George Kenneth Mallory was an American pathologist chiefly remembered for describing the Mallory–Weiss tear.

He was born in Boston

Boston

Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...

, Massachusetts

Massachusetts

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...

 on 14 February 1900, the son of Frank Burr Mallory

Frank Burr Mallory

Frank Burr Mallory was an American pathologist at the Boston City Hospital and Professor of Pathology at Harvard Medical School, after whom the Mallory body is named....

. He received his medical degree from Harvard Medical School

Harvard Medical School

Harvard Medical School is the graduate medical school of Harvard University. It is located in the Longwood Medical Area of the Mission Hill neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts....

 in 1926, and subsequently worked at the Mallory Institute of Pathology (founded by, and named after, his father) at Boston City Hospital

Boston Medical Center

Boston Medical Center is a non-profit 639 licensed-bed medical center in Boston, Massachusetts. It was created by the formal merger of Boston City Hospital which was the first municipal hospital in the United States and Boston University Medical Center Hospital in July 1996 which was sponsored...

 throughout his career, becoming Director in 1951. He lectured at both Harvard Medical School and Boston Medical School. He was appointed professor at Boston Medical School in 1948, and became emeritus professor in 1966. His primary interest was in diseases of the liver and kidneys.

In 1929 Mallory and Soma Weiss

Soma Weiss

Soma Weiss was born in Beszterce, Transylvania, then part of Hungary. He studied physiology and biochemistry in Budapest. Immediately after the end of World War I, he emigrated to the United States and qualified in medicine in 1923...

, a physician at Harvard, described 15 cases of severe, painless hemorrhage caused by a tear in the mucosa of the esophagus

Esophagus

The esophagus is an organ in vertebrates which consists of a muscular tube through which food passes from the pharynx to the stomach. During swallowing, food passes from the mouth through the pharynx into the esophagus and travels via peristalsis to the stomach...

 or gastroesophageal junction

Cardia

The cardia is the anatomical term for the part of the stomach attached to the esophagus. The cardia begins immediately distal to the z-line of the gastroesophageal junction, where the squamous epithelium of the esophagus gives way to the columnar epithelium of the gastrointestinal tract.Just...

 preceded by vomiting in alcoholic patients. They described a further 6 cases in 1932. This syndrome has become known as Mallory–Weiss syndrome.