Journal of medical biography
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Biography Historical Article
Adele Bloch-Bauer (1881-1925): Possible diagnoses for Gustav Klimt's Lady in Gold.
One of the most famous works by the Austrian symbolist painter Gustav Klimt and one of the most widely reproduced works of art worldwide, Adele Bloch-Bauer I which portrays the beautiful wife of Austrian magnate Ferdinand Bloch-Bauer. Adele was the only woman painted by Klimt on more than one occasion. ⋯ Beyond speculation as to a special bond between artist and model, observation of the painting with a keener, clinical gaze yields evidence of potential illness in the model: facial erythema which, if not produced artificially by makeup, could represent a malar rash; pallor or cyanosis of the hands; and her draped fingers, which seemingly attempt to hide a deformity. This paper seeks to provide a biographical review both of the painter, Gustav Klimt, and of the subject, Adele Bloch-Bauer; to analyse Klimt's two portrayals of her in a search for evidence of a potential intimate relationship between artist and muse and, finally, to compile clinical evidence of possible diagnoses for the Lady in Gold.
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Biography Historical Article
The four medical theses of Samuel Hahnemann (1755-1843).
Samuel Hahnemann, the founder of homoeopathy, over a period of 33 years wrote four medical theses at three different universities. The first, in 1779 at the University of Erlangen, Franconia, dealt with agents that allegedly induce spasms, granting him a MD degree. The second two theses in 1784 dealt with obstetrical matters and were imposed upon him by the University of Wittenberg, Saxony, for becoming a medical officer, a position he apparently aspired to mostly for financial reasons. The fourth thesis in 1812 at the University of Leipzig, Saxony, his most elaborate dissertation on a toxic plant, white hellebore, served as a habilitation, allowing him to hold university lectures in order to disseminate his new ideas.
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Biography Historical Article
William Cookesley, William Hunter and the first patient to survive removal of the appendix in 1731 - A case history with 31 years' follow up.
William Cookesley, a surgeon in Devon, England, successfully operated on a patient with an Amyand hernia in 1731, incidentally excising the appendix. His patient is the earliest documented to have survived appendicectomy. This was confirmed by a post mortem examination 31 years later. Part of the remaining bowel was preserved by William Hunter and this specimen remains in the Hunterian Museum in Glasgow.
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Biography Historical Article
Jane Cooke Wright (1919-2013): Pioneering oncologist, woman and humanitarian.
Jane Wright was a fundamental researcher in cancer chemotherapy in the 1950s-1980s and was one of the first scientists to test anti-cancer drugs on humans rather than solely on mice, discovering the use of the popular antimetabolite drug methotrexate on solid tumours. From her research she was able to conclude which specific anti-cancer agents would have the greatest lethal effect on a patient's certain cancer type and she invented a method of delivering chemotherapy agents directly to an internal cancer site. ⋯ Jane retired in 1987 by which time she had published more than 75 scientific papers, led delegations of oncologists in China, the former Soviet Union, Africa and Europe and held key positions in various international and national organisations. Jane Wright passed away on 19 February 2013 aged 93 but her legacy lives on in the name of an award from the American Association of Cancer Research.
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Biography Historical Article
Ibn al-Quff (1233-1286 AD), a medieval Arab surgeon and physician.
Abū'l-Faraj ibn Ya'qūb ibn Isḥāq Ibn al-Quff al-Karakī (1233-1286 AD), best known as Ibn al-Quff in the West, was a 13(th) century Arab physician-surgeon. During his lifetime, Ibn al-Quff made some important contributions to the art of healing. He authored several books and commentaries in the field of medicine, in particular surgery. This paper aims to review Ibn al-Quff's life, career, and contributions to medical science.