Objective: This article characterize the contributions of Peter Safar and Vladimir Negovsky to the field of resuscitation and critical medicine during the 20th century and the dawn of the 21st century with the purpouse to correlate the discoveries and developments of each one, with their life stories and with the historical moments throughout the 20th century. Materials and Methods: A review of literature on the subject was conducted, in which primary and secondary sources on the life and scientific and academic production of Vladimir Negovsky and Peter Safar were searched in online databases, in English as well as Spanish. Results: Peter Safar and Vladimir Negovsky, although they had two very different life histories and developed their academic contributions in opposite political contexts, this did not prevent each of them from laying the foundations of cardiopulmonary resuscitation, both in the concepts and the physiopathological understanding of the damage processes, as well as the procedures to act in a timely manner, minimizing them. They also contributed to critical medicine, and to the formation of intensive care units. This work aims to show how a field of knowledge is based on collective work, as the discovery does not depend on a single character, but on a social, historical process, which is also based on the knowledge and elements developed by others. RESUMENObjetivo: Con este artículo se caracterizan los aportes de Peter Safar y Vladimir Negovsky en el campo de la reanimatología y de la medicina crítica durante el siglo XX y albores del siglo XXI, y se correlacionan sus investigaciones y descubrimientos con sus historias de vida y momentos compartidos. Materiales y