisciplinary Association of Research and Teaching in Population (AMIDEP) an institution founded by him -, Rector of the UPCH -where he developed a brilliant management at a critical moment, due to the financial crisis of that time-, and in other university institutions in Peru and abroad.

He was a born researcher, promoting and conducting various investigations, and published many books and more than a hundred articles in scientific journals. He was founding Director of the journal Acta Médica Peruana of the Colegio Médico del Perú (CMP) and organized the CMP library, which unfortunately was not continued. He was also a member of the Editorial Committee of Acta Herediana and Editor of the journal Acta Andina, of the Instituto de Investigaciones de Altura of the UPCH.

Organizer of several libraries, he generously kept them open to all interested, as well as was an inveterate reader, which made him possess an unequaled culture among medical professionals.

Among other prestigious institutions, he was a member of the UNESCO Committee for Science and Technology Policy for Development -Paris-, and of the Board of Directors of the International Foundation of Sciences -Sweden. He was President of the Peruvian Society of Endocrinology, the Latin American Association for Research in Human Reproduction (ALIRH), the National Academy of Sciences, CONCYTEC, the National

Academy of Medicine, the Advisory Commission of the Ministry of Health and honorary member of the Colombian Academy of Medicine. He held the positions of Vice Minister of Education and Congressman of the Republic, when one of his concerns was the validity of the National Population Institute, which unfortunately he could not achieve.

From a very young age, he was interested in the problems of reproduction, which is visible in his graduate thesis on andrology in guinea pigs at sea level and at altitude, which was complemented in his doctoral thesis with the dynamics of andrology in the human being. This materialized in the time and effort dedicated to the reproductive endocrinology laboratory at the Hospital Arzobispo Loayza, together with Drs. Luis Sobrevilla, José Donayre and Federico Moncloa.

Since the 1960s, he was greatly interested in the study of the Peruvian population and its repercussions, reflected in his publications and his integration into the Center for Population and Development Studies, which was chaired by Dr. Alberto Arca Parró, during the first government of President Belaúnde. Likewise, he became interested in maternal child health, which is reflected in his publications in The Peruvian Journal of Gynecology and Obstetrics, in 1971.

He founded and was Director of the Multidisciplinary Association of Teaching in Population, holding the first national seminar on population and development, promoting research and training and training of human resources. He was a member of the Peruvian Association of Demography, from where he strongly promoted population studies and demography in Peru. Finally, he was Director of the Human Reproduction Program of the World Health Organization, where he promoted the training of many human resources in the country.

An important source that narrates the trajectory of Dr. Roger Guerra García is the article by Dr. Gustavo González Rengifo on “Love in times of war”, published in Acta Herediana in 2013, in which the summary information of the present In Memoriam can be supplemented.

Dr. Guerra García not only transmitted love to his beloved family, but also to his disciples, his collaborators, his colleagues of all nationalities. He will be remembered for being an excellent medical professional with a broad humanistic component that he gave to his life. We will always remember him for his wisdom, honesty, modesty, integrity, his kindness, an example to be imitated for the new generations. Let us go back to Plato's words: “Be wise and you will be good.” This was our honoree.