William C. Gorgas

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William C. Gorgas (1914)

William Crawford Gorgas KCMG (born October 3, 1854 in Toulminville , Alabama , † July 3, 1920 in London ) was an American doctor who devoted himself in particular to the treatment of yellow fever and malaria and thereby made the construction of the Panama Canal possible, as well as major general and most recently as Surgeon General of the US Army senior military doctor in the US land forces.

Life

Origin and studies

Gorgas was the son of War Confederate Brigadier General Josiah Gorgas , and of Amelia Gayle Gorgas, who, during her 25 years as a librarian at the University of Alabama, expanded the library's holdings from 6,000 volumes to 20,000 volumes and became the Alabama Women's in 1973 Hall of Fame was elected. On his mother's side, he was the grandson of John Gayle , who was not only Governor of Alabama , but also a member of the US House of Representatives from Alabama .

After attending school, he studied at the University of the South in Sewanee and graduated in 1875 with a Bachelor of Arts (BA). A subsequent postgraduate study of medicine at Bellevue Hospital Medical College in New York City , he finished in 1879 with a Medical Doctor (MD) .

Military doctor in Cuba and Panama

He then joined in 1880 in the military medical service of the US Army ( US Army Medical Corps ). After developing yellow fever while serving as a military doctor in Texas in the early 1880s , he became immune to the disease. During this time he also met his future wife, who was also suffering from yellow fever.

During the Spanish-American War he was transferred to Cuba in 1898 because there were countless cases of yellow fever and malaria, especially in Havana . After Gorgas was named chief medical officer of the city on arrival, he read the studies on yellow fever by Carlos Juan Finlay and Walter Reed , who linked the disease to the yellow fever mosquito . This prompted him to destroy the breeding grounds for these mosquitoes , which resulted in a city-wide epidemic in Havana being avoided.

After the end of his assignment in Cuba, he was transferred to the area of ​​the Panama Canal Zone in 1902 , where he found health conditions similar to those in Havana. Once again, within 18 months, he succeeded in preventing an epidemic in this area by destroying the breeding grounds of the yellow fever mosquito, which made the construction of the Panama Canal possible and possible and earned him the reputation of a national hero . He published his gained experience in the textbook Sanitation in Panama (1915), which was fundamental in the dissemination of information about the control of yellow fever and malaria. Between 1908 and 1909 he was also President of the American Medical Association .

Advance to surgeon general in the US Army and honors

After the completion of the Panama Canal, he was promoted to major general and medical officer of the US Army in January 1914, succeeding George H. Torney . In this function, he introduced the systematic examination of medical fitness , which also decisively improved the quality of medical care in the army. He held the post of US Army Surgeon General during the First World War until his transfer to the retirement of the 1918th At the same time, Gorgas, who was also a member of the US American Tuberculosis Association and the Cosmos Club, was also a member of the International Health Committee of the Rockefeller Foundation from 1916 until his death .

Gorgas has received several awards for his services in the fight against yellow fever and malaria, including the Buchanan Medal for Medicine from the Royal Society in 1912 . He also received the US Army's Distinguished Service Medal and was a member of the French Legion of Honor . He was also made Knight Commander of the Order of St. Michael and St. George . In 1913 he was elected to the American Philosophical Society and in 1918 to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences . In 1916 he was elected an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh .

After his death, he was buried in Arlington National Cemetery and honored by being inducted into the Hall of Fame for Great Americans .

The Gorgas Hospital in Panama City was named in his honor. In addition, the German ship Prinz Sigismund was renamed USS General WC Gorgas after the seizure in 1917 and was deployed in Panama.

Publications

  • William C. Gorgas: Dr. Carlos J. Finlay , in: American Journal of Public Health , American Public Health Association (New York, NY: 1912), Vol. 5, 11, 1915, pp. 1176-1178.
  • William C. Gorgas: Health problems of the army , in: American Journal of Public Health , American Public Health Association (New York, NY: 1912), Vol. 7, 11, 1917, pp. 937-939.

Web links and sources

Commons : William C. Gorgas  - Collection of Images, Videos and Audio Files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Buchanan Medal at royalsociety.org, accessed January 24, 2015.
  2. ^ Member History: William C. Gorgas. American Philosophical Society, accessed August 25, 2018 .
  3. ^ Fellows Directory. Biographical Index: Former RSE Fellows 1783–2002. Royal Society of Edinburgh, accessed December 10, 2019 .
personal data
SURNAME Gorgas, William C.
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Gorgas, William Crawford (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American doctor, yellow fever researcher
DATE OF BIRTH October 3, 1854
PLACE OF BIRTH Toulminville , Alabama
DATE OF DEATH 3rd July 1920
Place of death London