Ma Haide (George Hatem)
Encyclopedia
Ma Haide born Shafick George Hatem in Buffalo, New York
, USA, is an ethnic Lebanese
Chinese doctor.
in the Metn
mountains of Lebanon
in 1902, to take a job at a textile mill in Lawrence, Massachusetts
. In 1909, on a trip to Lebanon, Nahoum married Thamam Joseph, a woman two years younger from the village of Bahannes.
George Hatem's parents were of Maronite background. Some older
sources claim that the family was of Syrian Jewish extraction, but according to modern biographers, that was a misconception, although quite common even during George Hatem's life.
Soon after being married, the Hatem family moved to Buffalo, New York
, where Nahoum took a job at a steel mill. It was in Buffalo where their first child, George, was born on September 26, 1910.
and medicine at the American University in Beirut and the University of Geneva
. While in Geneva, he, called by friends Shag, became acquainted with students from East Asia
, and learned much about China. With financial help from the parents of one of his friends, he and several others set off to Shanghai to establish a medical practice to concentrate on venereal diseases, as well as basic health care for the needy. On August 3, 1933, he with colleagues, Lazar Katz and Robert Levinson, boarded a ship in Triest that took him to several ports in Asia, including Singapore
and Hong Kong
. On September 5, the three young American doctors landed in Shanghai.
, and changed his name to Ma Hai-te (Ma Haide). It was in Shanghai that he met the well known journalist, Agnes Smedley
, who introduced him to Liu Ting, a member of the Communist Party of China
. Disgusted by the corruption of Shanghai and the Chinese Nationalists, he closed his practice there three years later, and, with the help of the earlier established Communist contacts, was smuggled across Kuomintang
lines to provide medical service to Mao Zedong
's Communist troops in Xi'an
(Sian).
(present-day Zhidan), temporary capital of the Communist-controlled Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia Border Region
. He was accompanied by the pioneering American journalist Edgar Snow
. At Hatem's request, he was not explicitly mentioned in the first edition of Snow's famous book, Red Star Over China
. He is there anonymously as a western-trained doctor who had examined Mao and determined he was not dying of some mysterious disease, which was the rumour at the time. He also became the first foreign member of the Chinese Communist Party.
As the war with Japan
started in earnest in 1937, Ma Heide sent requests to Soong Ching-ling
, Agnes Smedley, and other notables to organize recruitment of foreign medical personnel for the communists' troops fighting the Japanese armies in northern China. He was among those meeting Norman Bethune
when Bethune arrived to Yan'an in late March 1938, and was instrumental in helping Bethune get started at his task of organizing medical services for the front and the region.
He was present at Yan'an, when the Dixie Mission
, an American civilian and military group, arrived in July 1944. Ma was a source of surprise and comfort for many of the Americans when they met the American born physician. Many accounts of the mission make reference to Haide. Known commonly to the group as "Doc Ma," Ma periodically assisted Major Melvin Casberg in studies of the state of medical treatment in the Communist territories.
and many venereal diseases in post-war China, for which he received the Lasker Medical Award in 1986. He was one of the few persons who were not born in China to hold a position of trust and authority in the People's Republic of China. His Chinese name can be loosely translated to mean "Horse"(last name) and "Virtue From the Sea"(first name).
He died in China in 1988 and was buried at the Babaoshan Revolutionary Cemetery
.
During his lifetime, he was honored in his city Hammana
in Lebanon
, where the main square of the city is named after him.
There is an extensive interview with him in the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation's groundbreaking ninety minute documentary by Patrick Watson, The Seven Hundred Million (1964).
A film about him, showing an American doctor affirming Communist ideology, is broadcast frequently in the People's Republic of China. Consequently, his story is widely known among Mainland Chinese.
Buffalo, New York
Buffalo is the second most populous city in the state of New York, after New York City. Located in Western New York on the eastern shores of Lake Erie and at the head of the Niagara River across from Fort Erie, Ontario, Buffalo is the seat of Erie County and the principal city of the...
, USA, is an ethnic Lebanese
Lebanese people
The Lebanese people are a nation and ethnic group of Levantine people originating in what is today the country of Lebanon, including those who had inhabited Mount Lebanon prior to the creation of the modern Lebanese state....
Chinese doctor.
Family background
Shafick George Hatem was born into a Lebanese-American family in upstate New York. His father Nahoum Salaama Hatem moved to the United States from the village of HammanaHammana
Hammana is a town in Lebanon, about 26 km East of Beirut. Hammana sits at an altitude of 1200m above sea-level. It is in the Mount Lebanon Governorate in the district of Baabda. Nearby are the towns of Falougha, Chbaniyeh and Mdeyrig.Hammana has multiple water sources...
in the Metn
Matn District
Matn , sometimes spelled Metn, is a district in the Mount Lebanon Governorate of Lebanon, east of the Lebanon's capital Beirut...
mountains of Lebanon
Lebanon
Lebanon , officially the Republic of LebanonRepublic of Lebanon is the most common term used by Lebanese government agencies. The term Lebanese Republic, a literal translation of the official Arabic and French names that is not used in today's world. Arabic is the most common language spoken among...
in 1902, to take a job at a textile mill in Lawrence, Massachusetts
Lawrence, Massachusetts
Lawrence is a city in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States on the Merrimack River. According to the 2010 U.S. Census, the city had a total population of 76,377. Surrounding communities include Methuen to the north, Andover to the southwest, and North Andover to the southeast. It and Salem are...
. In 1909, on a trip to Lebanon, Nahoum married Thamam Joseph, a woman two years younger from the village of Bahannes.
George Hatem's parents were of Maronite background. Some older
sources claim that the family was of Syrian Jewish extraction, but according to modern biographers, that was a misconception, although quite common even during George Hatem's life.
Soon after being married, the Hatem family moved to Buffalo, New York
Buffalo, New York
Buffalo is the second most populous city in the state of New York, after New York City. Located in Western New York on the eastern shores of Lake Erie and at the head of the Niagara River across from Fort Erie, Ontario, Buffalo is the seat of Erie County and the principal city of the...
, where Nahoum took a job at a steel mill. It was in Buffalo where their first child, George, was born on September 26, 1910.
Early life
George Hatem attended pre-med classes at the University of North CarolinaUniversity of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is a public research university located in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States...
and medicine at the American University in Beirut and the University of Geneva
University of Geneva
The University of Geneva is a public research university located in Geneva, Switzerland.It was founded in 1559 by John Calvin, as a theological seminary and law school. It remained focused on theology until the 17th century, when it became a center for Enlightenment scholarship. In 1873, it...
. While in Geneva, he, called by friends Shag, became acquainted with students from East Asia
East Asia
East Asia or Eastern Asia is a subregion of Asia that can be defined in either geographical or cultural terms...
, and learned much about China. With financial help from the parents of one of his friends, he and several others set off to Shanghai to establish a medical practice to concentrate on venereal diseases, as well as basic health care for the needy. On August 3, 1933, he with colleagues, Lazar Katz and Robert Levinson, boarded a ship in Triest that took him to several ports in Asia, including Singapore
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
and Hong Kong
Hong Kong
Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...
. On September 5, the three young American doctors landed in Shanghai.
Shanghai
Hatem set up the practice in ShanghaiShanghai
Shanghai is the largest city by population in China and the largest city proper in the world. It is one of the four province-level municipalities in the People's Republic of China, with a total population of over 23 million as of 2010...
, and changed his name to Ma Hai-te (Ma Haide). It was in Shanghai that he met the well known journalist, Agnes Smedley
Agnes Smedley
Agnes Smedley was an American journalist and writer best known for her semi-autobiographical novelDaughter of Earth. She was also known for her sympathetic chronicling of the Chinese revolution...
, who introduced him to Liu Ting, a member of the Communist Party of China
Communist Party of China
The Communist Party of China , also known as the Chinese Communist Party , is the founding and ruling political party of the People's Republic of China...
. Disgusted by the corruption of Shanghai and the Chinese Nationalists, he closed his practice there three years later, and, with the help of the earlier established Communist contacts, was smuggled across Kuomintang
Kuomintang
The Kuomintang of China , sometimes romanized as Guomindang via the Pinyin transcription system or GMD for short, and translated as the Chinese Nationalist Party is a founding and ruling political party of the Republic of China . Its guiding ideology is the Three Principles of the People, espoused...
lines to provide medical service to Mao Zedong
Mao Zedong
Mao Zedong, also transliterated as Mao Tse-tung , and commonly referred to as Chairman Mao , was a Chinese Communist revolutionary, guerrilla warfare strategist, Marxist political philosopher, and leader of the Chinese Revolution...
's Communist troops in Xi'an
Xi'an
Xi'an is the capital of the Shaanxi province, and a sub-provincial city in the People's Republic of China. One of the oldest cities in China, with more than 3,100 years of history, the city was known as Chang'an before the Ming Dynasty...
(Sian).
Yan'an
In the summer of 1936, Ma travelled to the Communist headquarters at Bao'anZhidan County
Zhidan is a county in Shaanxi province, China. The county falls administratively under Yan'an City. Zhidan County and surrounding areas host oil drilling and industry.-History:...
(present-day Zhidan), temporary capital of the Communist-controlled Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia Border Region
Shaan-Gan-Ning
Shaan-Gan-Ning was one of the two border region governments with the capital at Yan'an, named after the provinces of Shaanxi, Gansu, Ningxia...
. He was accompanied by the pioneering American journalist Edgar Snow
Edgar Snow
Edgar P. Snow was an American journalist known for his books and articles on Communism in China and the Chinese Communist revolution...
. At Hatem's request, he was not explicitly mentioned in the first edition of Snow's famous book, Red Star Over China
Red Star Over China
Red Star Over China, a book by Edgar Snow, is an account of the Communist Party of China written when they were a guerrilla army still obscure to Westerners. Along with Pearl Buck's The Good Earth, it was the most influential book on Western understanding and sympathy for China in the 1930s...
. He is there anonymously as a western-trained doctor who had examined Mao and determined he was not dying of some mysterious disease, which was the rumour at the time. He also became the first foreign member of the Chinese Communist Party.
As the war with Japan
Second Sino-Japanese War
The Second Sino-Japanese War was a military conflict fought primarily between the Republic of China and the Empire of Japan. From 1937 to 1941, China fought Japan with some economic help from Germany , the Soviet Union and the United States...
started in earnest in 1937, Ma Heide sent requests to Soong Ching-ling
Soong Ching-ling
Soong Ching-ling , also known as Madame Sun Yat-sen, was one of the three Soong sisters—who, along with their husbands, were amongst China's most significant political figures of the early 20th century. She was the Vice Chairman of the People's Republic of China...
, Agnes Smedley, and other notables to organize recruitment of foreign medical personnel for the communists' troops fighting the Japanese armies in northern China. He was among those meeting Norman Bethune
Norman Bethune
Henry Norman Bethune was a Canadian physician and medical innovator. Bethune is best known for his service in war time medical units during the Spanish Civil War and with the Communist Eighth Route Army during the Second Sino-Japanese War...
when Bethune arrived to Yan'an in late March 1938, and was instrumental in helping Bethune get started at his task of organizing medical services for the front and the region.
He was present at Yan'an, when the Dixie Mission
Dixie Mission
The United States Army Observation Group, commonly known as the Dixie Mission, was the first U.S. effort to establish official relations with the Communist Party of China and the People's Liberation Army, then headquartered in the mountainous city of Yan'an...
, an American civilian and military group, arrived in July 1944. Ma was a source of surprise and comfort for many of the Americans when they met the American born physician. Many accounts of the mission make reference to Haide. Known commonly to the group as "Doc Ma," Ma periodically assisted Major Melvin Casberg in studies of the state of medical treatment in the Communist territories.
Post War Life
Ma remained a doctor with the Communists until their victory in 1949, afterwards becoming a public health official. He was the first foreigner granted citizenship in the People's Republic of China. He is credited with helping to eliminate leprosyLeprosy
Leprosy or Hansen's disease is a chronic disease caused by the bacteria Mycobacterium leprae and Mycobacterium lepromatosis. Named after physician Gerhard Armauer Hansen, leprosy is primarily a granulomatous disease of the peripheral nerves and mucosa of the upper respiratory tract; skin lesions...
and many venereal diseases in post-war China, for which he received the Lasker Medical Award in 1986. He was one of the few persons who were not born in China to hold a position of trust and authority in the People's Republic of China. His Chinese name can be loosely translated to mean "Horse"(last name) and "Virtue From the Sea"(first name).
He died in China in 1988 and was buried at the Babaoshan Revolutionary Cemetery
Babaoshan Revolutionary Cemetery
The Babaoshan Revolutionary Cemetery is Beijing's main resting place for revolutionary heroes, high government officials and in recent years, any individual deemed important due to their contributions to society. In Chinese, Babaoshan literally means "The Eight-Treasure Mountains"...
.
During his lifetime, he was honored in his city Hammana
Hammana
Hammana is a town in Lebanon, about 26 km East of Beirut. Hammana sits at an altitude of 1200m above sea-level. It is in the Mount Lebanon Governorate in the district of Baabda. Nearby are the towns of Falougha, Chbaniyeh and Mdeyrig.Hammana has multiple water sources...
in Lebanon
Lebanon
Lebanon , officially the Republic of LebanonRepublic of Lebanon is the most common term used by Lebanese government agencies. The term Lebanese Republic, a literal translation of the official Arabic and French names that is not used in today's world. Arabic is the most common language spoken among...
, where the main square of the city is named after him.
There is an extensive interview with him in the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation's groundbreaking ninety minute documentary by Patrick Watson, The Seven Hundred Million (1964).
A film about him, showing an American doctor affirming Communist ideology, is broadcast frequently in the People's Republic of China. Consequently, his story is widely known among Mainland Chinese.
Sources
. Partial text on Google Books.- Snow, EdgarEdgar SnowEdgar P. Snow was an American journalist known for his books and articles on Communism in China and the Chinese Communist revolution...
. The Other Side of the River : Red China Today. New York : Random House, 1962.
External links
- Journal of Public Health Policy review of books about Ma Haide, 2001
- Open Mind interview
- Ma Haide, the Saga of American Doctor George Hatem in China
- Behind Red Star over China (2006 account from China DailyChina DailyThe China Daily is an English language daily newspaper published in the People's Republic of China.- Overview :China Daily was established in June 1981 and has the widest print circulation of any English-language newspaper in the country...
)