J Med Biogr
· 2024 Aug · PMID 37221840
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Louis Hubert Farabeuf (1841-1910) was a reformer of clinical, surgical, and topographic human anatomy studies during the second half of the 19th century. Over 30 years as a professor of Anatomy, Farabeuf wrote outstandin...Louis Hubert Farabeuf (1841-1910) was a reformer of clinical, surgical, and topographic human anatomy studies during the second half of the 19th century. Over 30 years as a professor of Anatomy, Farabeuf wrote outstanding anatomical textbooks. As the head of Anatomic Studies in the Faculty of Medicine in Paris, he succeeded in leading a profound restructuring of the way anatomy and surgery were taught. As a result of his work and research, several anatomical terms, clinical signs, and surgical instruments were named after him. For his outstanding career in anatomy, he was elected to the Academy of Medicine in 1897.
J Med Biogr
· 2024 May · PMID 37218285
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Benjamin Gibson, a Newcastle-born surgeon, trained in Lancaster, Chester, London and Edinburgh before being appointed as assistant to Charles White, Manchester surgeon and man-midwife. He developed expertise in eye disea...Benjamin Gibson, a Newcastle-born surgeon, trained in Lancaster, Chester, London and Edinburgh before being appointed as assistant to Charles White, Manchester surgeon and man-midwife. He developed expertise in eye diseases, particularly of children. In 1804 he was appointed Honorary Surgeon to the Manchester Infirmary. He died young in 1812, but had published significantly on the cause of ophthalmia neonatorum, on cataract surgery in infants (the first to do so) and on surgery to reform damaged pupils. He was the first specialist oculist in Manchester and the North of England, and the first in that region to perform cataract extraction.
J Med Biogr
· 2024 Nov · PMID 37097900
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William Attree (1780-1846) came from a prominent family in Brighton, England. He studied medicine at St Thomas' Hospital, London, and there was unwell for nearly 6 months with severe 'spasms' of the hand/arm/chest (1801-...William Attree (1780-1846) came from a prominent family in Brighton, England. He studied medicine at St Thomas' Hospital, London, and there was unwell for nearly 6 months with severe 'spasms' of the hand/arm/chest (1801-1802). Attree qualified Member of the Royal College of Surgeons in 1803 and served as dresser to Sir Astley Paston Cooper (1768-1841). In 1806 Attree is recorded as 'Surgeon and Apothecary' of Prince's street, Westminster. In 1806 Attree's wife died in childbirth and the following year he underwent emergency amputation of the foot in Brighton following a road traffic accident. Attree served as surgeon in the Royal Horse Artillery at Hastings, presumably in a regimental or garrison hospital. He went onto become surgeon to the Sussex County Hospital, Brighton, and Surgeon Extraordinary to two Kings: George IV and William IV. In 1843 Attree was appointed as one of the original 300 Fellows of the Royal College of Surgeons. He died in Sudbury, near Harrow. His son William Hooper Attree (1817-1875) was surgeon to Don Miguel de Braganza, the former King of Portugal. The medical literature appears to lack a history of nineteenth century doctors (especially military surgeons) with physical disability. Attree's biography goes a small way towards developing this field of enquiry.
J Med Biogr
· 2024 May · PMID 37016757
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George Francis 'Frank' McLardy (1915-1981) was a pharmacist who lived in Formby in the 1930s. He came from an unremarkable lower middle-class family and enjoyed considerable success at school and later at technical colle...George Francis 'Frank' McLardy (1915-1981) was a pharmacist who lived in Formby in the 1930s. He came from an unremarkable lower middle-class family and enjoyed considerable success at school and later at technical college and pharmacy school. He became a qualified pharmacist just before the war broke. He volunteered for the army and was sent to France with the British Expeditionary Force. In France, he witnessed the collapse of the allied forces and was quickly captured. He spent the rest of the war in Poland and in Germany. This was the fate of many young men during the war. What makes McLardy's case unique is that, prior to the war, had a very active role in the Liverpool district of the British Union of Fascists and, while a prisoner of war (POW) he offered to work for the Germans against the Russians and visited POW camps recruiting British men for a unit which aimed to go to the eastern front and fight in German uniforms. Moreover, he did all this while still actively using his qualification as a pharmacist.
J Med Biogr
· 2024 May · PMID 37009660
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Hideo Fukumi (1914-1998) is renowned for his position as the director of Japan's National Institute of Health and his scientific contributions to the fields of bacteriology, virology and epidemiology. This article introd...Hideo Fukumi (1914-1998) is renowned for his position as the director of Japan's National Institute of Health and his scientific contributions to the fields of bacteriology, virology and epidemiology. This article introduces Fukumi's career cultivated over decades in the Japanese national medical system and focuses on his research on , and influenza. Yet any assessment of his career also has to take into account the considerable controversy and scandal it engendered. This necessary reassessment situates Fukumi's contribution within what has been revealed of Japan's biological weapons programme which reached its zenith during the Second World War. Very few scientists, including Fukumi, were prosecuted for their roles in this programme. Contrarily, they became core personnel in post-war medical research due to the patronage of the United States-Japan alliance in the context of the Cold War. Controversies that later surfaced over Fukumi's role in influenza immunisation campaigns reflect two currents of debate: A belated reckoning with Japan's use of biological weapons and the way this was 'normalised' and overlooked in the post-war period. The role of Japanese scholars and citizens' movements who have interrogated Japanese war crimes and the U.S. cover-ups and made a demand for greater ethical transparency in medical science.
J Med Biogr
· 2024 May · PMID 36949620
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The professional career of 20th Century British surgeon and artist Henry Tonks provides a unique perspective into the complex balance of technique, creativity, and empathy necessary to heal both body and soul. For Tonks,...The professional career of 20th Century British surgeon and artist Henry Tonks provides a unique perspective into the complex balance of technique, creativity, and empathy necessary to heal both body and soul. For Tonks, the skills of surgery did not suffice to address his intense emotional attachment to his suffering patients. For that reason, he turned to painting as an expression of deeper efforts to demonstrate human suffering to which he was so sensitive and which engulfed him at times in the tragedies of mankind. Nevertheless, his appreciation of the fine details of surgery and surgical manipulations of the body never diminished. His anatomic sketches proved invaluable in reconstructive surgery. Yet, his preference remained to display the entire dimensions of his world through brush and colors. In the process, concern for the personal imperfections of both of his chosen professions enabled Tonks to continually analyze his artistry and to instill that same discipline in his students. This, too, made him a revered teacher and effective interpreter of humanism.
J Med Biogr
· 2024 May · PMID 36726330
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When the new twin operating theatres at the Edinburgh Department of Surgical Neurology opened for the first time on 1 July 1960, they revealed a revolutionary space-pod design. The new department had been designed to fir...When the new twin operating theatres at the Edinburgh Department of Surgical Neurology opened for the first time on 1 July 1960, they revealed a revolutionary space-pod design. The new department had been designed to firmly establish the specialty in Scotland and the UK, setting the stage for a period of real progress. The most distinctive feature of the two operating theatres was their egg shape, including domed ceilings pierced with operating lights, general lighting, ventilation grilles and viewing ports for visitors. Norman Dott (1897-1973) and his colleagues set the foundation for prosperity and success that lasted decades. However, 60 years after their opening, the DCN theatres at Western General Hospital shut forever, as the department moved to the new Department of Clinical Neurosciences, at the new Royal Infirmary Edinburgh. Echoes of the old theatres will live on in the new; the boldness of the design of the original theatres reflected the close cooperation between clinician-teachers, architects and administrators for the public good. This tradition of tangible confidence and optimism will hopefully carry into a new era, in the new hospital.
J Med Biogr
· 2024 May · PMID 36650710
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This paper traces the history of , one of the most influential anatomy textbooks produced on the African continent. Authored by the two renowned South African educators Phillip Vallentine Tobias and Maurice Arnold, the f...This paper traces the history of , one of the most influential anatomy textbooks produced on the African continent. Authored by the two renowned South African educators Phillip Vallentine Tobias and Maurice Arnold, the first volume of this book was published in 1963. Both an anatomy textbook and a dissection manual included an in-depth exposition of structures of the human body, presented in an innovative and engaging way. In 1999, in line with the developments in medical and anatomy education as well as broader societal changes, the book was significantly condensed, and its name changed to . The second edition of was published in 2020 and is currently still in use at many South African universities.
J Med Biogr
· 2024 May · PMID 36594501
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William Butler (1535-1618) was a man without a medical degree who was styled as the 'greatest physician of his age'. He was famous in his lifetime, and in the latter stages of his career was involved with the royal court...William Butler (1535-1618) was a man without a medical degree who was styled as the 'greatest physician of his age'. He was famous in his lifetime, and in the latter stages of his career was involved with the royal court, attending to King James I and his son, Prince Henry. Butler was an empiricist who practiced confidently and compassionately in a time of limited medical understanding. He was also a man of contradictions: he was loved and respected by his contemporaries but could be cantankerous and obtuse; he was anti-establishment, complaining bitterly about the restrictive monopolisation of medicine sustained by the Royal College of Physicians, but advanced his career via connections within the aristocracy; he sometimes practiced orthodox Galenic medicine, but was at times highly unconventional in his treatments. Posthumously, despite some compelling historical studies of Butler, there has been a great deal of embellishment of his behaviour and practice. This biography draws from Butler's own letters, contemporary writers and modern scholarly literature. It aims to arrange these sources into a verifiable narrative of this singular physician's life.
J Med Biogr
· 2024 Feb · PMID 36562174
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The Hebrew University of Jerusalem opened the first medical school in Israel in May 1949. One of the select 45 students of its first class was Bracha (Chweidan) Ramot. After completing her medical studies with distinctio...The Hebrew University of Jerusalem opened the first medical school in Israel in May 1949. One of the select 45 students of its first class was Bracha (Chweidan) Ramot. After completing her medical studies with distinction, she went on to specialize in internal medicine and hematology and soon became a central figure in the development of hematology in Israel. In 1958, Ramot established the Hematological Institute at Tel-Hashomer hospital and served as its director until 1991. She devoted much of her time and effort to researching environmental and genetic factors that influence hematological conditions: deficiencies in coagulation factors, glucose metabolism disorders, and especially leukemias and lymphomas, including the type known as Hodgkin's disease. In 2001, Ramot, "The Doyenne of Israeli Hematology" as she was called in publications of the Albert Einstein Institute, was awarded the Israel Prize in Medical Sciences, the country's most prestigious prize. Her biography personifies the ability to overcome obstacles and challenges in one's personal life while concurrently becoming an exceedingly successful physician and researcher of extraordinary achievement.
J Med Biogr
· 2024 Feb · PMID 36536988
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Robert Lawson Tait was an original thinker, a surgical innovator, a controversialist and an iconoclast. He made important contributions to surgery, was an eloquent supporter of Darwinian evolution and women in medicine a...Robert Lawson Tait was an original thinker, a surgical innovator, a controversialist and an iconoclast. He made important contributions to surgery, was an eloquent supporter of Darwinian evolution and women in medicine and opposed vivisection. He is probably best remembered for his high-profile opposition to Listerian antisepsis which continued until his death. While Lister went on to receive the country's highest honours and was lauded throughout the world, Tait received much more modest honours and little subsequent recognition by historians. Yet it could be argued that Tait's system rather than Lister's was the basis of modern aseptic surgery. Tait never changed his views on asepsis over his lifetime and relied on surgical cleanliness, which, combined with his extensive clinical experience, enabled him to achieve outcomes as good or better than with antisepsis. By contrast, Listerism evolved over 30 years, claimed to be based on laboratory data and adopted the new discoveries of the germ theory of disease as they emerged. We compare the systems of Tait and Lister, explore the basis of Tait's opposition to Listerian methods and conclude that Tait's thinking underlies modern surgical practice and that he should receive greater acknowledgement for his contribution to the prevention of surgical infections.
J Med Biogr
· 2024 May · PMID 36514299
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The lawyer and physician Paolo Zacchia (1584-1659) was the chief physician at the Vatican and an important advisor to the papal court. He is considered a founder of the field of forensic pathology, and the influence of h...The lawyer and physician Paolo Zacchia (1584-1659) was the chief physician at the Vatican and an important advisor to the papal court. He is considered a founder of the field of forensic pathology, and the influence of his masterwork, , spread throughout Europe. In this essay, we focus on one of Zacchia's consultations, first published posthumously in 1661. Emerging from a cause for beatification, the case features the intriguing medical notion of one disease curing another. Zacchia was to determine if a young man's recovery from epilepsy was miraculous or not. We will briefly review Zacchia's career, examine his argument and the sources on which he based his reasoning in this case, trace the status of the disease-versus-disease notion to the present, and demonstrate that this consultation represents a rare, if not the only example of syphilis being the curative agent - rather than the disease cured.
J Med Biogr
· 2024 Feb · PMID 36437697
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The recent discovery of unpublished documents in the archives of the Camerata hospital, (Florence, I) sheds light on an important chapter in the history of nursing education and the role played by Grace Baxter (1869-1954...The recent discovery of unpublished documents in the archives of the Camerata hospital, (Florence, I) sheds light on an important chapter in the history of nursing education and the role played by Grace Baxter (1869-1954), of English parentage but born and lived in Florence. The introduction of professional nurses was part of the international movement for the emancipation of women that included education for an active role in society. Her contribution, with other women, to the history of Italian nursing resulted in the secularisation the profession away from the attitudes of the nuns, permeation of relevant ethical standards, and the beginning of professionalisation of nurses in Italy in accordance with Florence Nightingale's teaching.
J Med Biogr
· 2024 Feb · PMID 36420743
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Ernest Abraham Hart (26 June 1835-7 January 1898) was the long-time editor of the British Medical Journal. He held strong opinions, and was often controversial but his views generally prevailed. He was born into a Jewish...Ernest Abraham Hart (26 June 1835-7 January 1898) was the long-time editor of the British Medical Journal. He held strong opinions, and was often controversial but his views generally prevailed. He was born into a Jewish family in London and was educated at the City of London School. He studied medicine at the St George's Hospital School of Medicine and specialised in diseases of the eye. His medical journalism began with The Lancet in 1857 and in August 1866, he was appointed editor of the British Medical Journal taking it, in his decades of leadership, from a small publication to a significant scientific journal increasing the British Medical Association membership substantially. Julia Frankau's novel of scandal, Dr Phillips: A Maida Vale Idyll (1887) published under the pseudonym of Frank Danby, has a leading character, Dr Phillips, thought to be modelled on Ernest Hart and who murders his wife reviving speculation about the death of Hart's first wife from accidental poisoning.