Historical narratives, like other kinds of stories, can be told by identifying heroes and villains. But that conceptualization does not always do justice to the complexity of historical actors. Child psychiatrist Viola Bernard (1907-1998) was a hero in many ways-she was a pioneering woman physician, advocated for racial and social justice, and used her privilege to help others. At the same time, she has also been viewed as a villain because she advocated for separating twins for adoption and not disclosing to the children or their families about their twin status. Bernard's history provides a model for grappling with human narratives in medicine and enhancing our approach toward ethics in health and medicine.
Ni Dashi (, 1925-2022) was a Chinese microbiologist who developed an immunotherapy for epidemic haemorrhagic fever (EHF) in China between 1985 and 1988. Since 1950s, China had been plagued by this disease, urging scientists to dedicate themselves to virus isolation and the exploration of specific treatments. Among them, Ni and his team led the isolation of the virus in China. Building on this breakthrough, Ni developed a transfer factor derived from virus-immunized porcine spleens to modulate patients' immune responses and alleviate their symptoms. This essay reawakens recognition of Ni's significant yet overlooked contribution to the development of immunotherapy for EHF.
IntroductionHenry Bracken M.D. (1697-1764) was born in the Horse and Farrier inn, Lancaster, England. He completed his apprenticeship in Wigan and studied at St Thomas' Hospital (London), the Hôtel Dieu (Paris) and Leiden (Holland). Bracken published books on farriery, urological stones and midwifery.AimsTo examine Bracken's 1737 controlled trial of two treatments for rabies in houndsMethodHistorical literature reviewResultsBracken's 'strict enquiry' compared treatments in two groups of 'an equal number' of hounds 'equally affected as far as could be judged' [i.e. at risk of developing rabies]. One received a herbal 'decoction' and the other a 'secret' powder sold by Mr Hill of Ormskirk. Bracken offers quantitative outcomes: 'Five out of Nine of Mr. Hill's died, and those under the [herbal treatment] all recover'd'.ConclusionWe speculate that Mr Hill's powder contained mercury, causing salivation which was mistaken for clinical signs of rabies. Finally, we also examine Bracken's notion of vocation that 'a Man is born a Physician as well as a Poet'. We conclude that it is harder in modern societies for young people to recognise an early inkling towards a career in medicine. Unlike Bracken's 'inborn' calling, vocation today is more likely to be perceived in terms of a 'transaction', e.g. a 'career move' or 'lifestyle choice'.
Antonio de Tornay has been a subject of study in the last decade, in particular his medical work designed to treat the ailments of García Álvarez de Toledo, 1st Duke of Alba. Of the series of texts written for this purpose, the one named Opúsculo de cozinas stands out. It is an ambitious project that completes a consilium and a regimen sanitatis written previously for the same figure. The brief treatise was originally divided into five parts, but only the first one, on the subject of different types of meat, survives. It includes a brief section on the way to carve meat in the French style. The objective of this study is to reconstruct the intellectual figure of Tornay and analyse his work from a medical and a historical perspective. These texts, far from anecdotal, exemplify some fundamental types of Hippocratic-Galenic medicine in the vernacular, aimed at treating specific ailments by adapting them to the needs of the courtly elites.
Bernardino Genga of Mondolfo, Italy, a pioneer of surgical anatomy, taught and practiced in seventeenth-century papal Rome. He was a contemporary of Marcello Malpighi, father of microscopic anatomy and personal physician to Pope Innocenzo XII. When Malpighi died in 1694, his pupil Giorgio Baglivi performed an autopsy in the presence of Giovanni Maria Lancisi, a leading Roman physician and anatomist. Baglivi and Lancisi wrote the only reports known to date of the autopsy. Research in the Archivio Apostolico Vaticano uncovered an unpublished manuscript by Bernardino Genga describing Malpighi's autopsy. Genga's manuscript, compared in this paper with those of Baglivi and Lancisi, is historically significant because it reveals his presence at Malpighi's autopsy, demonstrating he was alive in 1694. This new evidence prompts a re-evaluation of Genga's unsettled chronology and the context of his latest works, previously deemed posthumous.
The story of John Elmer Weeks (1853-1949) is as impressive as it is inspiring. Based on a New Year's resolution with a friend, Weeks decided to pursue a career in medicine and worked as a full-time mechanic to fund his medical school preparation and admissions process. The field of ophthalmology, and the study of medicine at large, has much to thank for that fateful New Year's resolution. From culturing the Koch-Weeks bacillus, the causative agent of a form of infectious conjunctivitis, to publishing a landmark textbook titled "A Treatise on Diseases of the Eye," Weeks has left his mark on the study of ophthalmology and medicine. Despite all these accomplishments, what may be most impressive is Weeks' admirable sense of humility. Dr David W. E. Baird, the Dean of the University of Oregon Medical School, wrote about Dr Weeks: "It would be well for every medical student and every young doctor to learn as much as possible about Dr Weeks and to emulate his high qualities." This biography, based on Weeks' autobiography and archival materials at the Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU), aims to accomplish Dr Baird's wish.
Dr Konstantin Omiros Kalangos, a specialist in internal medicine, was well known in Yeşilköy, a district of Istanbul, for providing long-term care and offering free treatment to patients with limited financial means. His family background included multiple individuals across generations who received medical training and practiced medicine. During the period from the 1950s to the 2000s, when he practiced in Yeşilköy, he treated thousands of patients in the ground-floor clinic of his family's residence. In an era increasingly dominated by technological diagnostics, he maintained that medical assessment was impossible without physical contact, placing the physical examination and direct physician-patient interaction at the centre of diagnosis. Oral history interviews conducted in Yeşilköy repeatedly highlight his compassion, clinical expertise, and ethical commitment; many residents remember him as a physician who embodied the values associated with the Hippocratic Oath. This study examines the life, professional practice, and cultural impact of Dr Kalangos. It draws on materials from the Presidency of the Republic of Türkiye, the Directorate of State Archives, the Ottoman Archives (BOA), the Ayastefanos Greek Church Archives, family papers, oral history interviews, patient ledgers, handwritten medical lecture notes, and relevant secondary literature.
Vancouver General Hospital has a rich neurosurgical history; however, little is documented of the role the institution played in the history of extracranial to intracranial (EC-IC) bypass as a surgical therapy. A review of the literature on the history of cerebrovascular neurosurgery was performed to augment a comprehensive personal interview provided by Dr Sydney Peerless to provide a new insight into the journey towards our contemporary understanding of bypass surgery. Along this timeline, we outline key historic figures and their contributions, as well as document the first small vessel EC-IC bypass at Vancouver General Hospital in western Canada.
Ramon Emeterio Betances (1827-1898) stands out as a pivotal figure in the fields of ophthalmology and public health in nineteenth-century Puerto Rico. Trained in France, he returned to the island in 1856, where he treated cholera patients and introduced vital public health interventions. Known as 'The Physician of the Poor', Betances dedicated himself to serving marginalised populations, including enslaved individuals. He co-founded a secret abolitionist society and championed Puerto Rican independence, actions that resulted in multiple periods of exile. Together with his contemporaries, Betances helped lay the groundwork for ophthalmology in Puerto Rico, significantly advancing medical knowledge, improving public health infrastructure, and inspiring successive generations of clinicians. His enduring legacy is recognised for its profound medical, social, and political impact.
IntroductionPeter Shaw (1694-1763) was an English physician who practised in London and Scarborough, Yorkshire. He was appointed physician to Kings George II and III. Shaw published many medical texts as well as translations of Lord Francis Bacon and Robert Boyle.MethodHistorical examination of Shaw's text A Treatise of Incurable Diseases (1723).ResultsShaw states that 'incurable' conditions offer an opportunity to examine the cause of disease and its treatment. He proposes a model for a comparative trial of 'antidote' for hydrophobia (rabies) in one of two dogs and - if successful - in humans.ConclusionShaw's proposal is an early model for translational medical research from animals to humans to ensure effectiveness and safety. The evidence suggests that Shaw's was an inspiration for Hauksbee the Younger's 1743 proposed 'experimentum crucis' of venereal disease treatments. That is because in 1731 they co-authored 'An Essay for Introducing a Portable Laboratory'. Furthermore, Hauksbee reveals that Shaw was actively involved in early enquiries into the efficacy of his venereal medication. Due to shared roots in Lichfield and an interest in spa water treatment, the authors conjecture that Shaw's comparative approach might have roots in Sir John Floyer's 1702 controlled trial of cold-water on athleticism.
The physician, activist, essayist, radical free thinker, polyglot and first African American medical graduate James McCune Smith has for long been a forgotten figure. Despite extensive writings, a lack of oratory skills, when compared with those of his contemporaries, had relegated him to a lesser place in the pantheon of the abolitionist movement and overdue recognition. His education at Glasgow University provided a knowledge he applied not only to his medical practice and publications but also in his wider writings. In championing equality, emancipation and the abolition of slavery McCune Smith did not hold back in calling out pomposity, inaccuracy and the misrepresentation of facts by others, irrespective of their position or prominence. His forensic approach and knowledge of the medical literature of the times were evident from his student days to the last essays. This article addresses the formative years, exile in Glasgow to achieve the education denied in his homeland and his return to New York as a newly qualified physician.
Lorenzo Martini (1785-1844) was a physician devoted to promoting hygiene and preventive health. He combined clinical practice with public engagement and relied on both documentary records and debates to shape his practical advice. After a brief biographical profile, we turn to a close reading of the hygiene section of his Manuals of Hygiene and Medical Police (1835) and we examine how that part seeks to disseminate concrete hygienic practices among the population. The study rests on the original 19th-century edition of the Manual as a primary source, with other primary documents in the Historical Archives of the University of Turin and the State Archives of Genoa, and it is supported by secondary sources that help reconstruct Martini's life and situate his ideas within the medical culture of his time. Martini presents prevention as the primary route to protect health, and he argues that the best way to avoid or at least reduce the risk of chronic diseases is to maintain a general state of balance across all aspects of life, including daily habits, environment, diet. Traces of miasmatic and humoral theories of Hippocratic and Galenic origin remain in Martini's thought, showing how emergent preventive ideas coexisted with older medical doctrines.
Having gained his medical education at Glasgow University, McCune Smith returned to New York City to establish himself. Difficulties in his acceptance were evidenced by the New York Academy of Medicine's refusal of membership and the New York Medical and Surgical Society preventing him from presenting in person at a meeting. He can claim the first peer-reviewed publication and presentation by an African American physician and interacted with both the elite of New York's medical establishment and his unqualified fellow African American colleagues. Whilst writing and lecturing on a range of medical topics, his most memorable achievements lie in the essays on climate, longevity, racial equality and civilisation. In each, he showed a mastery of quantitative analysis, physiology, comparative anatomy and the medical textbooks of the time. It is not just as a physician and pharmacist that he should be remembered but also as the foremost black social scientist of his era with an enquiring analytical approach learnt from and revealed in his Glasgow years. This article will examine his medical practice and writings as well as those essays that displayed his scientific knowledge.
Edward S. Miller was born into slavery in 1858. After navigating the racist educational system in Kentucky, he moved north to seek greater opportunities. In Chicago, he obtained medical training, built a practice in the Black community, and participated in the growth of Provident Hospital. He earned broad respect and expanded his networks, serving in the Spanish American War as a field surgeon for a unique Black volunteer regiment. He prospered as an entrepreneur and civic leader, using the power of community networks to help found the first Black cemetery and a federally chartered bank in Chicago, both of which supported the Black community. Miller was a respected civic leader and physician whose story illustrates the complexity and challenges of the medical system in the north at the turn of the 20th century and the resourcefulness needed by a Black leader to succeed in a segregated society.
