Journal of Medical Biography最新文献

Marcello Malpighi is widely recognized as the founder of microscopic anatomy. His seminal discoveries of the pulmonary alveoli, blood capillaries, and renal glomeruli revolutionized existing medical knowledge, earning him fame and international recognition. He discovered the respiratory system of insects and described, for the first time, their excretory apparatus. He laid the foundations of modern embryology by characterizing the early stages of organ development in the chick embryo and was among the first to study the anatomy and biology of plants. Malpighi also faced family challenges, including his younger brother's involvement in a homicide, and relentless attacks by followers of traditional medicine. The purpose of this paper is to revisit Malpighi's extraordinary life and works, focusing on his struggles with detractors, who questioned the usefulness of his microscopic observations and resisted the new ideas of modern medicine.

Pranjivandas Manekchand Mehta (1889-1981), MD, MS, FCPS, also known as Dr P M Mehta, was an Indian physician and surgeon in Bombay, who then became the personal physician of the Maharajah Jamsaheb of the former Princely State of Nawanagar, Gujarat, British India. The Jamsaheb appointed Mehta as the Chief Medical Officer of Nawanagar, and with the guidance of the French radiologist, Jean Saidman, oversaw the construction of the first solarium in India. Mehta persuaded the Jamsaheb to fund an institution dedicated to Ayurvedic studies, named the Shri Gulabkunverba Ayurvedic Society, the precursor to the first Ayurveda college in India, and he became the Director of the Central Institute of Research on Indigenous Systems, which later came under the umbrella of the Institute of Teaching and Research in Ayurveda, Jamnagar. P M Mehta was instrumental in establishing a medical college in Nawanagar's capital, now known as the M. P. Shah Medical College, Jamnagar. His work in Ayurvedic medicine and assembling a group of Sanskrit scholars led to a detailed translation of the ancient Sanskrit medical text Çaraka Samhita, also spelt Charaka Samhita, into English, Hindi and Gujarati, published in six volumes in 1949. In 2022, the World Health Organization and the Indian Government established the Global Centre for Traditional Medicine in India, and chose Jamnagar as its location, noting that that was where graduate-level Ayurvedic studies began. Mehta's efforts in Ayurvedic education and the Çaraka Samhita translations have largely been forgotten over several decades, and a recently issued reprint omits the mention of his name. The aim of this paper is to give some glimpses into Mehta's life and his role in the revival of Ayurveda in India, during the lead-up to and during the early years of independent India.

This paper examines Drs Julius and Edwin van Millingen, father and son physicians from a Constantinople-based Levantine family. They thrived in late 19th-century Ottoman Constantinople, a period of modernization aimed at survival amid decline. The profiles of Millingen family members set an exemplary case of the Levantine families who preferred to settle and pursue their careers in the Ottoman capital, particularly for generations in the Pera (Beyoglu) bourgeoisie, associated with the prominent industrial and literate centers in Europe. Dr Julius Michael van Millingen (1800-1878) was physician and companion to Lord Byron (1788-1824), and served as the private physician of the Sultan Abdulmecid (1839-1861), and the Queen Mother, Bezm-i Alem Valide Sultan (1807-1853) at the Imperial Ottoman Palace. He published considerable writings on balneology, then. His son, Dr Edwin van Millingen (1850-1900), an Istanbul-born ophthalmologist, worked at top hospitals, taught at the Imperial School of Medicine, and collaborated with the Société Impériale de Médecine. He reported on common ophthalmological diseases, with detailed statistics and meticulously organized tabular data. The multicultural lives of this Levantine family offer a unique glimpse into 19th-century Turkish medical history, reflecting close ties with Western medical centers.

Vavro Šrobár was a prominent political figure in East-Central Europe. He played a pivotal role in the establishment and development of the First Czechoslovak Republic, which emerged following the dissolution of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. He was the first Minister to exercise full administrative authority in overseeing the Provisional Government of Slovakia, and throughout his career, including until the end of his life, he held several significant political positions, such as Minister of Public Health and Physical Education, Minister of Unification, Minister of Education and National Enlightenment, and Minister of Finance. Among his numerous contributions, Šrobár was unquestionably one of the key figures behind the founding of the University in Bratislava. His name subsequently became closely associated with the first decades of the Bratislava Faculty of Medicine at Comenius University, founded in 1919. In the field of medicine, he is regarded as one of the founding figures of social medicine in Slovakia. This article will primarily examine Šrobár's medical accomplishments within the context of healthcare in present-day Slovakia during the first quarter of the 20th century and his work at the Faculty of Medicine in Bratislava. Additionally, we will explore the connection between his person and the early history of medicine in Slovakia.

We describe a basic 'cross-over' trial undertaken by Sir Nicholas Gilbourne of Kent, England, in or before 1631. This was used to test the effectiveness of 'weapon salve', an ointment claimed to cure 'sympathetically' (i.e. remotely) by application to the weapon that inflicted an injury. Gilbourne reports very basic outcomes but these represent key stages of a modern cross-over trial: no treatment, treatment, no treatment, treatment. We discuss the value of such historical vignettes - even a magical one - for medical students in two respects: understanding research methodology and learning about consultation strategies. Gilbourne's conclusion is clearly fanciful but the basic principles behind his experiment are sound. Historical examples like this can inspire medical students to think critically about research methods and treatment strategies.

Andrew Duncan Senior and John Roberton were medical figures who wrote about Medical Police, the forerunner of Public Health, at the turn of the 18th century in Edinburgh. Duncan was an establishment figure, already a Professor at Edinburgh University Medical School when he began a series of lectures on the legal context of medicine, the first of its kind in the UK. Roberton was a less conventional person whose medical qualifications were dubious but who wrote a textbook on Medial Police, the first in the English language. Both were influenced by the German Johann Frank, but developed very different models of Medical Police. Duncan's form depended on education and reflected social attitudes in post-enlightenment Scotland while Roberton was a committed miasmatist and championed an interventional, sanitarian approach. This approach was imaginative, employing an army of medical officers to enforce the policy funded by extra taxes, but this proved too interventional for 19th century Scotland, Roberton left Edinburgh and went to London and never again published on the topic of Medical Police or lectured on the topic. By contrast, Duncan's influence continued through the Chair of Medical Police and Medical Jurisprudence at the University of Edinburgh that he initiated and championed.

In 1836, an article was published in which the terms Rindensubstanz (cortical substance) and Marksubstanz (medullary substance) were introduced for the first time with reference to the adrenal glands. The author was indicated as 'Dr Nagel', without any further specification. Modern scientific literature often identifies the author's name as 'N. Nagel', without citing any primary source. Here, Nagel is positively identified as Moritz Nagel (1808-1871), a student of the German physiologist and anatomist Johannes Peter Müller (1801-1858), who graduated in Medicine at the University of Berlin in 1834. The 1836 article represented the German version of Nagel's Latin dissertation. Nagel later left Müller to devote himself to obstetrics and gynaecology. Although current literature attributes to Nagel the merit for introducing the terms 'cortical' and 'medullary', based on the testimony of Nagel himself and that of Jakob Henle (1809-1885), I conclude that Nagel described and illustrated results previously anticipated by Müller in 1832. Yet, considering that Nagel's description was the first in print, that he published following his own work carried out under Müller's supervision and apparently with Müller's blessing, I believe it is fair to conclude that the credit for the discovery should be justifiably attributed jointly to Müller and Nagel.

Women faced significant barriers to pursue education in the 19th century, yet modern history has witnessed bold women overcoming insurmountable odds in this quest. To this end, Anandi Joshi braved monumental odds to successfully become the first female physician in India. Born in 1865, Anandi was one of 10 children. Her zeal for knowledge was noted early by her father, who ensured that his daughter was well-educated. She married Gopalrao Joshi as a child when she was nine; a practice that was common at the time. Anandi's quest to become a physician stemmed from a traumatic event which saw the death of her child due to the lack of medical care. Despite the numerous prevalent barriers which prevented women from indulging in education, Anandi was determined. She travelled to the United States, where through sheer persistence, she was admitted to the Women's Medical College of Pennsylvania, where she graduated with a Doctor of Medicine (MD) degree in 1886. She subsequently returned to her home country, making her the first female physician in India. Despite her untimely death, Anandi became immortalised as a legend, a beacon of hope, and continues to serve as an inspiration for generations of Indian women.

Dr Ayub Khan Ommaya (1930-2008) was a pioneering figure in the field of neurosurgery, with a particular focus on traumatic brain injury. As history books have held, he was a man of great intellect and vision, possessing a rare combination of scientific rigour and compassionate empathy. One of Dr Ommaya's most notable contributions was his development of the Ommaya reservoir, a device used to deliver drugs directly into the brain. This groundbreaking technology transformed the treatment of brain tumours and other neurological disorders, enabling clinicians to administer medications with unprecedented precision and efficacy. From his groundbreaking research on traumatic brain injury to his visionary invention of the Ommaya reservoir, Ommaya's legacy continues to inspire and inform the work of countless medical professionals around the world. This historical paper delves into Ommaya's remarkable life story, highlighting his extraordinary contributions to the field of neurosurgery.