Arnoldo Kraus

Arnoldo Samuel Kraus Weissman (10 November 1951 – 30 August 2025) was a Mexican physician, writer and academic recognized for his contributions to bioethics. He served as professor at the Faculty of Medicine of the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), where he combined medical practice with teaching, research, and essay writing. Kraus published more than twenty books on subjects such as euthanasia, abortion, assisted suicide, secularism, and the doctor–patient relationship.

Early life and education Kraus was born in Mexico City on 10 November 1951, to a Polish Jewish family that lost numerous relatives in Nazi concentration camps.

Kraus studied medicine at the National Autonomous University of Mexico and completed postgraduate training in internal medicine, immunology, and rheumatology at the Salvador Zubirán National Institute of Health Sciences and Nutrition (INCMNSZ).

Career Kraus taught at the Faculty of Medicine of the National Autonomous University of Mexico, where he also carried out research, and later practiced medicine at in Mexico City. His academic work emphasized the doctor-patient relationship, and he was a founding member of the College of Bioethics.

Kraus defined bioethics as "the philosophy of the 21st century," framing it as a discipline that guides human relationships with society, nature, and the self. He was noted for his defense of secularism, his criticism of social inequality, and his concern over the concentration of power, which he referred to as a "cancerous trilogy" of politicians, business leaders, and religious figures. ''

Death Kraus died in Mexico City on 30 August 2025, at the age of 73.