Portrait of Bernard Lown to be unveiled June 7 in Lewiston

Dr. Bernard Lown walks on the bridge renamed in his honor in 2008 in Lewiston. The Massachusetts cardiologist invented the first reliable heart defibrillator and later co-founded an anti-nuclear war group that was awarded a Nobel Peace Prize. Sun Journal file photo

LEWISTON — A portrait of Lewiston native Bernard Lown, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate who died in 2021, will be unveiled during a public ceremony at 5:30 p.m. June 7 at the Bates Mill Atrium at 36 Chestnut St.

The painting is part of Brooksville artist Robert Shetterly’s “Americans Who Tell the Truth” series featuring individuals he views as courageous activists.

There are 270 portraits in the series, ranging from Civil Rights Movement leader John Lewis to Samantha Smith, a Manchester girl who became a symbol of the quest for peace after she wrote to the leader of the Soviet Union.

Robert Shetterly paints a portrait of Penobscot Nation activist Maulian Dana, who was featured in the documentary “Truth Tellers.” Kane-Lewis Productions

Lown, who is featured on a new dollar coin, was the inventor of the defibrillator and a Nobel Peace Prize honoree for his work with Physicians for Social Responsibility.

“Dr. Lown recognized that the point where medicine and geopolitics intersect is the prevention of nuclear catastrophe. In the event of a nuclear exchange, doctors would be helpless to treat anyone,” Shetterly said in a news release.

As part of the free 90-minute unveiling, those attending are expected to hear from Larry Gilbert, former Lewiston mayor; Emily Cain, a former executive director of Emily’s List and Maine politician; Doug Rawlings, poet and peace activist; and members of the Lown family.