Journal of Medical Biography

Karl Jarmer was the first professor of dentistry at the Medical Academy in Dresden (Germany). This article chronicles his life, his professional challenges, and the impact of his work, illustrated by theses, articles, books, and original sources from the archives of the Dresden University of Technology's Medical Faculty. His career encompassed a range of experiences, from running a private practice in Stettin to specializing in oral surgery. After serving in the First World War, his academic journey began with the completion of his dental license and doctorate in 1921. Later, he worked at the universities of Greifswald and Kiel before being appointed to the Chair of Dentistry in Dresden in 1954. His appointment triggered a professional rivalry with Johann Alexander Vogelsang, a key figure in Dresden's maxillofacial care, due to conflicting views on academic leadership. Jarmer made significant contributions to the development of dental education in Dresden and played an important role in shaping Dentistry at the young Medical Academy Dresden. Jarmer remained active in academic circles until his retirement in 1963. He died in 1983.

Thomas Lewis Mackesy (1790–1869) was an Irish surgeon celebrated in his home city. Born in Waterford in Ireland, he apprenticed under his father, an apothecary, before undertaking the London College of Surgeons examination in 1809. Successful, he trained as an assistant surgeon before joining the Royal Artillery. After several years, he returned to his native city, where he worked at the Leper and Fanning hospitals as a surgeon, and married the first of three wives in 1813. Sadly, she died only five years later, leaving two young sons. In subsequent years, Mackesy continued practising medicine but extended his scope to politics and social causes. He became mayor of Waterford in 1841 and worked as both a magistrate and Poor Law guardian, focusing on public health. He received recognition for his work, being the first doctor outside Dublin to be elected president of the RCSI (Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland). Trinity College Dublin also awarded him an honorary degree, earning him the title M.D. honoris causa. Thomas Lewis Mackesy died on the 8th of April 1869 from complications of kidney disease. A blue plaque commemorating his life and influence can today be found on Lady Lane, in Waterford city.

During the Middle Ages, one of the most renowned South Indian kingdoms, the Vijayanagar Empire, saw significant developments in a number of fields, including healthcare and medicine. The empire's cosmopolitan nature, with numerous ethnic groups and cultural exchanges, helped to shape a rich medical culture influenced by Ayurveda, Siddha, Unani and local native medical practices. The Vijayanagar Empire's medical practices left a lasting legacy that influenced further developments in South Indian medicine. By studying this era of medical history, we gain helpful insights into the intersection of culture, society and healthcare, which contributes to our grasp of the evolution of medicine in the Indian subcontinent. Specialization in certain diseases or practices was prevalent, and the physicians enjoyed a high status and respect in society.

The aim of this article is to investigate the professional, corporate and scientific career of the Girona surgeon José Pascual y Prats (1854–1931). His work at the Provincial Hospital of Santa Catalina in Girona and as dean of the provincial charitable medical corps should be highlighted, as should his presidency of the province's medical associations, and his creation and direction of the bulletins of both organisations, as well as his promotion of the Index Medicus Hispanus. Therefore, his biography allows us to consider three fundamental aspects of medical science during the Spain of the Restoration: associations, press and bibliography. At the same time, he maintained epistolary contacts with his family and friends, as well as with different representatives of the social elites of Girona and the Catalan and Spanish medical oligarchy. In short, Pascual was the most important physician of this period in the city and one of the most remarkable health professionals of contemporary Catalonia.

Introduction: Jeffry Hyman (1951–2001), an introvert boy from Queens, New York City, grew up to become one of the most iconic figures in New York's punk rock scene in the mid-1970s: Joey Ramone. In this study, we explored how Joey and his family coped with his health issues and peculiar behaviors, which were eventually identified as symptoms of obsessive–compulsive disorder (OCD). Methods: A narrative review of biographical sources was conducted to explore and infer the impact of Joey's OCD on his close relationships. Results: The onset of OCD and concomitant hoarding behaviors during his teenage years profoundly disrupted family dynamics, leading to considerable burden and generating conflicts. Discussion: Joey Ramone's pathobiography and the impact of his illness on family members and close friends shed light on the intricate relationships between OCD, hoarding disorder, and family accommodation.

The Second World War was an important, but under-researched, transitional period for naval nursing. This article describes one sister's experience and sets it against the narrative in official histories and wartime memoirs and art. Margaret Wallace, a Scot from the skilled working class, was within the demographic that the service's Victorian founders hoped would be attracted. She worked in representative wartime facilities: the largest British auxiliary naval hospital, a secret multi-national naval base, the Headquarters of South East Asia Command in Ceylon (Sri Lanka), and Haslar, the iconic Royal Naval hospital. She experienced many of the defining characteristics of military nursing during the war: revolutions in medical practice including near-magical cures by the new antibiotics, an urgent need for tri-service and cross-national working which upset centuries of tradition, the censorious attitude of some regulars to civilians drafted in as temporary officers and social mixing in the twilight of Empire.

Sabuncuoğlu Şerefeddin was a pioneering Turkish surgeon and scholar who lived in Amasya during the fifteenth century. His illustrated surgical treatise, Cerrahiye-i Ilhaniye (Ilkhanid Surgery), is considered a landmark in medical history, providing detailed descriptions of surgical operations and instruments accompanied by coloured illustrations. In addition to this seminal work, Sabuncuoğlu made significant contributions to experimental pharmacology in Anatolia through his work Mücerrebname (The Book of Experiences), which documents his pharmacological experiments on animals and himself. This paper aims to provide a biographical account of Sabuncuoğlu's life and to highlight his enduring contributions to medical science.

Dr William Reginald Morse, a Canadian physician, anatomist, and physical anthropologist, was a central figure in advancing medical education and anthropological research in Western China during the early twentieth century. As a medical missionary, he co-founded West China Union University, the first modern medical school in the region, where he served as dean and professor of anatomy for many years. Beyond his educational contributions, Morse established the West China Border Research Society, which focused on studying the region's politics, cultures, customs, and environment. As the Society's inaugural president, he championed interdisciplinary research in an area previously underexplored by Western scholars. Collaborating closely with Harvard University's Hooton Laboratory, Morse conducted extensive anthropological fieldwork in the borderlands, collecting valuable data on the diverse populations of the region. The renowned anthropologist D. C. Graham praised Morse as a trailblazer in the study of the West China frontier and a leading figure in physical anthropology, Chinese medicine, and medical education. Morse's endeavors not only deepened the understanding of Western China's unique cultural and social landscape but also positioned him as a pioneer at the intersection of medicine and anthropology.

On 10 June 1600, Robert Auchmutie, a freeman of the Incorporation of Surgeons and Barbers of Edinburgh since 1591, was beheaded by the ‘Maiden’ on Edinburgh's Royal Mile; convicted of the slaughter of James Wauchope in a duel fought on 20th April. His very definitive end, the only known execution of a member of what is now the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh, was itself the result of a much broader evolution of societal and legal factors. The changing attitudes towards ‘trial by combat’ in Scottish law and society across centuries, and the attitude of King James VI, directly combined to condemn him when he attempted to take a modern approach to an ancient judicial privilege afforded to the nobility. His case forms both a legal and social microcosm of the collision between old and new, and his execution was intended to serve as a cautionary act, undertaken as much to deter others from attempting the same as to minister justice. The lengths gone to by both Robert Auchmutie and the judiciary of his time, to evade and minister justice, respectively, had a major impact on Scottish law and society for centuries thereafter.

This article examines the life and career of Mustafa Adil (1871–1904), a pioneering Ottoman veterinary physician, bacteriologist, and educator whose contributions significantly shaped the modernisation of public health and veterinary science in the late Ottoman Empire. Educated at the Alfort School of Veterinary Medicine in France, Adil played a leading role in developing diphtheria serotherapy and collaborated extensively with Maurice Nicolle on research into rinderpest, malaria, and the vaccinia virus. His laboratory achievements, combined with his leadership roles at the Imperial Veterinary Bacteriology Institute and the Civil Veterinary School, positioned him at the forefront of the professionalisation of veterinary medicine in the Empire. By tracing Adil's education, scientific work, and institutional influence, this study highlights his pivotal yet largely overlooked role in the transnational circulation of medical knowledge between Europe and the Ottoman world.

Xavier Landerer was a distinguished German Professor of Natural Sciences who studied the composition of thermal waters and promoted their medicinal use in Greece during the nineteenth century. His authorial work was really innovative on a worldwide scale and he is considered a pioneer in studying thermal waters and disseminating their beneficial properties.