John Collins Warren

Daguerreotype by John Collins Warren, ca.1855, believed to be by Josiah Johnson Hawes

John Collins Warren (born August 1, 1778 in Boston , † May 4, 1856 there ) was a well -known American surgeon of the 19th century.

Life

John Collins Warren was born in Boston to the professor of anatomy and surgery John Warren , one of the founders of Harvard Medical School . He graduated from Harvard College in 1797 and began studying medicine, including with his father. From 1799 on he attended renowned European universities in London, Edinburgh and (with Antoine Dubois, 1756–1837) in Paris. Upon his return in 1802, he partnered with his father and taught anatomy and surgery in Boston. In 1808 he was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences . In 1809 he became an associate professor for anatomy and surgery and in 1815 after the death of his father (until 1847) took over his chair for anatomy and surgery at Harvard, where he also held lectures on obstetrics and physiology.

He left the numerous anatomical and pathological specimens he had accumulated during his medical career to Harvard, where they served as the basis for the Warren Anatomical Museum . He died on May 4, 1856.

Merits

Daguerreotype of the surgery, which was subsequently recreated for the photographer , in the operating theater in Boston, which later became known as the “ Ether Dome ”.

Warren was one of the first American surgeons to operate on a wide range of diseases. Warren continued to serve as the first dean of Harvard Medical School from 1816 to 1819 and initiated its move from Cambridge to Boston. From 1816 he had taught at the newly established Massachusetts Medical College . He was a charter member in 1821 and chief surgeon of the Massachusetts General Hospital from 1823 to 1853 .

On October 16, 1846, the first modern general anesthesia took place in Harvard under his direction as surgeon , performed by the dentist William Thomas Green Morton ("Ethereal Day of Boston"). By inhaling ether fumes ( diethyl ether ), Warren succeeded in removing a hemangioma on the patient's neck. After performing the anesthesia, he settled for the words “Gentlemen, this is no humbug !” carried away.

Warren played a leading role in founding New England's first medical journal, the New England Journal of Medicine and Surgery and the Collateral Branches of Science , which later became the New England Journal of Medicine . He was also involved in the Boston Anthology Society .

literature

• AH Toledo John Collins Warren: Master educator and pioneer surgeon of ether fame. In: J Invest Surg . 2006 Nov-Dec; 19 (6), pp. 341-344. PMID 17101602
• FD Moore: John Collins Warren and his act of conscience: a brief narrative of the trial and triumph of a great surgeon. In: Annals of surgery. Volume 229, Number 2, February 1999, pp. 187-196, PMID 10024099 , PMC 1191630 (free full text).
• SC Schatzki: John Collins Warren . In: Am J Roentgenol . 2006 188 (4), p. 1153.
• W. Bruce FYE: John Collins Warren. In: Clinical Cardiology. 24, 2001, p. 93, doi: 10.1002 / clc.4960240116 .
• L. Brandt, K.-H. Krauskopf: 150 years of anesthesia: “A discovery in surgery.” In: Dtsch Arztebl , 1996; 93 (45), pp. A-2957 / B-2293 / C-2089
• E. Warren: The Life of John Collins Warren . Ticknor and Fields, Boston 1860
• JC Warren: To Work In The Vineyard of Surgery. The Reminiscences of J. Collins Warren 1842-1927 . Harvard University, 1958 (Editor Edward Delos Churchill )
• Barbara I. Tshisuaka: Warren, John Collins. In: Werner E. Gerabek , Bernhard D. Haage, Gundolf Keil , Wolfgang Wegner (eds.): Enzyklopädie Medizingeschichte. De Gruyter, Berlin / New York 2005, ISBN 3-11-015714-4 , p. 1466.

Web links

Commons : John Collins Warren  - Collection of images, videos and audio files