Manuel Viamonte M.D. Jr.

1930 - 2019

VIAMONTE, JR., MD, MANUEL. Mount Sinai Medical Center pays tribute to Dr. Manuel Viamonte Jr., an internationally renowned radiologist who served as the director of radiology at the medical center for over four decades. Born in Havana, Cuba, on March 19, 1930, Dr. Viamonte graduated first in his class from the University of Havana Medical School in 1955 with the highest honors. He completed his medical training at the University of Pennsylvania, and then returned to Cuba in 1958 to work alongside his father at the University of Havana. After refusing pressure from the revolutionary committee of the hospital to assume his father's role as chair of radiology during the Cuban Revolution, Dr. Viamonte instead emigrated to the United States and joined the University of Miami/Jackson Memorial Hospital, and soon after joined Mount Sinai Medical Center. He was named radiology chair at Mount Sinai in 1968, a title he held until 2003, making him one of the longest-serving medical chairs in the U.S. Dr. Viamonte also continued to pursue his passion for teaching. For 18 years, he worked as both a professor and chairman of radiology at the University of Miami/Jackson Memorial Hospital in addition to his role at Mount Sinai. Under his direction, Mount Sinai established one of the best programs in the nation for diagnostic imagery, graduating hundreds of radiology residents over the course of his tenure. Dr. Viamonte was also a pioneer in cardiac and interventional radiology procedures and devices, and authored over 20 books and 250 published scientific papers. Over the course of his career, he gave hundreds of lectures in the community and worldwide and was well-known for his exciting, three-projector lecture series. Even after his retirement, he continued to lecture and remained involved in medical education. "Dr. Viamonte was arguably South Florida's most well-known physician, here and throughout the world. Under his leadership, Mount Sinai became the first hospital in the region to have a CT scanner, PET scanner, and MRI, and later, the first to have a high-speed CT scan and the first hospital-based cyclotron. He created great prominence and an outstanding reputation for Mount Sinai, and our community is much richer, thanks to his contributions in training the hundreds of physicians here and around the globe," said Steven D. Sonenreich, president and CEO of Mount Sinai Medical Center. Dr. Viamonte and his wife, Gisela, are Fellows in the Society of Mount Sinai and members of the Founders of Mount Sinai, the most time-honored fundraising organizations of the medical center's foundation. Dr. Viamonte was also a member of the medical center's Board of Trustees. All of us at Mount Sinai extend our heartfelt condolences to Dr. Viamonte's family and his friends. He leaves a legacy of helping others through his kindness and generosity, and he will always have a special place in the hearts of everyone who had the privilege of knowing him.