Max Rosenheim, Baron Rosenheim

Max Leonard Rosenheim

Max Leonard Rosenheim, Baron Rosenheim KBE FRS (born March 15, 1908 in Hampstead , London , † December 2, 1972 in London) was a British medic . He developed new methods to treat infections of the urinary tract and hypertension . During his active association activities, among other things, he campaigned for better medical care in developing countries .

Life

Youth and education

Max Rosenheim was the second child of Ludwig Rosenheim and his wife Martha, nee. Reichenbach. He had an older sister and a younger brother. The father, like his brother, the biochemist Sigmund Otto Rosenheim , had left his hometown of Würzburg to settle in England and become a British citizen. In London he worked on the stock exchange . The mother was a daughter of Carl Reichenbach , a doctor and cantonal councilor from St. Gallen . Ludwig Rosenheim died of meningitis when his older son was seven years old.

Max attended Hall School in Hampstead, where his education was repeatedly interrupted by illness. Nevertheless, he managed to get a scholarship to attend Shrewsbury School , where he continued his education from 1922. He then studied from 1926 at St John's College of the University of Cambridge , again with a scholarship. He completed the first part of the scientific trip in 1929 with top marks ("first class"). He then continued his education at University College Hospital (UCH) in London, where he received his bachelor's degree in surgery in 1932 and medicine in 1933. He worked briefly at Westminster Hospital before returning to UCH as an intern. In 1934 he became a member of the Royal College of Physicians and earned a doctorate in medicine (MD) the following year. During this time he made his name with the development of a therapy to treat infections of the urinary tract with almond acid .

During the Second World War

With the help of a travel grant, he was able to go to Massachusetts General Hospital in 1939 , where he worked with the endocrinologist Fuller Albright , but had to break off his stay abroad after the beginning of World War II and returned to UCH. He subsequently looked after the hospital's medical students who were evacuated from Cardiff during this time . On his return to London he experienced the climax of the German bombing raids on the capital. In 1941 he became a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians.

In the same year he joined the Royal Army Medical Corps and subsequently served as a senior physician in a number of military hospitals in the Middle East , North Africa and Europe . At the end of the war, he served in the rank of lieutenant-colonel as an advisory doctor to the allied South East Asia Command in Southeast Asia , where he remained stationed until 1946. During this time he developed a keen interest in tropical diseases and health problems in the developing world in general .

Medical work after 1945

In 1946 he returned to the UCH, where in 1950 he succeeded Harold Percival Himsworth as Professor of Medicine and Chief Physician . His main contributions to medical research in the following years were the development of treatments for high blood pressure using hexamethonium and similar compounds and, later, the radiological examination of the causes of pelvic inflammation .

In the 1950s he repeatedly took part in missions abroad in Asia and Oceania , for example with the World Health Organization (WHO) in Indonesia in 1953 and, as part of the Colombo Plan , in India in 1955 . As Sir Arthur Sims Commonwealth Traveling Professor, he worked in 1958 in Pakistan , New Zealand and Australia . He also performed as an external examiner at a number of universities abroad. His numerous stays abroad brought him a broad network of professional contacts. In 1955 he was awarded the CBE , followed by his appointment as Knight Commander in 1967.

He developed a lively association activity in several medical organizations, including the Royal College of Physicians, the Medical Research Council and the WHO, where his administrative skills, coupled with his high qualifications, a results-oriented approach and a pleasant disposition, made him an important key figure when it came to reconciling conflicting interests. As President of the Royal College of Physicians, in his six-year tenure from 1966, he successfully campaigned for the standardization of post-graduate medical education throughout the United Kingdom, the improvement of medical education in developing countries and greater attention to social medicine issues. He advocated effective health education for the population, advocated a ban on tobacco and alcohol consumption and addressed the inadequacy of medical practice when life is prolonged but the quality of life of older people is not given enough attention. In 1961 he was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences .

After 21 years he gave up his chair at UCH because he feared that his numerous other activities would mean that he would no longer be able to meet his obligations there, but continued to occasionally work as a doctor at the hospital. His growing reputation earned him five honorary doctorates ( University of Wales , 1969; University of Birmingham , 1970; University of Ceylon , 1970; University of Southampton , 1970; University of Liverpool , 1972). In 1970 he was raised to a peer for life with the title of Baron Rosenheim . In December 1971 he became chairman of the Commission on Human Medicines and in 1972, the year he died, was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society .

Private and death

Rosenheim remained single and had no offspring. He lived with his mother until her death in 1971. Rosenheim valued social gatherings and had a wealth of personal interests and passions, including music, literature, good food, wine, fishing, and sailing.

Max Leonard Rosenheim, Baron Rosenheim died on December 2, 1972 at the age of 64 in London after a brief illness.

Publications

Books

• Social Aspects of Clinical Medicine . Baillière, Tindall & Cassell, London 1970 (with Jessie Garrad).

Article (selection)

• Mandelic acid in the treatment of urinary infections . In: The Lancet . No. 5906, 1936, ISSN  0023-7507 , pp. 1083-1087.
• Uraemia . In: Annals of the Royal College of Surgeons of England . Vol. 9, 1951, ISSN  0035-8843 , pp. 102-111.
• Hexamethonium in the treatment of hypertension . In: The Lancet . No. 6801, 1954, ISSN  0023-7507 , pp. 7-13 (with M. Harington).
• The treatment of severe hypertension . In: British Medical Journal . No. 4898, 1954, ISSN  0267-0623 , pp. 1181-1193.
• Problems of chronic pyelonephritis . In: British Medical Journal . No. 5343, 1963, ISSN  0267-0623 , pp. 1433-1440.
• Bethanidine, guanethidine, and methyldopa in treatment of hypertension. A within-patient comparison . In: British Medical Journal . No. 5585, 1968, ISSN  0267-0623 , pp. 135-144 (with B. N. Prichard, A. W. Johnston and I.D. Hill).
• The role of the United Kingdom in world medicine . In: Proceedings of the Royal Society of Medicine . Vol. 63, November 1970, ISSN  0035-9157 , pp. 1208-1214.

literature

• Max Leonard Rosenheim Baron Rosenheim . In: WD Rubinstein (arr.): The Harvester Biographical Dictionary of Life Peers . Harvester Wheatsheaf, London and New York 1991, ISBN 0710812183 .
• George Pickering: Max Leonard Rosenheim, Baron Rosenheim of Camden, 1908–1972 . In: Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society . Vol. 20, 1974, ISSN  0080-4606 , pp. 349-358.
• J. F. Stokes: Rosenheim, Max Leonard, Baron Rosenheim (1908–1972) . In: Oxford Dictionary of National Biography . Oxford University Press, Oxford 2004.

Individual evidence

1. ^ ^{A b} Max Leonard Rosenheim, 1st Baron Rosenheim of Camden 1908-1972 . Short biography on the UK National Archives website. Accessed April 18, 2013.