Francine Leca

Francine Leca (20 May 1938 – 15 June 2024) was a French cardiac surgeon and professor of medicine specialising in heart surgery, a pioneer of the discipline in pediatrics.

Biography
Francine Leca gravitated toward medicine at a very young age. During an internship in cardiac surgery under professor Jean Mathey at Laennec Hospital, she assisted her first open heart surgery. As an intern at hôpitaux de Paris, she discovered pediatric cardiac surgery under Professor George Lemoine. She went on to specialize in congenital heart defects.

Leca was the first woman to become a cardiac surgeon in France, and was the chief of services of cardiac surgery, first at Laennec Hospital and then Necker (Paris) until 2003.

In 1996 Leca along with Patrice Roynette founded the organization - Enfant du Monde (Mécénat Cardiac Surgery - Child of the World) which raises funds to treat children with serious heart conditions who could not otherwise receive treatment in their home countries.

Leca died on 15 June 2024, at the age of 86.

Distinctions

 * Grand officer of the Legion of Honour
 * Grand officer of the ordre national du Mérite

Honors

 * The Prize of Tolerance 2015.
 * of 1998