Physician writer
Encyclopedia
Physician writers are medical doctors who write creatively in fields outside their practice of medicine
.
The following is a partial list of physician-writers by historic epoch
or century
in which the author was born, arranged in alphabetical order. For those who do not have a Wikipedia
page, a reference to another internet site, providing biographical information, has often been added.
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medicine
, of literary activities. This may have its origins in mythology
. Apollo
was the god of both poetry and medicine. Pallas Athene was the goddess
of poetry, healing
and war. Brigit was the Celtic
patroness of poets, smiths
and healers.
It is thought that through their privileged and intimate contact with those moments of greatest human drama (birth, illness, injury, suffering, disease, death) physicians are in a unique position to observe, record and create the stories that make us human. "The clinical gaze [has] much in common with the artist's eye."
Robert Louis Stevenson
, in his Preface to Underwoods
, described this unique privilege:
Professional writers often wonder how busy doctors find the time to write. Many doctors have had to quit medical practice in order to find the time. Those who do not quit, inevitably struggle with the conflict of patient responsibilities over the pull of literature.
, Italy
, along with his wife, Italian
film star Gina Lollobrigida
.
In 1973 FISEM changed its name to UMEM—Union Mondiale des Écrivains Médécins, or World Union of Physician Writers. Its current president is Dr. Carlos Vieira Reis of Portugal. UMEM is an umbrella organization that subsumes physician-writer groups in:
world, the lead has been taken by New York University
(NYU) with their encyclopedic Literature, Arts & Medicine Database (http://litmed.med.nyu.edu) and blog
(http://medhum.med.nyu.edu/blog/). An associated resource is the Medical Humanities directory: http://medhum.med.nyu.edu/directory.html.
These sites were established in 1994 at the New York University School of Medicine
and were:
Dr. Daniel Bryant, an American internist, has compiled an extensive list of fellow physician writers which can be assessed at http://library.med.nyu.edu/library/eresources/featuredcollections/bryant/roster.html
or at http://members.aol.com/dbryantmd/index.html?f=fs
The Johns Hopkins University Press
publishes Literature and Medicine
, “a journal devoted to exploring interfaces between literary and medical knowledge and understanding. Issues of illness, health, medical science, violence, and the body are examined through literary and cultural texts.”
The British Medical Association
keeps an updated, though selective, list of Physician-Writers on its web site: http://www.bma.org.uk/ap.nsf/Content/LIBDoctorWriters
Medicine
Medicine is the science and art of healing. It encompasses a variety of health care practices evolved to maintain and restore health by the prevention and treatment of illness....
.
The following is a partial list of physician-writers by historic epoch
Era
An era is a commonly used word for long period of time. When used in science, for example geology, eras denote clearly defined periods of time of arbitrary but well defined length, such as for example the Mesozoic era from 252 Ma–66 Ma, delimited by a start event and an end event. When used in...
or century
Century
A century is one hundred consecutive years. Centuries are numbered ordinally in English and many other languages .-Start and end in the Gregorian Calendar:...
in which the author was born, arranged in alphabetical order. For those who do not have a Wikipedia
Wikipedia
Wikipedia is a free, web-based, collaborative, multilingual encyclopedia project supported by the non-profit Wikimedia Foundation. Its 20 million articles have been written collaboratively by volunteers around the world. Almost all of its articles can be edited by anyone with access to the site,...
page, a reference to another internet site, providing biographical information, has often been added.
Antiquity
- CtesiasCtesiasCtesias of Cnidus was a Greek physician and historian from Cnidus in Caria. Ctesias, who lived in the 5th century BC, was physician to Artaxerxes Mnemon, whom he accompanied in 401 BC on his expedition against his brother Cyrus the Younger....
(5th century BC) Greek historian - St. Luke (1st century AD) apostle
Middle Ages
- AvicennaAvicennaAbū ʿAlī al-Ḥusayn ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn Sīnā , commonly known as Ibn Sīnā or by his Latinized name Avicenna, was a Persian polymath, who wrote almost 450 treatises on a wide range of subjects, of which around 240 have survived...
(980–1037) early contributor to medical, philosophical and Islamic literature - Yehuda HaleviYehuda HaleviJudah Halevi was a Spanish Jewish physician, poet and philosopher. He was born in Spain, either in Toledo or Tudela, in 1075 or 1086, and died shortly after arriving in Palestine in 1141...
(c.1075–1141) Jewish-Spanish philosopher and poet - MaimonidesMaimonidesMoses ben-Maimon, called Maimonides and also known as Mūsā ibn Maymūn in Arabic, or Rambam , was a preeminent medieval Jewish philosopher and one of the greatest Torah scholars and physicians of the Middle Ages...
(1138–1204) rabbiRabbiIn Judaism, a rabbi is a teacher of Torah. This title derives from the Hebrew word רבי , meaning "My Master" , which is the way a student would address a master of Torah...
, and philosopher in AndalusiaAndalusiaAndalusia is the most populous and the second largest in area of the autonomous communities of Spain. The Andalusian autonomous community is officially recognised as a nationality of Spain. The territory is divided into eight provinces: Huelva, Seville, Cádiz, Córdoba, Málaga, Jaén, Granada and...
, MoroccoMoroccoMorocco , officially the Kingdom of Morocco , is a country located in North Africa. It has a population of more than 32 million and an area of 710,850 km², and also primarily administers the disputed region of the Western Sahara...
and EgyptEgyptEgypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
15th century
- Adam of ŁowiczAdam of ŁowiczAdam of Łowicz was a professor of medicine at the University of Krakow, its rector in 1510–1511, a humanist, writer and philosopher.-Life:Adam studied in the Department of Liberal Arts at the University of Krakow, earning a baccalaureate in 1488 and...
(also known as "Adamus Polonus"; died 1514) was a professor of medicine at PolandPolandPoland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
's Kraków Academy, its rectorRectorThe word rector has a number of different meanings; it is widely used to refer to an academic, religious or political administrator...
in 1510–11, royal court physician, a humanistRenaissance humanismRenaissance humanism was an activity of cultural and educational reform engaged by scholars, writers, and civic leaders who are today known as Renaissance humanists. It developed during the fourteenth and the beginning of the fifteenth centuries, and was a response to the challenge of Mediæval...
, writer and philosopher. - Biernat of LublinBiernat of LublinBiernat of Lublin was a Polish poet, fabulist, translator and physician. He was one of the first Polish-language writers known by name, and the most interesting of the earliest ones...
(1465–1529) was a Polish poet, fabulist and physician. He was one of the first Polish-language writers known by name, and the most interesting of the earliest ones. - Nicolaus CopernicusNicolaus CopernicusNicolaus Copernicus was a Renaissance astronomer and the first person to formulate a comprehensive heliocentric cosmology which displaced the Earth from the center of the universe....
(1473–1543) was a Polish mathematician, astronomer, physician, classical scholar, translator, Catholic cleric, jurist, governor, military leader, diplomat and economist, best known for his epoch-making book, De revolutionibus orbium coelestiumDe revolutionibus orbium coelestiumDe revolutionibus orbium coelestium is the seminal work on the heliocentric theory of the Renaissance astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus...
. - Girolamo FracastoroGirolamo FracastoroGirolamo Fracastoro was an Italian physician, poet, and scholar in mathematics, geography and astronomy. Fracastoro subscribed to the philosophy of atomism, and rejected appeals to hidden causes in scientific investigation....
(Fracastorius; 1478–1553) Italian scholarScholarly methodScholarly method or scholarship is the body of principles and practices used by scholars to make their claims about the world as valid and trustworthy as possible, and to make them known to the scholarly public.-Methods:...
(in mathematics, geography and astronomy), poet and atomistAtomismAtomism is a natural philosophy that developed in several ancient traditions. The atomists theorized that the natural world consists of two fundamental parts: indivisible atoms and empty void.According to Aristotle, atoms are indestructible and immutable and there are an infinite variety of shapes...
; as a physician, he proposed ideas very similar to the germ theory of diseaseGerm theory of diseaseThe germ theory of disease, also called the pathogenic theory of medicine, is a theory that proposes that microorganisms are the cause of many diseases...
. - ParacelsusParacelsusParacelsus was a German-Swiss Renaissance physician, botanist, alchemist, astrologer, and general occultist....
(1493–1541) Swiss-born botanist, alchemistAlchemistAn alchemist is a person who practices alchemy. Alchemist may also refer to:-People and groups:*The Alchemist , a hip hop music producer and rapper*Alchemist , an Australian progressive metal band...
, occultist. - François RabelaisFrançois RabelaisFrançois Rabelais was a major French Renaissance writer, doctor, Renaissance humanist, monk and Greek scholar. He has historically been regarded as a writer of fantasy, satire, the grotesque, bawdy jokes and songs...
(1483–1553) French satiristSatireSatire is primarily a literary genre or form, although in practice it can also be found in the graphic and performing arts. In satire, vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, ideally with the intent of shaming individuals, and society itself, into improvement...
and author of The Lives, Heroic Deeds and Sayings of Gargantua and PantagruelGargantua and PantagruelThe Life of Gargantua and of Pantagruel is a connected series of five novels written in the 16th century by François Rabelais. It is the story of two giants, a father and his son and their adventures, written in an amusing, extravagant, satirical vein...
.
16th century
- Luis Barahona de SotoLuis Barahona de SotoLuis Barahona de Soto was a Spanish poet.Born at Lucena , he was educated at Granada, and practised as a physician at Cordoba. His major work is the Primera parte de la Angélica , a continuation of the Orlando furioso...
(1548–1595) Spanish poet admired by CervantesCervantes-People:*Alfonso J. Cervantes , mayor of St. Louis, Missouri*Francisco Cervantes de Salazar, 16th-century man of letters*Ignacio Cervantes, Cuban composer*Jorge Cervantes, a world-renowned expert on indoor, outdoor, and greenhouse cannabis cultivation... - Jan BrożekJan BrozekJan Brożek was a Polish polymath: a mathematician, astronomer, physician, poet, writer, musician and rector of the Kraków Academy.-Life:...
(Broscius, 1585–1652), Polish mathematicianMathematicianA mathematician is a person whose primary area of study is the field of mathematics. Mathematicians are concerned with quantity, structure, space, and change....
, astronomerAstronomerAn astronomer is a scientist who studies celestial bodies such as planets, stars and galaxies.Historically, astronomy was more concerned with the classification and description of phenomena in the sky, while astrophysics attempted to explain these phenomena and the differences between them using...
, physicianPhysicianA physician is a health care provider who practices the profession of medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring human health through the study, diagnosis, and treatment of disease, injury and other physical and mental impairments...
, poet, writer, musician, rector of the Kraków Academy - Thomas CampionThomas CampionThomas Campion was an English composer, poet and physician. He wrote over a hundred lute songs; masques for dancing, and an authoritative technical treatise on music.-Life:...
(1567–1620) English composer and poet - William Gilbert (1544–1603) English natural philosopher
- Jacques GrévinJacques GrévinJacques Grévin was a French dramatist.Grévin was born at Clermont, Oise in about 1539, and he studied medicine at the University of Paris. He became a disciple of Ronsard, and was one of the band of dramatists who sought to introduce the classical drama in France...
(c. 1539–1570) French dramatist - Arthur Johnston (1587–1641) Scottish poet
- Thomas LodgeThomas LodgeThomas Lodge was an English dramatist and writer of the Elizabethan and Jacobean periods.-Early life and education:...
(c. 1558–1625) English dramatist and writer of the Elizabethan and JacobeanJacobean eraThe Jacobean era refers to the period in English and Scottish history that coincides with the reign of King James VI of Scotland, who also inherited the crown of England in 1603 as James I...
periods; best remembered as the author of Rosalynde, on which ShakespeareWilliam ShakespeareWilliam Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon"...
based As You Like ItAs You Like ItAs You Like It is a pastoral comedy by William Shakespeare believed to have been written in 1599 or early 1600 and first published in the folio of 1623. The play's first performance is uncertain, though a performance at Wilton House in 1603 has been suggested as a possibility... - Sebastian PetrycySebastian PetrycySebastian Petrycy of Pilzno was a Polish philosopher and physician. He lectured and published notable works in the field of medicine but is principally remembered for his masterful Polish translations of philosophical works by Aristotle and for his commentaries to them...
of PilznoPilznoPilzno is a town in Poland, in Subcarpathian Voivodeship, in Dębica County. It has 4,484 inhabitants . It is located at the junction of important roads - West-East European E40 Highway, and National Road 73 Pilzno is a town in Poland, in Subcarpathian Voivodeship, in Dębica County. It has...
(1554–1626) was a Polish philosopher and physicianPhysicianA physician is a health care provider who practices the profession of medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring human health through the study, diagnosis, and treatment of disease, injury and other physical and mental impairments...
. - Michael ServetusMichael ServetusMichael Servetus was a Spanish theologian, physician, cartographer, and humanist. He was the first European to correctly describe the function of pulmonary circulation...
(1511–53), Spanish theologian, cartographer, humanistHumanismHumanism is an approach in study, philosophy, world view or practice that focuses on human values and concerns. In philosophy and social science, humanism is a perspective which affirms some notion of human nature, and is contrasted with anti-humanism....
; the first European to describe pulmonary circulationPulmonary circulationPulmonary circulation is the half portion of the cardiovascular system which carries Oxygen-depleted Blood away from the heart, to the Lungs, and returns oxygenated blood back to the heart. Encyclopedic description and discovery of the pulmonary circulation is widely attributed to Doctor Ibn...
; burned at the stake, for his religious views, in John CalvinJohn CalvinJohn Calvin was an influential French theologian and pastor during the Protestant Reformation. He was a principal figure in the development of the system of Christian theology later called Calvinism. Originally trained as a humanist lawyer, he broke from the Roman Catholic Church around 1530...
's GenevaGenevaGeneva In the national languages of Switzerland the city is known as Genf , Ginevra and Genevra is the second-most-populous city in Switzerland and is the most populous city of Romandie, the French-speaking part of Switzerland...
. - Andreas Vesalius (1514–64) Belgian anatomist, author of De humani corporis fabricaDe humani corporis fabricaDe humani corporis fabrica libri septem is a textbook of human anatomy written by Andreas Vesalius in 1543....
17th century
- Patrick AbercrombyPatrick AbercrombyPatrick Abercromby , Scottish physician and antiquarian, noted for being physician to King James VII and his fervent opposition to the Act of Union between Scotland and England.-Early life:...
(1656–c.1716) Scottish antiquarianAntiquarianAn antiquarian or antiquary is an aficionado or student of antiquities or things of the past. More specifically, the term is used for those who study history with particular attention to ancient objects of art or science, archaeological and historic sites, or historic archives and manuscripts...
, noted for being physician to King James VII (II of EnglandEnglandEngland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
) - John ArbuthnotJohn ArbuthnotJohn Arbuthnot, often known simply as Dr. Arbuthnot, , was a physician, satirist and polymath in London...
(1667–1735) one of Queen AnneAnne of Great BritainAnne ascended the thrones of England, Scotland and Ireland on 8 March 1702. On 1 May 1707, under the Act of Union, two of her realms, England and Scotland, were united as a single sovereign state, the Kingdom of Great Britain.Anne's Catholic father, James II and VII, was deposed during the...
’s physicians and an associate of Jonathan SwiftJonathan SwiftJonathan Swift was an Irish satirist, essayist, political pamphleteer , poet and cleric who became Dean of St...
and Alexander PopeAlexander PopeAlexander Pope was an 18th-century English poet, best known for his satirical verse and for his translation of Homer. He is the third-most frequently quoted writer in The Oxford Dictionary of Quotations, after Shakespeare and Tennyson...
in the Scriblerus ClubScriblerus ClubThe Scriblerus Club was an informal group of friends that included Jonathan Swift, Alexander Pope, John Gay, John Arbuthnot, Henry St. John and Thomas Parnell. The group was founded in 1712 and lasted until the death of the founders, starting in 1732 and ending in 1745, with Pope and Swift being... - Sir Thomas Browne (1605–1682) British writer with mastery in diverse fields including medicine, religion, science and the esoteric
- Samuel GarthSamuel GarthSir Samuel Garth FRS was an English physician and poet.Garth was born in Bolam in County Durham and matriculated at Peterhouse, Cambridge in 1676, graduating B.A. in 1679 and...
(1661–1719) British author and translator of classicsClassicsClassics is the branch of the Humanities comprising the languages, literature, philosophy, history, art, archaeology and other culture of the ancient Mediterranean world ; especially Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome during Classical Antiquity Classics (sometimes encompassing Classical Studies or... - Paul Fleming (1609–1640) as a lyricistLyricistA lyricist is a songwriter who specializes in lyrics. A singer who writes the lyrics to songs is a singer-lyricist. This differentiates from a singer-composer, who composes the song's melody.-Collaboration:...
he stood in the front rank of German poets - Bernard Mandeville (1670–1733) Dutch philosopher, political economist and satiristSatireSatire is primarily a literary genre or form, although in practice it can also be found in the graphic and performing arts. In satire, vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, ideally with the intent of shaming individuals, and society itself, into improvement...
who lived most of his life in England and used English for most of his published works; became famous (or infamous) for The Fable of the BeesThe Fable of the BeesThe Fable of The Bees: or, Private Vices, Public Benefits is a book by Bernard Mandeville, consisting of the poem The Grumbling Hive: or, Knaves turn’d Honest and prose discussion of it. The poem was published in 1705 and the book first appeared in 1714... - Francesco RediFrancesco RediFrancesco Redi was an Italian physician, naturalist, and poet.-Biography:The son of Gregorio Redi and Cecilia de Ghinci was born in Arezzo on February 18, 1626. After schooling with the Jesuits, he attended the University of Pisa...
(1626–97) Italian poet, best known work being Bacchus in Tuscany - Angelus SilesiusAngelus SilesiusAngelus Silesius was a German Catholic mystic and poet.-Life:Silesius was born in Breslau , Silesia as son of Polish noble and German mother...
, né Johannes Scheffler (1624–77) German mysticMysticismMysticism is the knowledge of, and especially the personal experience of, states of consciousness, i.e. levels of being, beyond normal human perception, including experience and even communion with a supreme being.-Classical origins:...
and poet who wrote the lyrics to many Christian hymns - Henry VaughanHenry VaughanHenry Vaughan was a Welsh physician and metaphysical poet.Vaughan and his twin brother the hermetic philosopher and alchemist Thomas Vaughan, were the sons of Thomas Vaughan and his wife Denise of 'Trenewydd', Newton, in Brecknockshire, Wales...
(1622−1695) Welsh metaphysicalMetaphysical poetsThe metaphysical poets is a term coined by the poet and critic Samuel Johnson to describe a loose group of British lyric poets of the 17th century, who shared an interest in metaphysical concerns and a common way of investigating them, and whose work was characterized by inventiveness of metaphor...
poet
18th century
- Erasmus DarwinErasmus DarwinErasmus Darwin was an English physician who turned down George III's invitation to be a physician to the King. One of the key thinkers of the Midlands Enlightenment, he was also a natural philosopher, physiologist, slave trade abolitionist,inventor and poet...
(1731–1802) British poet, grandfather of Charles DarwinCharles DarwinCharles Robert Darwin FRS was an English naturalist. He established that all species of life have descended over time from common ancestry, and proposed the scientific theory that this branching pattern of evolution resulted from a process that he called natural selection.He published his theory... - James Grainger (1721–66) poet from a CumberlandCumberlandCumberland is a historic county of North West England, on the border with Scotland, from the 12th century until 1974. It formed an administrative county from 1889 to 1974 and now forms part of Cumbria....
family; friend of Dr. Johnson - Oliver GoldsmithOliver GoldsmithOliver Goldsmith was an Irish writer, poet and physician known for his novel The Vicar of Wakefield , his pastoral poem The Deserted Village , and his plays The Good-Natur'd Man and She Stoops to Conquer...
(1728–74) Anglo-IrishAnglo-IrishAnglo-Irish was a term used primarily in the 19th and early 20th centuries to identify a privileged social class in Ireland, whose members were the descendants and successors of the Protestant Ascendancy, mostly belonging to the Church of Ireland, which was the established church of Ireland until...
writer and poet known for his novel The Vicar of Wakefield (1766) - Albrecht von HallerAlbrecht von HallerAlbrecht von Haller was a Swiss anatomist, physiologist, naturalist and poet.-Early life:He was born of an old Swiss family at Bern. Prevented by long-continued ill-health from taking part in boyish sports, he had the more opportunity for the development of his precocious mind...
(1708–77) Swiss anatomist, physiologist, naturalistNaturalistNaturalist may refer to:* Practitioner of natural history* Conservationist* Advocate of naturalism * Naturalist , autobiography-See also:* The American Naturalist, periodical* Naturalism...
and poet - Edward JennerEdward JennerEdward Anthony Jenner was an English scientist who studied his natural surroundings in Berkeley, Gloucestershire...
, FRS, (1749–1823) famous for introducing the smallpoxSmallpoxSmallpox was an infectious disease unique to humans, caused by either of two virus variants, Variola major and Variola minor. The disease is also known by the Latin names Variola or Variola vera, which is a derivative of the Latin varius, meaning "spotted", or varus, meaning "pimple"...
vaccineVaccineA vaccine is a biological preparation that improves immunity to a particular disease. A vaccine typically contains an agent that resembles a disease-causing microorganism, and is often made from weakened or killed forms of the microbe or its toxins...
; also a poet of some note - Johann Heinrich JungJohann Heinrich JungJohann Heinrich Jung , best known by his assumed name of Heinrich Stilling, was a German author.-Life:He was born in the village of Grund in Westphalia...
(1740–1817) German author, best known by his assumed name, Heinrich Stillin; friend of GoetheJohann Wolfgang von GoetheJohann Wolfgang von Goethe was a German writer, pictorial artist, biologist, theoretical physicist, and polymath. He is considered the supreme genius of modern German literature. His works span the fields of poetry, drama, prose, philosophy, and science. His Faust has been called the greatest long... - John KeatsJohn KeatsJohn Keats was an English Romantic poet. Along with Lord Byron and Percy Bysshe Shelley, he was one of the key figures in the second generation of the Romantic movement, despite the fact that his work had been in publication for only four years before his death.Although his poems were not...
(1795–1821) one of the principal poets of the English Romantic movement who influenced poets such as Alfred Tennyson immensely - Justinus Andreas Christian Kerner (1786–1862) German poet who, along with Ludwig UhlandLudwig UhlandJohann Ludwig Uhland , was a German poet, philologist and literary historian.-Biography:He was born in Tübingen, then Duchy of Württemberg, and studied jurisprudence at the university there, but also took an interest in medieval literature, especially old German and French poetry...
, established the SwabianSwabianSwabian may refer:* to the German region of Swabia ; or* to Swabian German, a dialect spoken in Baden-Württemberg in south-west Germany and adjoining areas See also:...
group of Romantic poetsRomantic poetryRomanticism, a philosophical, literary, artistic and cultural era which began in the mid/late-1700s as a reaction against the prevailing Enlightenment ideals of the day , also influenced poetry...
; some of his poems were set to music by Robert SchumannRobert SchumannRobert Schumann, sometimes known as Robert Alexander Schumann, was a German composer, aesthete and influential music critic. He is regarded as one of the greatest and most representative composers of the Romantic era.... - Jean-Paul MaratJean-Paul MaratJean-Paul Marat , born in the Principality of Neuchâtel, was a physician, political theorist, and scientist best known for his career in France as a radical journalist and politician during the French Revolution...
(1743–93) Swiss-born French philosopher, political theorist and scientist best known as a radical journalist and politician from the French RevolutionFrench RevolutionThe French Revolution , sometimes distinguished as the 'Great French Revolution' , was a period of radical social and political upheaval in France and Europe. The absolute monarchy that had ruled France for centuries collapsed in three years...
; stabbed to death in his bathtub by the GirondinGirondistThe Girondists were a political faction in France within the Legislative Assembly and the National Convention during the French Revolution...
sympathizer Charlotte CordayCharlotte CordayMarie-Anne Charlotte de Corday d'Armont , known to history as Charlotte Corday, was a figure of the French Revolution. In 1793, she was executed under the guillotine for the assassination of Jacobin leader Jean-Paul Marat, who was in part responsible, through his role as a politician and...
and memorialized in Jacques-Louis DavidJacques-Louis DavidJacques-Louis David was an influential French painter in the Neoclassical style, considered to be the preeminent painter of the era...
's 1793 painting, The Death of MaratThe Death of MaratThe Death of Marat is a 1793 painting in the Neoclassical style by Jacques-Louis David, and is one of the most famous images of the French Revolution. This work depicts the radical journalist Jean-Paul Marat lying dead in his bath on 13 July 1793 after his murder by Charlotte Corday... - John Kearsley MitchellJohn Kearsley MitchellJohn Kearsley Mitchell was an American physician and writer, born in Shepherdstown, Virginia . He graduated from the Medical College of the University of Pennsylvania in 1819. Before he went to Philadelphia to practice his profession, he made three voyages to the Far East as ship's surgeon...
(1798–1858) American writer, father of S. Weir MitchellSilas Weir MitchellSilas Weir Mitchell was an American physician and writer.He was son of a physician, John Kearsley Mitchell , and was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.... - David Macbeth MoirDavid Macbeth MoirDavid Macbeth Moir , Scottish physician and writer, was born at Musselburgh.He studied medicine at the University of Edinburgh, taking his degree in 1816. Entering into partnership with a Musselburgh doctor he practised there until his death...
(1798–1851) Scottish writer; a contributor of both prose and verse to the magazines, and particularly, with the signature of Delta, to Blackwood's MagazineBlackwood's MagazineBlackwood's Magazine was a British magazine and miscellany printed between 1817 and 1980. It was founded by the publisher William Blackwood and was originally called the Edinburgh Monthly Magazine. The first number appeared in April 1817 under the editorship of Thomas Pringle and James Cleghorn... - Mungo ParkMungo Park (explorer)Mungo Park was a Scottish explorer of the African continent. He was credited as being the first Westerner to encounter the Niger River.-Early life:...
(1771–1806) Scottish explorer of the African continent - Peter Mark Roget (1779–1869) creator of the Thesaurus of English Words and Phrases (Roget's ThesaurusRoget's ThesaurusRoget's Thesaurus is a widely-used English language thesaurus, created by Dr. Peter Mark Roget in 1805 and released to the public on 29 April 1852. The original edition had 15,000 words, and each new edition has been larger...
) - Friedrich von SchillerFriedrich SchillerJohann Christoph Friedrich von Schiller was a German poet, philosopher, historian, and playwright. During the last seventeen years of his life , Schiller struck up a productive, if complicated, friendship with already famous and influential Johann Wolfgang von Goethe...
(1759–1805) German writer, poet, essayist and dramatist; friend of GoetheJohann Wolfgang von GoetheJohann Wolfgang von Goethe was a German writer, pictorial artist, biologist, theoretical physicist, and polymath. He is considered the supreme genius of modern German literature. His works span the fields of poetry, drama, prose, philosophy, and science. His Faust has been called the greatest long... - Tobias SmollettTobias SmollettTobias George Smollett was a Scottish poet and author. He was best known for his picaresque novels, such as The Adventures of Roderick Random and The Adventures of Peregrine Pickle , which influenced later novelists such as Charles Dickens.-Life:Smollett was born at Dalquhurn, now part of Renton,...
(1721–71) Scottish author, known for his picaresque novels, such as The Adventures of Roderick Random (1748); best known work is The Expedition of Humphrey Clinker
19th century
- Carl Ludwig Emil Aarestrup (1800–1856) Danish erotic poet
- Mariano AzuelaMariano AzuelaMariano Azuela González was a Mexican author and physician, best known for his fictional stories of the Mexican Revolution of 1910...
(1873–1952) MexicanMexican peopleMexican people refers to all persons from Mexico, a multiethnic country in North America, and/or who identify with the Mexican cultural and/or national identity....
physician in Pancho VillaPancho VillaJosé Doroteo Arango Arámbula – better known by his pseudonym Francisco Villa or its hypocorism Pancho Villa – was one of the most prominent Mexican Revolutionary generals....
's army; in 1949 he received a National Prize for Literature - Doris Bell Ball (1897–1987) wrote under the pseudonym "Josephine BellJosephine BellJosephine Bell was an English physician and author.She was born Doris Bell Collier in Manchester. Between 1910 and 1916 she studied at Godolphin School, then trained at Newnham College, Cambridge until 1919. At the University College Hospital in London she was granted M.R.C.S. and L.R.C.P. in...
"; a British detective novelist who wrote more than forty books; a founding member of the Crime Writers Association - Pío Baroja y Nessi (1872–1956) Spanish writer, one of the key novelists of the Generation of '98Generation of '98The Generation of '98 was a group of novelists, poets, essayists, and philosophers active in Spain at the time of the Spanish-American War ....
; admired by HemingwayErnest HemingwayErnest Miller Hemingway was an American author and journalist. His economic and understated style had a strong influence on 20th-century fiction, while his life of adventure and his public image influenced later generations. Hemingway produced most of his work between the mid-1920s and the... - Nérée BeaucheminNérée BeaucheminCharles-Nérée Beauchemin was a French Canadian poet and physician.He published two volumes of his poetry: Les Floraisons Matutinales in 1897 and Patrie Intime in 1928.-External links:*...
(1850–1931) QuébécoisFrench-speaking QuebecerFrench-speaking Quebecers are francophone residents of the Canadian province of Quebec....
poet who attempted to produce a national literature - Thomas Lovell BeddoesThomas Lovell BeddoesThomas Lovell Beddoes was an English poet, dramatist and physician.- Biography :Born in Clifton, Bristol, England, he was the son of Dr. Thomas Beddoes, a friend of Samuel Taylor Coleridge, and Anna, sister of Maria Edgeworth. He was educated at Charterhouse and Pembroke College, Oxford...
(1803–1849) English poet and dramatist whose central theme was death - Gottfried BennGottfried BennGottfried Benn was a German essayist, novelist, and expressionist poet. A doctor of medicine, he became an early admirer, and later a critic, of the National Socialist revolution...
(1886–1956) German essayist, novelist and expressionist poet - Robert Seymour Bridges, OMOrder of MeritThe Order of Merit is a British dynastic order recognising distinguished service in the armed forces, science, art, literature, or for the promotion of culture...
, (1844–1930) English poet, the only physician to hold the honour of poet laureatePoet LaureateA poet laureate is a poet officially appointed by a government and is often expected to compose poems for state occasions and other government events...
(1913) - Georg BüchnerGeorg BüchnerKarl Georg Büchner was a German dramatist and writer of poetry and prose. He was the brother of physician and philosopher Ludwig Büchner. Büchner's talent is generally held in great esteem in Germany...
(1813–1837) German dramatist and writer of prose - Ludwig BüchnerLudwig BüchnerFriedrich Karl Christian Ludwig Büchner was a German philosopher, physiologist and physician who became one of the exponents of 19th century scientific materialism.Büchner was born at Darmstadt, Germany, on 29 March 1824...
(1824–1899) German philosopher and physiologist who became one of the exponents of 19th century scientific materialismNaturalism (philosophy)Naturalism commonly refers to the philosophical viewpoint that the natural universe and its natural laws and forces operate in the universe, and that nothing exists beyond the natural universe or, if it does, it does not affect the natural universe that we know... - Mikhail BulgakovMikhail BulgakovMikhaíl Afanásyevich Bulgákov was a Soviet Russian writer and playwright active in the first half of the 20th century. He is best known for his novel The Master and Margarita, which The Times of London has called one of the masterpieces of the 20th century.-Biography:Mikhail Bulgakov was born on...
(1891–1940) Russian novelist and playwright; author of The Master and MargaritaThe Master and MargaritaThe Master and Margarita is a novel by Mikhail Bulgakov, woven around the premise of a visit by the Devil to the fervently atheistic Soviet Union. Many critics consider the book to be one of the greatest novels of the 20th century, and one of the foremost Soviet satires, directed against a... - Hans CarossaHans CarossaHans Carossa was a German novelist and poet, known mostly for his autobiographical novels, and his innere Emigration during the Nazi era....
(1878–1956) German novelist and poet, known mostly for his autobiographical novels, and his innere Emigration (inner emigration) during the Nazi era. - Louis-Ferdinand CélineLouis-Ferdinand CélineLouis-Ferdinand Céline was the pen name of French writer and physician Louis-Ferdinand Destouches . Céline was chosen after his grandmother's first name. He is considered one of the most influential writers of the twentieth century, developing a new style of writing that modernized both French and...
pen name of French writer Louis-Ferdinand Destouches (1894–1961) developed a new style of writing that modernized both French and World literature - Anton ChekhovAnton ChekhovAnton Pavlovich Chekhov was a Russian physician, dramatist and author who is considered to be among the greatest writers of short stories in history. His career as a dramatist produced four classics and his best short stories are held in high esteem by writers and critics...
(1860–1904) celebrated Russian short-story writer and playwright - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (1859–1930) British author of Sherlock HolmesSherlock HolmesSherlock Holmes is a fictional detective created by Scottish author and physician Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. The fantastic London-based "consulting detective", Holmes is famous for his astute logical reasoning, his ability to take almost any disguise, and his use of forensic science skills to solve...
fame - Géza CsáthGéza CsáthGéza Csáth , was a Hungarian writer, playwright, musician, music critic and psychiatrist. He was the cousin of Dezső Kosztolányi.-Life:...
(né József Brenner) (1887–1919) Hungarian writer, playwright, musician, music critic and psychiatrist - Warwick DeepingWarwick DeepingWarwick Deeping was an English novelist.Warwick Deeping may also refer to:*HMT Warwick Deeping...
(1877–1950) prolific English novelist and short story writer; most famous novel is Sorrell and Son (1925) - Alfred DöblinAlfred DöblinAlfred Döblin was a German expressionist novelist, best known for the novel Berlin Alexanderplatz .- 1878–1918:...
(1878–1957) German expressionist novelist, best known for Berlin Alexanderplatz - William Henry DrummondWilliam Henry DrummondWilliam Henry Drummond was an Irish-born Canadian poet whose humorous dialect poems made him "one of the most popular authors in the English-speaking world," and "one of the most widely-read and loved poets" in Canada....
(1854–1907) Irish-Canadian poet of the habitant - Georges DuhamelGeorges DuhamelGeorges Duhamel , was a French author, born in Paris. Duhamel trained as a doctor, and during World War I was attached to the French Army. In 1920, he published Confession de minuit , the first of a series featuring the anti-hero Salavin...
(1884–1966) French author who, in 1920, published Confession de minuit featuring the anti-hero Salavin; in 1935, elected member of Académie françaiseAcadémie françaiseL'Académie française , also called the French Academy, is the pre-eminent French learned body on matters pertaining to the French language. The Académie was officially established in 1635 by Cardinal Richelieu, the chief minister to King Louis XIII. Suppressed in 1793 during the French Revolution,... - Havelock EllisHavelock EllisHenry Havelock Ellis, known as Havelock Ellis , was a British physician and psychologist, writer, and social reformer who studied human sexuality. He was co-author of the first medical textbook in English on homosexuality in 1897, and also published works on a variety of sexual practices and...
(1859–1940) British writer and poet, author of The Psychology of Sex - Rudolph FisherRudolph FisherRudolph Fisher was an African-American physician, radiologist, novelist, short story writer, dramatist, musician, and orator. Fisher's parents were John Wesley Fisher, a clergyman, and Glendora Williamson. Fisher had three children.His first published work, "City of Refuge", appeared in the...
(1897–1934) African-American writer who was an active participant in the Harlem Renaissance, primarily as a novelist, but also as a musician - R. Austin Freeman (1862–1943) British writer of detective stories, most featuring the medico-legal forensic investigator Dr Thorndyke. He invented the inverted detective story
- William Gilbert (author)William Gilbert (author)William Gilbert, was a British novelist and Royal Navy surgeon, and the author of novels, biographies, histories and several popular fantasy stories, mostly in the 1860s and 1870s. He is perhaps best remembered, however, as the father of dramatist W. S...
(1804–1890) English author and father of W. S. GilbertW. S. GilbertSir William Schwenck Gilbert was an English dramatist, librettist, poet and illustrator best known for his fourteen comic operas produced in collaboration with the composer Sir Arthur Sullivan, of which the most famous include H.M.S... - Oliver St. John GogartyOliver St. John GogartyOliver Joseph St John Gogarty was an Irish poet, author, otolaryngologist, athlete, politician, and well-known conversationalist, who served as the inspiration for Buck Mulligan in James Joyce's novel Ulysses....
(1878–1957) Irish ear surgeon, one of the most prominent Dublin wits and best known as the inspiration for Buck Mulligan in James JoyceJames JoyceJames Augustine Aloysius Joyce was an Irish novelist and poet, considered to be one of the most influential writers in the modernist avant-garde of the early 20th century...
's novel UlyssesUlysses (novel)Ulysses is a novel by the Irish author James Joyce. It was first serialised in parts in the American journal The Little Review from March 1918 to December 1920, and then published in its entirety by Sylvia Beach on 2 February 1922, in Paris. One of the most important works of Modernist literature,... - Enrique González MartínezEnrique González MartínezEnrique González Martínez was a Mexican poet, diplomat, surgeon and obstetrician. His poetry is considered to be primarily Modernist in nature, with elements of French symbolism....
(1871–1952) Mexican poet and diplomat, considered to be primarily Modernist in nature, with elements of French symbolism - Thomas Gordon HakeThomas Gordon HakeThomas Gordon Hake , English poet, was born at Leeds, of an old Devon family. His mother was a Gordon of the Huntly branch. He studied medicine at St George's hospital and at Edinburgh and Glasgow, but had given up practice for many years before his death and had devoted himself to a literary life...
(1809–1895) English poet, intimate member of the circle of friends and followers of RossettiRossettiRossetti may refer to:* Biagio Rossetti , an architect and urbanist from Ferrara, the first to use modern methods* Carlo Rossetti , an Italian Catholic cardinal* Cezaro Rossetti , a Scottish Esperanto writer... - William Alexander HammondWilliam Alexander HammondWilliam Alexander Hammond, M.D. was an American neurologist and the 11th Surgeon General of the U.S. Army...
(1828–1900) pioneering American neurologistNeurologistA neurologist is a physician who specializes in neurology, and is trained to investigate, or diagnose and treat neurological disorders.Neurology is the medical specialty related to the human nervous system. The nervous system encompasses the brain, spinal cord, and peripheral nerves. A specialist...
and the Surgeon General of the United States ArmyUnited States ArmyThe United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
during the American Civil WarAmerican Civil WarThe American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25... - Henry HeadHenry HeadSir Henry Head, FRS was an English neurologist who conducted pioneering work into the somatosensory system and sensory nerves. Much of this work was conducted on himself, in collaboration with the psychiatrist W. H. R. Rivers, by severing and reconnecting sensory nerves and mapping how sensation...
(1861–1940) English neurologistNeurologistA neurologist is a physician who specializes in neurology, and is trained to investigate, or diagnose and treat neurological disorders.Neurology is the medical specialty related to the human nervous system. The nervous system encompasses the brain, spinal cord, and peripheral nerves. A specialist...
who conducted pioneering studies on the somatosensory systemSomatosensory systemThe somatosensory system is a diverse sensory system composed of the receptors and processing centres to produce the sensory modalities such as touch, temperature, proprioception , and nociception . The sensory receptors cover the skin and epithelia, skeletal muscles, bones and joints, internal...
and sensory nerveSensory nerveSensory nerves are nerves that receive sensory stimuli, such as how something feels and if it is painful, smooth, rough, etc.They are made up of nerve fibers, called sensory fibers .Sensory neurons are neurons that are activated by sensory input Sensory nerves are nerves that receive sensory...
s. Much of this work was conducted on himself, in collaboration with the psychiatrist W. H. R. RiversW. H. R. RiversWilliam Halse Rivers Rivers, FRCP, FRS, was an English anthropologist, neurologist, ethnologist and psychiatrist, best known for his work with shell-shocked soldiers during World War I. Rivers' most famous patient was the poet Siegfried Sassoon... - Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr. was an American physician, professor, lecturer, and author. Regarded by his peers as one of the best writers of the 19th century, he is considered a member of the Fireside Poets. His most famous prose works are the "Breakfast-Table" series, which began with The Autocrat...
(1809–1894) one of the best regarded American poets of the 19th century; helped found the literary magazine The Atlantic MonthlyThe Atlantic MonthlyThe Atlantic is an American magazine founded in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1857. It was created as a literary and cultural commentary magazine. It quickly achieved a national reputation, which it held for more than a century. It was important for recognizing and publishing new writers and poets,...
, his collected essays published as The Autocrat of the Breakfast Table, highly popular in its day - Richard HuelsenbeckRichard HuelsenbeckRichard Huelsenbeck was a poet, writer and drummer born in Frankenau, Hessen-Nassau.Carl Wilhelm Richard Hülsenbeck was a medical student on the eve of World War I. He was invalided out of the army and emigrated to Zürich, Switzerland in February 1916, where he fell in with the Cabaret Voltaire...
(1892-1974) poet and a founder and historian of DadaDadaDada or Dadaism is a cultural movement that began in Zurich, Switzerland, during World War I and peaked from 1916 to 1922. The movement primarily involved visual arts, literature—poetry, art manifestoes, art theory—theatre, and graphic design, and concentrated its anti-war politics through a...
. - David H. KellerDavid H. KellerDavid H. Keller was a writer for pulp magazines in the mid-twentieth century who wrote science fiction, fantasy and horror. He was the first psychiatrist to write for the genre, and was most often published as David H...
(1880–1966) (most often published as David H. Keller, MD, but also known by the pseudonyms Monk Smith, Matthew Smith, Amy Worth, Henry Cecil, Cecilia Henry and Jacobus Hubelaire); a writer for pulp magazines in the mid-20th century who wrote science fiction, fantasy and horror - Geoffrey KeynesGeoffrey KeynesSir Geoffrey Langdon Keynes was an English biographer, surgeon, physician, scholar and bibliophile...
(1887–1982) English biographer, surgeon, scholar and bibliophile; younger brother of the economist John Maynard KeynesJohn Maynard KeynesJohn Maynard Keynes, Baron Keynes of Tilton, CB FBA , was a British economist whose ideas have profoundly affected the theory and practice of modern macroeconomics, as well as the economic policies of governments... - Janusz KorczakJanusz KorczakJanusz Korczak, the pen name of Henryk Goldszmit was a Polish-Jewish children's author, and pediatrician known as Pan Doktor or Stary Doktor...
(1879–1942) Polish-Jewish pediatrician, hero of the Warsaw ghettoWarsaw GhettoThe Warsaw Ghetto was the largest of all Jewish Ghettos in Nazi-occupied Europe during World War II. It was established in the Polish capital between October and November 15, 1940, in the territory of General Government of the German-occupied Poland, with over 400,000 Jews from the vicinity...
, and author of books for and about children - F. Reinhold Kreutzwald (1803–1882) Estonian folklorist and poet who compiled the national epic poem Kalevipoeg
- Vincas KudirkaVincas KudirkaVincas Kudirka was a Lithuanian poet and physician, and the author of both the music and lyrics of the Lithuanian National Anthem, Tautiška giesmė. He is regarded in Lithuania as a National Hero. Kudirka used pen names - V...
(1858–1899) Lithuanian poet and the author of both the music and lyrics of the Lithuanian National Anthem, Tautiška giesmėTautiška giesmeTautiška giesmė is the national anthem of Lithuania, also known by its opening words "Lietuva, Tėvyne mūsų" and as "Lietuvos himnas"... - František LangerFrantišek LangerFrantišek Langer , was a Czech playwright, military physician, script writer, essayist, literary critic and publicist. He was born and died in Prague.- Life :...
(1888–1965) Czech author, script writer, essayist, literary critic and publicist - C. Louis LeipoldtC. Louis LeipoldtDr. Christian Frederik Louis Leipoldt was a South African poet, who wrote inthe Afrikaans language. Together with Jan F. E. Celliers and...
(1880–1947) South African poet who wrote novels, plays, stories, children's books, cookbooks and a travel diary; numbered amongst the greatest of the AfrikanerAfrikanerAfrikaners are an ethnic group in Southern Africa descended from almost equal numbers of Dutch, French and German settlers whose native tongue is Afrikaans: a Germanic language which derives primarily from 17th century Dutch, and a variety of other languages.-Related ethno-linguistic groups:The...
poets - Jorge de LimaJorge de LimaJon Mateus de Lima, was a politician, poet, and writer of Alagoas.His most famous works are the novels "A Mulher Obscura" and "Calunga"; and "A Túnica Inconsútil" and "A Invenção de Orfeu"...
(1895–1953) Brazilian politician, poet, and writer of AlagoasAlagoasAlagoas is one of the 27 federative units of Brazil and is situated in the eastern part of the Northeast Region. It borders: Pernambuco ; Sergipe ; Bahia ; and the Atlantic Ocean . It occupies an area of 27,767 km², being slightly larger than Haiti... - David LivingstoneDavid LivingstoneDavid Livingstone was a Scottish Congregationalist pioneer medical missionary with the London Missionary Society and an explorer in Africa. His meeting with H. M. Stanley gave rise to the popular quotation, "Dr...
(1813–1873) Scottish medical missionary, explorer of AfricaAfricaAfrica is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
, travel writer - Paolo MantegazzaPaolo MantegazzaPaolo Mantegazza was a prominent Italian neurologist, physiologist and anthropologist, noted for his experimental investigation of coca leaves into its effects on the human psyche. He was also an author of fiction.-Life:...
(1831–1910) Italian writer, wrote the science fiction book, L'Anno 3000 - W. Somerset MaughamW. Somerset MaughamWilliam Somerset Maugham , CH was an English playwright, novelist and short story writer. He was among the most popular writers of his era and, reputedly, the highest paid author during the 1930s.-Childhood and education:...
(1874–1965) celebrated British novelist, short-story writer, and playwright; wrote Of Human BondageOf Human BondageOf Human Bondage is a novel by W. Somerset Maugham. It is generally agreed to be his masterpiece and to be strongly autobiographical in nature, although Maugham stated, "This is a novel, not an autobiography, though much in it is autobiographical, more is pure invention." Maugham, who had... - John McCraeJohn McCraeLieutenant Colonel John Alexander McCrae was a Canadian poet, physician, author, artist and soldier during World War I and a surgeon during the Second Battle of Ypres...
(1872–1918) Canadian poet, artist and soldier during World War IWorld War IWorld War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
and a surgeon during the battle of YpresSecond Battle of YpresThe Second Battle of Ypres was the first time Germany used poison gas on a large scale on the Western Front in the First World War and the first time a former colonial force pushed back a major European power on European soil, which occurred in the battle of St...
; best known for writing the famous war memorial poem In Flanders FieldsIn Flanders Fields"In Flanders Fields" is one of the most notable poems written during World War I, created in the form of a French rondeau. It has been called "the most popular poem" produced during that period... - S. Weir MitchellSilas Weir MitchellSilas Weir Mitchell was an American physician and writer.He was son of a physician, John Kearsley Mitchell , and was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania....
(1829–1914) prominent American neurologist who wrote short stories, poetry and more than a dozen novels (Hugh Wynne, Dr North, Characteristics), including the celebrated fictional story The Strange Case of George Dedlow. - Mori ŌgaiMori Ogaiwas a Japanese physician, translator, novelist and poet. is considered his major work.- Early life :Mori was born as Mori Rintarō in Tsuwano, Iwami province . His family were hereditary physicians to the daimyō of the Tsuwano Domain...
or Mori Rintaro (1862–1922) Japanese translator, novelist and poet; The Wild Geese is considered his major work; began as a writer of partly autobiographical fiction with strong overtones of German Romantic writings; midway in his career he shifted to historical novels - Axel Martin Fredrik MuntheAxel MuntheAxel Martin Fredrik Munthe was a Swedish psychiatrist, best known as the author of The Story of San Michele, an autobiographical account of his life and work....
(1857–1949) Swedish psychiatrist, best known as the author of The Story of San Michele (1929), an autobiographical account of his work and life - Max Simon Nordau (1849–1923) born Simon Maximilian Südfeld was a Hungarian Zionist leader, author, and social critic; co-founder of the World Zionist OrganizationWorld Zionist OrganizationThe World Zionist Organization , or WZO, was founded as the Zionist Organization , or ZO, in 1897 at the First Zionist Congress, held from August 29 to August 31 in Basel, Switzerland...
- Sir William Osler(1849–1919) Canadian-born; one of the greatest icons of medicine and described as the Father of Modern Medicine
- Philippe PannetonPhilippe PannetonPhilippe Panneton was a Canadian physician, academic, diplomat and writer....
(pseudonym Ringuet) (1895–1960) Canadian academic, diplomat and writer - Wilder Graves PenfieldWilder PenfieldWilder Graves Penfield, OM, CC, CMG, FRS was an American born Canadian neurosurgeon. During his life he was called "the greatest living Canadian"...
(1891–1976) a neurosurgeon who worked at McGill UniversityMcGill UniversityMohammed Fathy is a public research university located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The university bears the name of James McGill, a prominent Montreal merchant from Glasgow, Scotland, whose bequest formed the beginning of the university...
and pioneered neurosurgical procedures for epilepsyEpilepsyEpilepsy is a common chronic neurological disorder characterized by seizures. These seizures are transient signs and/or symptoms of abnormal, excessive or hypersynchronous neuronal activity in the brain.About 50 million people worldwide have epilepsy, and nearly two out of every three new cases...
; also wrote fiction - Bozo Pericić (1865–1947) Croatian author of travel books, reviews on famous writers and a translation of HamletHamletThe Tragical History of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, or more simply Hamlet, is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1599 and 1601...
- John William Polidori (1795–1821) Personal physician of Lord Byron and author of The VampyreThe Vampyre"The Vampyre" is a short story or novella written in 1819 by John William Polidori which is a progenitor of the romantic vampire genre of fantasy fiction...
, the first vampireVampireVampires are mythological or folkloric beings who subsist by feeding on the life essence of living creatures, regardless of whether they are undead or a living person...
story in English - Jose P. Rizal (1861–1896) Filipino polymathPolymathA polymath is a person whose expertise spans a significant number of different subject areas. In less formal terms, a polymath may simply be someone who is very knowledgeable...
, nationalist and the most prominent advocate for reforms in the Philippines during the Spanish colonial era; a polyglotMultilingualismMultilingualism is the act of using, or promoting the use of, multiple languages, either by an individual speaker or by a community of speakers. Multilingual speakers outnumber monolingual speakers in the world's population. Multilingualism is becoming a social phenomenon governed by the needs of...
conversant in at least ten languages, he was a prolific poet, essayist, diarist, correspondent, and novelist whose most famous works were his two novels, Noli me Tangere and El Filibusterismo - Sir Ronald Ross (1857–1932) a "Renaissance man"; demonstrated the life cycle of the malarial parasite; made contributions in pure and epidemiologic mathematics, and wrote novels, plays and poetry
- Mokichi Saitō (1882–1953) Japanese poet of the Taishō periodTaisho periodThe , or Taishō era, is a period in the history of Japan dating from July 30, 1912 to December 25, 1926, coinciding with the reign of the Taishō Emperor. The health of the new emperor was weak, which prompted the shift in political power from the old oligarchic group of elder statesmen to the Diet...
, a member of AraragiAraragiAraragi is a genus of butterfly in the family Lycaenidae....
school; by the time of his death, he had written 17 collections of poems and 17,907 poems; family doctor of author Ryūnosuke AkutagawaRyunosuke Akutagawawas a Japanese writer active in the Taishō period in Japan. He is regarded as the "Father of the Japanese short story". He committed suicide at age of 35 through an overdose of barbital.-Early life:...
and assisted in his suicide; novelist Kita Morio is his second son - Arthur SchnitzlerArthur SchnitzlerDr. Arthur Schnitzler was an Austrian author and dramatist.- Biography :Arthur Schnitzler, son of a prominent Hungarian-Jewish laryngologist Johann Schnitzler and Luise Markbreiter , was born in Praterstraße 16, Leopoldstadt, Vienna, in the Austro-Hungarian...
(1862–1931) Jewish-Austrian writer and dramatist. Stanley KubrickStanley KubrickStanley Kubrick was an American film director, writer, producer, and photographer who lived in England during most of the last four decades of his career...
's 1999 film Eyes Wide ShutEyes Wide ShutEyes Wide Shut is a 1999 drama film based upon Arthur Schnitzler's 1926 novella Traumnovelle . The film was directed, produced and co-written by Stanley Kubrick, and was his last film. The story, set in and around New York City, follows the sexually-charged adventures of Dr...
is based on Schnitzler's Rhapsod; Schnitzler's La Ronde also spawned film versions. - Albert SchweitzerAlbert SchweitzerAlbert Schweitzer OM was a German theologian, organist, philosopher, physician, and medical missionary. He was born in Kaysersberg in the province of Alsace-Lorraine, at that time part of the German Empire...
(1875–1965) German theologian, philosopher, organist, musicologist and medical missionary to AfricaAfricaAfrica is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area... - Victor SegalenVictor SegalenVictor Segalen was a French naval doctor, ethnographer, archeologist, writer, poet, explorer, art-theorist, linguist and literary critic....
(1878–1919) French ethnographer, archeologistArchaeologyArchaeology, or archeology , is the study of human society, primarily through the recovery and analysis of the material culture and environmental data that they have left behind, which includes artifacts, architecture, biofacts and cultural landscapes...
, writer, poet, explorer, art-theorist, linguistLinguisticsLinguistics is the scientific study of human language. Linguistics can be broadly broken into three categories or subfields of study: language form, language meaning, and language in context....
, literary critic - Henry ThompsonSir Henry Thompson, 1st BaronetSir Henry Thompson, 1st Baronet FRCS , British surgeon and polymath, was born at Framlingham, Suffolk.-Medical career:...
, (1820–1904) indefatigable British polymath, scholar and novelist - John TodhunterJohn TodhunterJohn Todhunter was an Irish poet and playwright who wrote seven volumes of poetry, and several plays.- Life :...
(1839–1916) Irish poet and playwright - Saul Tschernichowsky (1875–1943) Jewish-Russian military physician during the First World WarWorld War IWorld War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
; decorated by the Russian government; nomadic life spent writing, translating, editing - Adolfo Valderrama (1834–1902) Chilean man of letters and senator
- Vladislav VančuraVladislav VancuraVladislav Vančura was one of the most important Bohemian writers of the 20th century...
(1891–1942) Czech author, scriptwriter and film director - Frederik Willem van EedenFrederik van EedenFrederik Willem van Eeden was a late 19th century and early 20th century Dutch writer and psychiatrist...
(1829–1901) started a literary periodical, founded an agricultural colony, translated Rabindranath TagoreRabindranath TagoreRabindranath Tagore , sobriquet Gurudev, was a Bengali polymath who reshaped his region's literature and music. Author of Gitanjali and its "profoundly sensitive, fresh and beautiful verse", he became the first non-European Nobel laureate by earning the 1913 Prize in Literature...
's work into Dutch, and wrote social and literary treatises in addition to fiction, poetry, and plays - Ernst Weiß (1882–1940) Jewish-Austrian writer, friend of Kafka, died by his own hand in ParisParisParis is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
in 1940 as the Nazis entered the city - William Carlos WilliamsWilliam Carlos WilliamsWilliam Carlos Williams was an American poet closely associated with modernism and Imagism. He was also a pediatrician and general practitioner of medicine, having graduated from the University of Pennsylvania...
(1883–1963) American poet, short story writer, novelist, playwright and essayist; in 1963 he won a posthumous Pulitzer PrizePulitzer PrizeThe Pulitzer Prize is a U.S. award for achievements in newspaper and online journalism, literature and musical composition. It was established by American publisher Joseph Pulitzer and is administered by Columbia University in New York City...
for poetry - Charlotte Wolff (1897–1986) Jewish-German psychoanalyst, she is one of the few scientifically trained people to have seriously investigated the diagnostic significance of the hand; Studies in Handreading was published in 1936
- Francis Brett YoungFrancis Brett YoungFrancis Brett Young was an English novelist, poet, playwright, and composer.-Life:Brett Young was born in Halesowen, Worcestershire. He schooled first at a private school in Sutton Coldfield...
(1884–1954) English novelist and poet
20th century
- Kōbō AbeKobo Abe, pseudonym of was a Japanese writer, playwright, photographer and inventor. Abe has been often compared to Franz Kafka and Alberto Moravia for his surreal, often nightmarish explorations of individuals in contemporary society and his modernist sensibilities....
(1924–1993) Japanese author known for his surrealistic, Kafkaesque style - Dannie AbseDannie AbseDaniel Abse, better known as Dannie Abse , is a Welsh poet.-Early years:Abse was born in Cardiff, Wales to a Jewish family. He is the younger brother of politician and reformer Leo Abse and the eminent psychoanalyst, Wilfred Abse...
(born 1923) Welch chest specialist who is also one of Europe’s most prolific doctor-poets - Vassily Aksyonov (1932–2009) Russian novelist who was forced to emigrate from the Soviet UnionSoviet UnionThe Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
in 1980 - António Lobo AntunesAntónio Lobo AntunesAntónio Lobo Antunes, GCSE, MD ; born 1 September 1942) is a Portuguese novelist and medical doctor.-Life and career:António Lobo Antunes was born in Lisbon as the eldest of six sons of João Alfredo de Figueiredo Lobo Antunes , prominent Neurologist and Professor, close collaborator of Egas Moniz,...
(born 1942) psychiatrist and leading Portuguese writer - Jacob M. AppelJacob M. AppelJacob M. Appel is an American author, bioethicist and social critic. He is best known for his short stories, his work as a playwright, and his writing in the fields of reproductive ethics, organ donation, neuroethics and euthanasia....
(born 1973), American short story writer - Janet Asimov (born 1926, Janet Opal Jeppson) American science fiction author and psychoanalyst, wife of Isaac AsimovIsaac AsimovIsaac Asimov was an American author and professor of biochemistry at Boston University, best known for his works of science fiction and for his popular science books. Asimov was one of the most prolific writers of all time, having written or edited more than 500 books and an estimated 90,000...
- Alaa Al AswanyAlaa Al AswanyAlaa al-Aswany is an Egyptian writer, and a founding member of the political movement Kefaya.-Biography:Alaa Al Aswany studied to be a dentist, first in Egypt, and then later Chicago....
(born 1957), EgyptEgyptEgypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
ian writer and practicing dentistDentistA dentist, also known as a 'dental surgeon', is a doctor that specializes in the diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of diseases and conditions of the oral cavity. The dentist's supporting team aides in providing oral health services... - Ba'al Machshavot: see Israel Isidor ElyashevIsrael Isidor ElyashevDr. Israel Isidor Elyashev was a Jewish neurologist and the first Yiddish literary critic.He introduced the world to the works of the great contemporary Yiddish classical writers: Sholem Rabinovich, better known as Sholem Aleichem, Mendele Mocher Sefarim, Isaac Leib Peretz and Nachum Sokolov;...
- Arnie BakerArnie BakerArnie Baker is a bicycle coach, racer, and writer.He has coached road and mountain bike racers to several Olympic Games, more than 120 U.S. National Championships and 40 U.S. records...
(born 1953 in MontrealMontrealMontreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
, Canada) is a bicycle coach, racer and writer - Iain Bamforth (born 1959) a doctor and scientific translator from GlasgowGlasgowGlasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...
who lives and works in StrasbourgStrasbourgStrasbourg is the capital and principal city of the Alsace region in eastern France and is the official seat of the European Parliament. Located close to the border with Germany, it is the capital of the Bas-Rhin département. The city and the region of Alsace are historically German-speaking,... - Christiaan Neethling Barnard (1922–2001) South African cardiac surgeon, famous for performing the world's first successful human-to-human heart transplant
- Martin BaxMartin BaxMartin Bax is a British consultant paediatrician, who, in addition to his medical career, founded the Arts magazine Ambit in 1959. He lives in London and continues to practice, and edit Ambit, along with Kate Pemberton and Geoff Nicholson. Since he created it, Ambit has published poetry, prose and...
(born 1933) British founder and editor of the literary journal AmbitAmbit (magazine)Ambit is a literary periodical published in the United Kingdom. It was founded in 1959 by Dr Martin Bax, a London paediatrician.Uniting art, prose, poetry and reviews, the magazine appears quarterly and is distributed internationally. Notable Ambit contributors have included J. G. Ballard, Eduardo...
(1959); a developmental pediatrician and editor of the journal, Developmental and Child Neurology. He is also author of the cult novel, The Hospital Ship. - Eric BerneEric BerneEric Berne was a Canadian-born psychiatrist best known as the creator of transactional analysis and the author of Games People Play.-Background and education:...
(1910–70), psychiatrist who created transactional analysisTransactional analysisTransactional analysis, commonly known as TA to its adherents, is an integrative approach to the theory of psychology and psychotherapy. It is described as integrative because it has elements of psychoanalytic, humanist and cognitive approaches...
; author of Games People PlayGames People Play (book)Games People Play: The Psychology of Human Relationships is a 1964 bestselling book by psychiatrist Eric Berne. Since its publication it has sold more than five million copies. The book describes both functional and dysfunctional social interactions....
. - Tadeusz Boy-ŻeleńskiTadeusz Boy-ZelenskiTadeusz Kamil Marcjan Żeleński was a Polish stage writer, poet, critic above all, and translator of over 100 French literary classics into Polish...
(1874–1941) Polish gynecologist, journalist, poet—most famous as the translator of over 100 FrenchFranceThe French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
literary classics into PolishPolish languagePolish is a language of the Lechitic subgroup of West Slavic languages, used throughout Poland and by Polish minorities in other countries...
. - Ben Byron, UK author of two medical suspense novels
- Rafael CampoRafael Campo (poet)Rafael Campo is an American poet, doctor, and author.-Life:He graduated from Amherst College and Harvard Medical School. He practices medicine at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, Massachusetts...
(born 1964) director of the Harvard Program in the Medical Humanities; his practice serves mostly Latinos, gay/lesbian/bisexual/transgendered people, and people with HIV infection - Ethan CaninEthan CaninEthan Andrew Canin is an American author, educator, and physician. He is a member of the faculty of the Iowa Writers' Workshop at the University of Iowa....
(born 1960) American short story writer and novelist; author of Emperor of the Air, Carry Me Across the WaterCarry Me Across the WaterCarry Me Across the Water is a novel by the American writer Ethan Canin.It is an elegiac novel that tells the story of August Kleinman, a 78-year-old former Pittsburgh brewery owner who remembers episodes from his life—from his escape from Nazi Germany to his life of poverty in New York to...
, and other works - Paul CarsonPaul CarsonPaul Carson is a doctor and a novelist.Born in 1949 Paul grew up in Newcastle, a seaside town on the east coast of Northern Ireland. He studied medicine in Trinity College, Dublin from 1969 to 1975, graduating with an honours degree in Paediatrics...
(born 1949) from Dublin; editor of Irish Doctor magazine; has published several novels which have been best-sellers in IrelandIrelandIreland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
and internationally - Louis-Ferdinand CélineLouis-Ferdinand CélineLouis-Ferdinand Céline was the pen name of French writer and physician Louis-Ferdinand Destouches . Céline was chosen after his grandmother's first name. He is considered one of the most influential writers of the twentieth century, developing a new style of writing that modernized both French and...
(Louis-Ferdinand Destouches, 1894–1961), French physician and author of Voyage au bout de la nuit - Ron Charach (born 1951) Canadian poet and practicing psychiatrist
- William T. Choctaw (born 1947) American author of Avoiding Medical Malpractice: A Physician's Guide to the Law (Springer Publishing)
- Deepak ChopraDeepak ChopraDeepak Chopra is an Indian medical doctor, public speaker, and writer on subjects such as spirituality, Ayurveda and mind-body medicine. Chopra began his career as an endocrinologist and later shifted his focus to alternative medicine. Chopra now runs his own medical center, with a focus on...
(born 1946) Indian writer on spiritualitySpiritualitySpirituality can refer to an ultimate or an alleged immaterial reality; an inner path enabling a person to discover the essence of his/her being; or the “deepest values and meanings by which people live.” Spiritual practices, including meditation, prayer and contemplation, are intended to develop...
and mind-body medicine - Peter Clement, American novelist who has written the Earl Garnet medical thriller series, Lethal Practice, Death Rounds, and The Procedure; tries to ‘put the reader inside the head of an ER physician’
- Don ColdsmithDon ColdsmithDon Coldsmith was an American author of primarily Western fiction. A past president of Western Writers of America, Coldsmith wrote more than 40 books, as well as hundreds of newspaper and magazine articles...
(born 1926) American author of primarily Western fiction; past president of Western Writers of AmericaWestern Writers of AmericaWestern Writers of America, founded 1953, promotes literature, both fiction and non-fiction, pertaining to the American West. Although its founders wrote traditional western fiction, the more than five hundred current members also include historians and other non-fiction writers as well as authors... - Robert ColesRobert ColesMartin Robert Coles is an American author, child psychiatrist, and professor at Harvard University.-Life and career:...
(born 1929) American author, child psychiatrist, and professor at Harvard UniversityHarvard UniversityHarvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country... - Alex ComfortAlex ComfortAlexander Comfort, MB BChir, PhD, DSc was a medical professional, gerontologist, anarchist, pacifist, conscientious objector and writer, best known for The Joy of Sex, which played a part in what is often called the sexual revolution...
(1920–2000) British writer and poet, author of The Joy of SexThe Joy of SexThe Joy of Sex is an illustrated sex manual by Alex Comfort, M.B., Ph.D., first published in 1972. An updated edition was released in September, 2008.-Overview:...
and a science fiction novel, Tetrarch - Robin CookRobin Cook (novelist)Dr. Robin Cook is an American physician and novelist who writes about medicine and topics affecting public health....
(born 1940), American author of best-selling novels, including ComaComaIn medicine, a coma is a state of unconsciousness, lasting more than 6 hours in which a person cannot be awakened, fails to respond normally to painful stimuli, light or sound, lacks a normal sleep-wake cycle and does not initiate voluntary actions. A person in a state of coma is described as...
; nearly all his books deal with hot medical issues of the day, from bioterrorismBioterrorismBioterrorism is terrorism involving the intentional release or dissemination of biological agents. These agents are bacteria, viruses, or toxins, and may be in a naturally occurring or a human-modified form. For the use of this method in warfare, see biological warfare.-Definition:According to the...
to organ donationOrgan donationOrgan donation is the donation of biological tissue or an organ of the human body, from a living or dead person to a living recipient in need of a transplantation. Transplantable organs and tissues are removed in a surgical procedure following a determination, based on the donor's medical and... - Jack Coulehan (born 1943) Director, Institute for Medicine in Contemporary Society, Stony Brook, New York
- Michael CrichtonMichael CrichtonJohn Michael Crichton , best known as Michael Crichton, was an American best-selling author, producer, director, and screenwriter, best known for his work in the science fiction, medical fiction, and thriller genres. His books have sold over 200 million copies worldwide, and many have been adapted...
(1942–2008) American author of Jurassic Park - A.J. Cronin (1896–1981), Scottish novelist and essayist; creator of Dr. FinlayDr. FinlayDr. Finlay is a fictional character, the hero of a series of stories by Scottish author A. J. Cronin.-History:The stories were used as the basis for the long-running BBC television programme, Dr. Finlay's Casebook, screened from 1962 to 1971, and radio series . Based on Cronin's novella entitled...
. Other works include The Stars Look DownThe Stars Look DownThe Stars Look Down is a 1935 novel by A. J. Cronin which chronicles various injustices in an English coal mining community. A film version was produced in 1939, and television adaptations include both Italian and British versions....
, The CitadelThe Citadel (novel)The Citadel is a novel by A. J. Cronin, first published in 1937, which was groundbreaking with its treatment of the contentious theme of medical ethics. It is credited with laying the foundation in Great Britain for the introduction of the NHS a decade later...
, and The Keys of the KingdomThe Keys of the KingdomThe Keys of the Kingdom is a 1941 novel by A. J. Cronin. Spanning six decades, it tells the story of Father Francis Chisholm, an unconventional Scottish Catholic priest who struggles to establish a mission in China...
. The Citadel (1937) brought much-needed attention to inequities in the BritishUnited KingdomThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
medical system and is credited with having prompted the creation of Britain's National Health ServiceNational Health ServiceThe National Health Service is the shared name of three of the four publicly funded healthcare systems in the United Kingdom. They provide a comprehensive range of health services, the vast majority of which are free at the point of use to residents of the United Kingdom...
. - Colin DouglasColin DouglasThis article relates to Colin Douglas the Scottish Author, the following is a link to Colin Douglas the British TV actor Colin Douglas Colin Douglas is the pseudonym of a Scottish novelist, Colin Thomas Currie, born in Glasgow in 1945, who was schooled at Hamilton Academy before graduating in...
(born 1945) pseudonym of a Scottish novelist, Colin Thomas Currie; frequent British Medical JournalBritish Medical JournalBMJ is a partially open-access peer-reviewed medical journal. Originally called the British Medical Journal, the title was officially shortened to BMJ in 1988. The journal is published by the BMJ Group, a wholly owned subsidiary of the British Medical Association...
contributor - Alice Dwyer-Joyce (1913–86) Irish novelist who wrote over thirty novels; many in the gothic/romantic genre
- R. Sarif Easmon (born 1930) well-known Sierra LeoneSierra LeoneSierra Leone , officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Guinea to the north and east, Liberia to the southeast, and the Atlantic Ocean to the west and southwest. Sierra Leone covers a total area of and has an estimated population between 5.4 and 6.4...
playwright who practices medicine in FreetownFreetownFreetown is the capital and largest city of Sierra Leone, a country in West Africa. It is a major port city on the Atlantic Ocean located in the Western Area of the country, and had a city proper population of 772,873 at the 2004 census. The city is the economic, financial, and cultural center of... - Marek EdelmanMarek EdelmanMarek Edelman was a Jewish-Polish political and social activist and cardiologist.Before World War II, he was a General Jewish Labour Bund activist. During the war he co-founded the Jewish Combat Organization. He took part in the 1943 Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, becoming its leader after the death of...
(1922–2009) Polish sociopolitical activist, memoirist, last leader of the 1943 Warsaw Ghetto UprisingWarsaw Ghetto UprisingThe Warsaw Ghetto Uprising was the Jewish resistance that arose within the Warsaw Ghetto in German occupied Poland during World War II, and which opposed Nazi Germany's effort to transport the remaining ghetto population to Treblinka extermination camp....
. - Valgarður Egilsson (born 1940) Icelandic author; member of the Icelandic Writers’ Union
- Nawal El SaadawiNawal El SaadawiNawal El Saadawi , born October 27, 1931, is an Egyptian feminist writer, activist, physician and psychiatrist. She has written many books on the subject of women in Islam, paying particular attention to the practice of female genital mutilation in her society....
(born 1931) Egyptian feminist who has written many books on the subject of women in Islam - Israel Isidor ElyashevIsrael Isidor ElyashevDr. Israel Isidor Elyashev was a Jewish neurologist and the first Yiddish literary critic.He introduced the world to the works of the great contemporary Yiddish classical writers: Sholem Rabinovich, better known as Sholem Aleichem, Mendele Mocher Sefarim, Isaac Leib Peretz and Nachum Sokolov;...
(1873–1924; pen-name: Ba'al Machshavot, Hebrew for "The Thinker" (בעל מחשבות): Lithuanian neurologist; pioneer of Hebrew and Yiddish literatureYiddish literatureYiddish literature encompasses all belles lettres written in Yiddish, the language of Ashkenazic Jewry which is related to Middle High German. The history of Yiddish, with its roots in central Europe and locus for centuries in Eastern Europe, is evident in its literature.It is generally described...
; known as the first Yiddish literary critic, publisher, translator (translated Theodor HerzlTheodor HerzlTheodor Herzl , born Benjamin Ze’ev Herzl was an Ashkenazi Jew Austro-Hungarian journalist and the father of modern political Zionism and in effect the State of Israel.-Early life:...
's Altneuland from German into Yiddish) and forerunner of the Zionist Movement - Franz Fanon (1925–1961) born in Martinique, who wrote books on the psychology of colonial oppression, notably The Wretched of the EarthThe Wretched of the EarthThe Wretched of the Earth is Frantz Fanon's most famous work, written during and regarding the Algerian struggle for independence from colonial rule...
. - Jacques FerronJacques FerronJacques Ferron was a Canadian physician and author.Jacques Ferron was born in Louiseville, Quebec, the son of Joseph-Alphonse Ferron and Adrienne Caron. On March 5, 1931 his mother died. He attended Collège Jean-de-Brébeuf but was expelled in 1936...
(1921–85) Canadian author who founded the Parti Rhinocéros, which he described as "an intellectual guerrilla party" - Michael Fitzwilliam, pseudonym of J.B. LyonsJ.B. LyonsJohn Benignus Lyons , better known as J. B. Lyons and widely known as Jack Lyons, was an Irish medical historian, writer, physician and professor of medicial history. He was described as "one of the foremost Irish medical writers of the twentieth century".Born in Kilkelly, County Mayo, his father...
(born 1922), professor of medical history at the Royal College of Surgeons of Ireland, who wrote fiction in the 1960s - Alice Weaver FlahertyAlice Weaver FlahertyDr. Alice Weaver Flaherty is a neurologist known for her award-winning book about the neural basis of creativity titled the Midnight Disease.She completed her A.B., M.D., internship, residency, and fellowship at Harvard. She also completed a Ph.D. at MIT...
(born ) American neurologist, author of The Midnight Disease: The Drive to Write, Writer's Block, and the Creative Brain - Viktor FranklViktor FranklViktor Emil Frankl M.D., Ph.D. was an Austrian neurologist and psychiatrist as well as a Holocaust survivor. Frankl was the founder of logotherapy, which is a form of Existential Analysis, the "Third Viennese School of Psychotherapy"...
(1905–1997) Austrian neurologist and psychiatrist, author of Man's Search for Meaning - Sigmund FreudSigmund FreudSigmund Freud , born Sigismund Schlomo Freud , was an Austrian neurologist who founded the discipline of psychoanalysis...
(1856–1939), Austrian psychoanalyst, author of many books prized as much for their literary qualities. - Graeme GardenGraeme GardenDavid Graeme Garden OBE is a Scottish author, actor, comedian, artist and television presenter, who first became known as a member of The Goodies.-Early life and beginnings in comedy:...
(born 1943) British comedy writer and performer from ScotlandScotlandScotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
, actor, television director, and author, he became well-known as a member of The GoodiesThe GoodiesThe Goodies are a trio of British comedians who created, wrote, and starred in a surreal British television comedy series called The Goodies during the 1970s and early 1980s combining sketches and situation comedy.-Honours:All three Goodies now have OBEs...
comedy trio; author of a novel The Seventh Man - Atul GawandeAtul GawandeAtul Gawande is an American physician and journalist. He serves as a general and endocrine surgeon at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts and associate director of their Center for Surgery and Public Health...
(b. 1965) general and endocrine surgeon at Brigham and Women's HospitalBrigham and Women's HospitalBrigham and Women's Hospital is the largest hospital of the Longwood Medical and Academic Area in Boston, Massachusetts. It is directly adjacent to Harvard Medical School of which it is the second largest teaching affiliate with 793 beds...
in Boston, MassachusettsMassachusettsThe 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...
and is The New YorkerThe New YorkerThe New Yorker is an American magazine of reportage, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons and poetry published by Condé Nast...
medical writer - Tess GerritsenTess GerritsenTess Gerritsen, M.D., is a Chinese-American novelist and retired physician. Her first name is really Terry; she decided to feminize it when she was a writer of romance novels.-Early life:...
(born 1953) American writer of gothic thrillers with a medical theme - Peter GoldsworthyPeter GoldsworthyPeter Goldsworthy AM is an Australian writer and medical practitioner. He has won awards for his short stories, poetry, novels, and opera libretti....
(1951) Australian writer who has won many awards for his short stories, poetry, novels, and opera libretti - Richard Gordon, pen name of Gordon Ostlere (born 1921) English author of novels, screenplays for film and television and accounts of popular history; most famous for comic novels on a medical theme starting with Doctor in the House, and their film, television and stage adaptations; The Alarming History of Medicine was published in 1993 followed by The Alarming History of Sex
- John Grant (born 1933) English author who writes under the pen name Jonathan Gash. He is the author of the LovejoyLovejoyLovejoy is a TV series about the adventures of Lovejoy, a British antiques dealer and faker based in East Anglia, a less than scrupulous yet likeable rogue. The episodes were based on a series of picaresque novels by John Grant...
series of novels - Lars Johan Wictor Gyllensten (1921–2006) Swedish author and physician, and a member of the Swedish AcademySwedish AcademyThe Swedish Academy , founded in 1786 by King Gustav III, is one of the Royal Academies of Sweden.-History:The Swedish Academy was founded in 1786 by King Gustav III. Modelled after the Académie française, it has 18 members. The motto of the Academy is "Talent and Taste"...
- James Ene Henshaw (1924–2007) one of the pioneering dramatists in NigeriaNigeriaNigeria , officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a federal constitutional republic comprising 36 states and its Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. The country is located in West Africa and shares land borders with the Republic of Benin in the west, Chad and Cameroon in the east, and Niger in...
, he was also one of the first to be published outside West AfricaWest AfricaWest Africa or Western Africa is the westernmost region of the African continent. Geopolitically, the UN definition of Western Africa includes the following 16 countries and an area of approximately 5 million square km:-Flags of West Africa:... - Miroslav HolubMiroslav HolubMiroslav Holub was a Czech poet and immunologist.Miroslav Holub's work was heavily influenced by his experiences as an Immunologist, writing many poems using his scientific knowledge to poetic effect. His work is almost always unrhymed, so lends itself easily to translation...
(1923–1998) Czech poet, heavily influenced by his experiences as an immunologist, wrote many poems using his scientific knowledge to poetic effect - Richard Hooker (1924–1997) American writer and surgeon who wrote under the pseudonym Richard HookerRichard HookerRichard Hooker was an Anglican priest and an influential theologian. Hooker's emphases on reason, tolerance and the value of tradition came to exert a lasting influence on the development of the Church of England...
. His most famous work was MASHMASH: A Novel About Three Army DoctorsMASH: A Novel About Three Army Doctors, the original novel that inspired the film MASH and TV series M*A*S*H, was written by Richard Hooker, himself a former military surgeon, and was about a fictional U.S. Mobile Army Surgical Hospital in Korea during the Korean War. It was originally published in...
(1968) - Khaled HosseiniKhaled HosseiniKhaled Hosseini , is an Afghan-born American novelist and physician of ethnic Tajik origin. He is a citizen of the United States where he has lived since he was fifteen years old. His 2003 debut novel, The Kite Runner, was an international bestseller, selling more than 12 million copies worldwide....
(born 1965) Afghanistan-born American novelist; author of the bestsellers The Kite RunnerThe Kite RunnerThe Kite Runner is a novel by Khaled Hosseini. Published in 2003 by Riverhead Books, it is Hosseini's first novel, and was adapted into a film of the same name in 2007....
and A Thousand Splendid SunsA Thousand Splendid SunsA Thousand Splendid Suns is a 2007 novel by Afghan-American author Khaled Hosseini. It is his second, following his bestselling 2003 debut, The Kite Runner. The book focuses on the tumultuous lives of two Afghan women and how their lives cross each other, spanning from the 1960s to 2003... - Wil HuygenWil HuygenWil Huygen , was a Dutch book author. He is best known for the picture books on gnomes, illustrated by Rien Poortvliet....
(born 1923) Dutch author and painter, best known for the picture books on gnomeGnomeA gnome is a diminutive spirit in Renaissance magic and alchemy, first introduced by Paracelsus and later adopted by more recent authors including those of modern fantasy literature...
s - Yusuf IdrisYusuf IdrisYusuf Idris, also Yusif Idris was an Egyptian writer of plays, short stories, and novels. Idris originally trained to be a doctor, studying at the University of Cairo...
, also Yusif Idris (1927–91) Egyptian writer of plays, short stories, and novels who wrote realistic stories about ordinary and poor people. Many of his works are in the Egyptian vernacular, and he was considered a master of the short story - P. C. JersildP. C. JersildPer Christian Jersild, better known as P. C. Jersild, is a Swedish author and physician. He also holds an honorary doctorate in medicine from Uppsala University, and another one in engineering from the Royal Institute of Technology . P. C...
(born 1935) Swedish writer, best-known for Barnens ö (The Island of the Children) filmed in 1980 by Kay PollakKay PollakKay Pollak is an Academy Award-nominated Swedish film director. After a long break from film-making, he returned in 2004 with As It Is in Heaven , a major box office success in Sweden. The film was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film... - Alice JonesAlice JonesAlice Jones is an American poet, physician, and psychoanalyst. Her most recent collection of poetry is Gorgeous Mourning . Her poems have appeared in literary journals and magazines including Antioch Review, Ploughshares, Poetry, The Boston Review, The Denver Quarterly, and Chelsea...
, American poet, practiced internal medicineInternal medicineInternal medicine is the medical specialty dealing with the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of adult diseases. Physicians specializing in internal medicine are called internists. They are especially skilled in the management of patients who have undifferentiated or multi-system disease processes...
, psychiatryPsychiatryPsychiatry is the medical specialty devoted to the study and treatment of mental disorders. These mental disorders include various affective, behavioural, cognitive and perceptual abnormalities...
, now psychoanalysisPsychoanalysisPsychoanalysis is a psychological theory developed in the late 19th and early 20th centuries by Austrian neurologist Sigmund Freud. Psychoanalysis has expanded, been criticized and developed in different directions, mostly by some of Freud's former students, such as Alfred Adler and Carl Gustav...
. Co-editor of Apogee Press. - Karl Jung (1875–1961), Austrian psychoanalyst and author.
- James KahnJames KahnJames Kahn is an American medical specialist and writer, best known for his novelization of Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi. Born in Chicago on December 30, 1947, Kahn received a degree in medical studies from the University of Chicago. His post-graduate training, specializing in Emergency...
(born 1947) American writer, best known for his novelization of Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the JediStar Wars Episode VI: Return of the JediStar Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi is a 1983 American epic space opera film directed by Richard Marquand and written by George Lucas and Lawrence Kasdan. It is the third film released in the Star Wars saga, and the sixth in terms of the series' internal chronology...
, PoltergeistPoltergeistA poltergeist is a paranormal phenomenon which consists of events alluding to the manifestation of an imperceptible entity. Such manifestation typically includes inanimate objects moving or being thrown about, sentient noises and, on some occasions, physical attacks on those witnessing the...
and Indiana Jones and the Temple of DoomIndiana Jones and the Temple of DoomIndiana Jones and the Temple of Doom is a 1984 American adventure film directed by Steven Spielberg. It is the second film in the Indiana Jones franchise and prequel to Raiders of the Lost Ark . After arriving in India, Indiana Jones is asked by a desperate village to find a mystical stone...
. He has also written for well-known TV shows such as Melrose Place, Star Trek: The Next GenerationStar Trek: The Next GenerationStar Trek: The Next Generation is an American science fiction television series created by Gene Roddenberry as part of the Star Trek franchise. Roddenberry, Rick Berman, and Michael Piller served as executive producers at different times throughout the production...
, St. ElsewhereSt. ElsewhereSt. Elsewhere is an American medical drama television series that originally ran on NBC from October 26, 1982 to May 25, 1988. The series is set at fictional St. Eligius, a decaying urban teaching hospital in Boston's South End neighborhood...
and E/RE/RE/R is an American television sitcom that aired in 1984 and 1985. Developed from a successful play of the same name, the series was produced by Embassy Television and lasted a single season.-Synopsis:... - Christopher KasparekChristopher KasparekChristopher Kasparek is a Scottish-born writer of Polish descent who has translated works by Ignacy Krasicki, Bolesław Prus, Florian Znaniecki, Władysław Tatarkiewicz, Marian Rejewski and Władysław Kozaczuk, as well as the Polish-Lithuanian Constitution of May 3, 1791.He has published papers on...
(born 1945), Scottish-born writer of Polish descent who has edited and translated works by Ignacy KrasickiIgnacy KrasickiIgnacy Krasicki , from 1766 Prince-Bishop of Warmia and from 1795 Archbishop of Gniezno , was Poland's leading Enlightenment poet , a critic of the clergy, Poland's La Fontaine, author of the first Polish novel, playwright, journalist, encyclopedist, and translator from French and...
, Bolesław Prus, Florian ZnanieckiFlorian ZnanieckiFlorian Witold Znaniecki was a Polish sociologist. He taught and wrote in Poland and the United States. He was the 44th President of the American Sociological Association and the founder of academic sociology studies in Poland...
, Władysław Tatarkiewicz, Marian RejewskiMarian RejewskiMarian Adam Rejewski was a Polish mathematician and cryptologist who in 1932 solved the plugboard-equipped Enigma machine, the main cipher device used by Germany...
and Władysław Kozaczuk, as well as the Constitution of May 3, 1791Constitution of May 3, 1791The Constitution of May 3, 1791 was adopted as a "Government Act" on that date by the Sejm of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. Historian Norman Davies calls it "the first constitution of its type in Europe"; other scholars also refer to it as the world's second oldest constitution...
. - Harold L. Klawans (1937–98) wrote ChekhovAnton ChekhovAnton Pavlovich Chekhov was a Russian physician, dramatist and author who is considered to be among the greatest writers of short stories in history. His career as a dramatist produced four classics and his best short stories are held in high esteem by writers and critics...
's Lie, about the challenges of combining writing with the medical life - Bernard KnightBernard KnightProfessor Bernard Knight, CBE, became a Home Office pathologist in 1965 and was appointed Professor of Forensic Pathology, University of Wales College of Medicine, in 1980. He was awarded the CBE in 1993 for services to forensic medicine....
, CBEOrder of the British EmpireThe Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
(born 1931) has written about thirty books, including contemporary crime fiction, historical novels about WalesWalesWales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
, biography, non-fiction popular works on forensic medicine, twelve medico-legal textbooks and the current highly-acclaimed Crowner John Mysteries series of 12th-century historical mysteries - Siegfried Kra (born 1930 in PolandPolandPoland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
) studied in SwitzerlandSwitzerlandSwitzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
; hosted a National Public Radio series on heart diseaseHeart diseaseHeart disease, cardiac disease or cardiopathy is an umbrella term for a variety of diseases affecting the heart. , it is the leading cause of death in the United States, England, Canada and Wales, accounting for 25.4% of the total deaths in the United States.-Types:-Coronary heart disease:Coronary...
and wrote several books on medicine for the lay public which are hard to classify as they are a blend of fiction and nonfiction, like some works of his Yale surgical colleague Richard SelzerRichard SelzerRichard Selzer was a surgeon and author. He was born and raised in Troy, New York, United States. His father was Julius Selzer, M.D. a general practitioner who practiced from the ground floor of the family home at Fifth Avenue in Troy. His mother, Gertrude Selzer, was an amateur singer who... - Dimitris P. KraniotisDimitris P. KraniotisDimitris P. Kraniotis is a contemporary Greek poet. Born in 15 July 1966 in Stomio - Larissa, a coastal town in central Greece.- Biography :...
(born 1966) Greek poet - Ronald David LaingRonald David LaingRonald David Laing was a Scottish psychiatrist who wrote extensively on mental illnessin particular, the experience of psychosis...
(1927–89) Scottish psychiatrist who wrote extensively on mental illnessMental illnessA mental disorder or mental illness is a psychological or behavioral pattern generally associated with subjective distress or disability that occurs in an individual, and which is not a part of normal development or culture. Such a disorder may consist of a combination of affective, behavioural,...
and particularly the experience of psychosisPsychosisPsychosis means abnormal condition of the mind, and is a generic psychiatric term for a mental state often described as involving a "loss of contact with reality"... - Stanisław Lem (1921–2006) Polish science fiction, philosophical and satirical writer whose books have been translated into 41 languages and have sold over 27 million copies
- Carlo LeviCarlo LeviDr. Carlo Levi was an Italian-Jewish painter, writer, activist, anti-fascist, and doctor.He is best known for his book Cristo si è fermato a Eboli , published in 1945, a memoir of his time spent in exile in Lucania, Italy, after being arrested in connection with his political activism...
(1902–1975) Italian novelist and writer; author of Christ Stopped at Eboli - Serge Liberman (born 1942) Jewish-Russian author of short stories including, On Firmer Shores, A Universe of Clowns, and Voices from the Corner; has lived in AustraliaAustraliaAustralia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
since 1951 - Edward LowburyEdward LowburyEdward Joseph Lister Lowbury was a pioneering and innovative English medical bacteriologist and pathologist, and also a published poet.-Life:...
(1913–2007) English bacteriologistMicrobiologyMicrobiology is the study of microorganisms, which are defined as any microscopic organism that comprises either a single cell , cell clusters or no cell at all . This includes eukaryotes, such as fungi and protists, and prokaryotes...
and pathologist who was also a published poet and wrote criticism and biography - John Edward MackJohn Edward MackJohn Edward Mack, M.D. was an American psychiatrist, writer, and professor at Harvard Medical School...
(1929–2004) Pulitzer PrizePulitzer PrizeThe Pulitzer Prize is a U.S. award for achievements in newspaper and online journalism, literature and musical composition. It was established by American publisher Joseph Pulitzer and is administered by Columbia University in New York City...
-winning biographer, considered a leading authority on the spiritual or transformational effects of alleged alien-encounter experiences - Anne Macleod (born 1951) from AberdeenAberdeenAberdeen is Scotland's third most populous city, one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas and the United Kingdom's 25th most populous city, with an official population estimate of ....
, a dermatologist, poet and novelist - Martin MacIntyre (born 1965) from GlasgowGlasgowGlasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...
; works in both Gaelic and English - Giovanni Magri (born 1937) Italian writer whose recent books include Notte lungo i Navigli - dieci storie milanesi (2003), I luoghi di una vita (2004), and Viaggio senza ritorno - tre racconti" (2006)
- Adeline Yen MahAdeline Yen MahAdeline Yen Mah is a Chinese American author and physician. She grew up in Tianjin, Shanghai and Hong Kong with an older sister, Lydia ; three older brothers, Gregory , Edgar and James ; and a younger half brother, Franklin and half sister, Susan...
(born 1937) Chinese-American author - J. Nozipo Maraire (born 1966) Zimbabwean writer; she is the author of Zenzele: A Letter for My Daughter
- Felix Marti-Ibanez (1912–1972) Spanish author and minister for the Republic during the Spanish Civil WarSpanish Civil WarThe Spanish Civil WarAlso known as The Crusade among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War among Carlists, and The Rebellion or Uprising among Republicans. was a major conflict fought in Spain from 17 July 1936 to 1 April 1939...
; exiled during FrancoFrancisco FrancoFrancisco Franco y Bahamonde was a Spanish general, dictator and head of state of Spain from October 1936 , and de facto regent of the nominally restored Kingdom of Spain from 1947 until his death in November, 1975...
’s era, he became a United States citizen and published the popular MD magazine in 1950s - Luis Martin Santos (1924–1964) Spanish novelist who tried to develop a psychology of the whole person
- Alexander McCall SmithAlexander McCall SmithAlexander "Sandy" McCall Smith, CBE, FRSE, is a Rhodesian-born Scottish writer and Emeritus Professor of Medical Law at the University of Edinburgh. In the late 20th century, McCall Smith became a respected expert on medical law and bioethics and served on British and international committees...
, CBEOrder of the British EmpireThe Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
, FRSERoyal Society of EdinburghThe Royal Society of Edinburgh is Scotland's national academy of science and letters. It is a registered charity, operating on a wholly independent and non-party-political basis and providing public benefit throughout Scotland...
, (born 1948) Rhodesian-born Scottish writer and Emeritus Professor of Medical Law at the University of EdinburghUniversity of EdinburghThe University of Edinburgh, founded in 1583, is a public research university located in Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland, and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The university is deeply embedded in the fabric of the city, with many of the buildings in the historic Old Town belonging to the university...
, Scotland; writer of fiction, most widely known as the creator of the The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency Series - Keith McCarthyKeith McCarthy (writer)Keith McCarthy is a pathologist and writer of crime fiction, known for his Eisenmenger-Flemming Forensic Mysteries. He also writes under the name Lance Elliot.- Biography :...
(born 1960) British author of crime novels - Jed MercurioJed MercurioJed Mercurio is a British author; TV and film producer and medical doctor-Biography:Jed Mercurio is a British writer who also writes under the name John MacUre. He created the television series Cardiac Arrest and Bodies and the sci-fi miniseries Invasion: Earth...
(born 1966) British writer who also writes under the name John MacUre; created the television series Cardiac Arrest and Bodies; has also written and directed for The Grimleys - George Milkomane (1903–1996) Russian author; wrote under a variety of pseudonyms (e.g.George SavaGeorge SavaGeorge Sava was a British surgeon and prolific writer of Russian origin, described as a "Russian exile", born George Alexis Milkomanov Milkomane on October 15, 1903. He wrote approximately 120 books under the pseudonyms George Sava, George Bankoff, George Borodin, George Braddon, Peter Conway,...
) author of over one hundred and twenty books - Sir Jonathan Wolfe Miller, CBEOrder of the British EmpireThe Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
(born 1934) British theatre and opera director, author, television presenter, humorist and sculptor - Amitabh MitraAmitabh MitraAmitabh Mitra is an Indian born South African physician, poet, and artist His paintings depict dramatized stick figures. He studied medicine and did his postgraduate studies in orthopedic surgery at the Gajara Raja Medical College, Jiwaji University, Gwalior, India. He further specialized in...
(born 1955) South African poet of Indian origin, working at Cecilia Makiwane Hospital in MdantsaneMdantsaneMdantsane is a South African township situated between East London and King William's Town in the Eastern Cape province. It is reputed to be the second largest township in South Africa after Soweto and houses the second biggest shopping mall in the Eastern Cape Province...
township - Taghi Modarressi (1931–1997) IranianIranian peoplesThe Iranian peoples are an Indo-European ethnic-linguistic group, consisting of the speakers of Iranian languages, a major branch of the Indo-European language family, as such forming a branch of Indo-European-speaking peoples...
novelist who wrote in English and PersianPersian languagePersian is an Iranian language within the Indo-Iranian branch of the Indo-European languages. It is primarily spoken in Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan and countries which historically came under Persian influence...
; was married to the writer Ann Tyler - David Monger (1908–72) first president of the Guild of Welsh Playwrights; wrote in both English and WelshWelsh languageWelsh is a member of the Brythonic branch of the Celtic languages spoken natively in Wales, by some along the Welsh border in England, and in Y Wladfa...
, and contributed several radio plays to the BBCBBCThe British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff... - David Moolten (born 1961) American poet ("Plums & Ashes,"1994; "Especially Then," 2005)
- Merrill MooreMerrill Moore-Biography:Moore attended Nashville's Vanderbilt University, where he was a member of the Fugitives, a group of then unknown poets who met to read and criticize each other's poems...
(1903–57) contributor to The Fugitive, became a member of the great literary circle that started the "modern Southern literature," the Southern Agrarian Movement; most prolific sonneteer ever, he wrote over forty thousand sonnetSonnetA sonnet is one of several forms of poetry that originate in Europe, mainly Provence and Italy. A sonnet commonly has 14 lines. The term "sonnet" derives from the Occitan word sonet and the Italian word sonetto, both meaning "little song" or "little sound"...
s - Taslima NasrinTaslima NasrinTaslima Nasrin is a Bengali Bangladeshi ex-doctor turned author who has been living in exile since 1994. From a modest literary profile in the late 1980s, she rose to global fame by the end of the 20th century owing to her feminist views and her criticism of Islam in particular and of religion in...
(also spelled Taslima Nasreen and popularly referred to as 'Taslima', born 1962) BengaliBengali peopleThe Bengali people are an ethnic community native to the historic region of Bengal in South Asia. They speak Bengali , which is an Indo-Aryan language of the eastern Indian subcontinent, evolved from the Magadhi Prakrit and Sanskrit languages. In their native language, they are referred to as বাঙালী...
BangladeshBangladeshBangladesh , officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh is a sovereign state located in South Asia. It is bordered by India on all sides except for a small border with Burma to the far southeast and by the Bay of Bengal to the south...
i author and feminist who writes about the treatment of women in Islam; lives in exileExileExile means to be away from one's home , while either being explicitly refused permission to return and/or being threatened with imprisonment or death upon return...
in India and has received death threats from fundamentalistsFundamentalismFundamentalism is strict adherence to specific theological doctrines usually understood as a reaction against Modernist theology. The term "fundamentalism" was originally coined by its supporters to describe a specific package of theological beliefs that developed into a movement within the... - László Németh (1901–75) from HungaryHungaryHungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...
made his literary debut in NyugatNyugatNyugat , was the most influential Hungarian literary journal in the first half of the 20th century. Writers and poets from that era are referred to as "1st/2nd/3rd generation of the NYUGAT"....
with a closely observed portrait of a peasant woman (Mrs Horváth Dies, 1925); wrote and edited his own periodical, Witness (1932–36) - Erlick Nelson: first novel was GermLine; also published medical thriller, The Xeno Solution (which covers xenotransplantationXenotransplantationXenotransplantation , is the transplantation of living cells, tissues or organs from one species to another. Such cells, tissues or organs are called xenografts or xenotransplants...
) - Josef NesvadbaJosef NesvadbaJosef Nesvadba was a Czech writer, best known in the English-speaking world for his science fiction short stories, many of which have appeared in English translation.-Biography:...
(1926–2005) Czech science fiction writer, the best known from the 1960s generationNew Wave (science fiction)New Wave is a term applied to science fiction produced in the 1960s and 1970s and characterized by a high degree of experimentation, both in form and in content, a "literary" or artistic sensibility, and a focus on "soft" as opposed to hard science. The term "New Wave" is borrowed from the French...
; pioneer of group psychotherapyPsychotherapyPsychotherapy is a general term referring to any form of therapeutic interaction or treatment contracted between a trained professional and a client or patient; family, couple or group...
in CzechoslovakiaCzechoslovakiaCzechoslovakia or Czecho-Slovakia was a sovereign state in Central Europe which existed from October 1918, when it declared its independence from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, until 1992... - António Agostinho Neto (1922 –79), first President of AngolaAngolaAngola, officially the Republic of Angola , is a country in south-central Africa bordered by Namibia on the south, the Democratic Republic of the Congo on the north, and Zambia on the east; its west coast is on the Atlantic Ocean with Luanda as its capital city...
(1975–1979), leader of the Popular Movement for the Liberation of AngolaPopular Movement for the Liberation of AngolaThe People's Movement for the Liberation of Angola - Labour Party is a political party that has ruled Angola since the country's independence from Portugal in 1975...
(MPLA) and celebrated poet - Abioseh NicolAbioseh NicolAbioseh Davidson Nicol was a Sierra Leonean academic, diplomat, physician, writer and poet. He has been considered as one of Sierra Leone’s most educated citizens of recent times, as he was able to secure degrees on the art, science and commercial disciplines.-Early life:Nicol was born as Davidson...
(Davidson Nicol) (1924–94) Sierra LeoneSierra LeoneSierra Leone , officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Guinea to the north and east, Liberia to the southeast, and the Atlantic Ocean to the west and southwest. Sierra Leone covers a total area of and has an estimated population between 5.4 and 6.4...
an academic, diplomat, writer and poet - Alan E. NourseAlan E. NourseAlan Edward Nourse was an American science fiction author and physician. He wrote both juvenile and adult science fiction, as well as nonfiction works about medicine and science. His SF works generally focused on medicine and/or psionics.-Biography:Alan Nourse was born August 11, 1928 to...
(1928–1992) American science fiction author - Sherwin NulandSherwin B. NulandDr. Sherwin Nuland is an American surgeon and author who teaches bioethics, history of medicine, and medicine at the Yale University School of Medicine and, upon occasion, bioethics and history of medicine at Yale College...
(born 1930) American author who teaches bioethics and medicine at the Yale University School of MedicineYale School of MedicineThe Yale School of Medicine at Yale University is a private medical school located in New Haven, Connecticut, U.S. It was founded in 1810 as The Medical Institution of Yale College, and formally opened its doors in 1813.... - Avodah Komito Offit (born 1931) practiced psychiatry in New York CityNew York CityNew York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
; she has been described as "the Montaigne of human sexualityHuman sexualityHuman sexuality is the awareness of gender differences, and the capacity to have erotic experiences and responses. Human sexuality can also be described as the way someone is sexually attracted to another person whether it is to opposite sexes , to the same sex , to either sexes , or not being...
" - Danielle OfriDanielle OfriDanielle Ofri is an essayist, editor, and practicing internist in New York City. She is an attending physician at Bellevue Hospital, and Associate Professor of Medicine at New York University School of Medicine....
(born 1965). Author of "Singular Intimacies: Becoming a Doctor at Bellevue," "Incidental Findings" and "Medicine in Translation: Journeys with My Patients." Internist at Bellevue Hospital and NYU School of Medicine. - Ferdie PachecoFerdie PachecoDr. Ferdie Pacheco was the cornerman for multiple boxing champions, most famously Muhammad Ali, for whom he was also a personal physician. Beginning in the late 1970s, Pacheco was a TV boxing analyst for several networks, most notably Showtime. Pacheco is also a prolific author and painter...
(born 1927) prolific author and painter, nicknamed "The Fight Doctor"; personal physician of Muhammed Ali - Michael Stephen Palmer (born 1942) author of 13 novels, often called the Medical thrillers series
- M. Scott PeckM. Scott PeckMorgan Scott Peck was an American psychiatrist and best-selling author, best known for his first book, The Road Less Traveled, published in 1978.-Biography:...
(1936–2005), American psychiatrist whose The Road Less Traveled sold more than seven million copies and was on the New York Times best-seller list for over six years - Walker PercyWalker PercyWalker Percy was an American Southern author whose interests included philosophy and semiotics. Percy is best known for his philosophical novels set in and around New Orleans, Louisiana, the first of which, The Moviegoer, won the National Book Award for Fiction in 1962...
(1916–1990) American Southern author whose interests included philosophy and semioticsSemioticsSemiotics, also called semiotic studies or semiology, is the study of signs and sign processes , indication, designation, likeness, analogy, metaphor, symbolism, signification, and communication... - Lenrie Leopold Wilfred Peters (born 1932) GambianThe GambiaThe Republic of The Gambia, commonly referred to as The Gambia, or Gambia , is a country in West Africa. Gambia is the smallest country on mainland Africa, surrounded by Senegal except for a short coastline on the Atlantic Ocean in the west....
novelist and poet - Steve Pieczenik (born 1943) is author of psycho-political thrillers and the co-creator of the best-selling Tom Clancy's Op-Center and Tom Clancy's Net Force paperback series
- Bill Pomidor: author of a series of thrillers featuring husband and wife medical detectives
- Stephen PottsStephen PottsStephen Potts is a British author of children’s books, particularly historical adventure novels set at sea.Potts was born in 1957 in Norwich, England, to an English father then serving in the Royal Navy, and an Irish mother. He started school in northern Scotland, and continued in various parts of...
(born 1957) British author of children’s books - João Guimarães RosaJoão Guimarães RosaJoão Guimarães Rosa was a Brazilian novelist, considered by many to be one of the greatest Brazilian novelists born in the 20th century. His best-known work is the novel Grande Sertão: Veredas...
(1908–1967) the greatest BrazilBrazilBrazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
ian novelist born in the 20th century - Wilhelm ReichWilhelm ReichWilhelm Reich was an Austrian-American psychiatrist and psychoanalyst, known as one of the most radical figures in the history of psychiatry...
(1897–1957), Austrian-American psychiatrist, author of The Mass Psychology of FascismThe Mass Psychology of FascismThe Mass Psychology of Fascism, originally Die Massenpsychologie des Faschismus in German, was a book written by Wilhelm Reich in 1933...
and Character Analysis. - Carlos Vieira Reis (born 1935) Portuguese writer who has published several novels, books of poetry and essays; current president of the World Union of Physician Writers
- Theodore Isaac RubinTheodore Isaac RubinTheodore Isaac Rubin is an American psychiatrist and author.-Life and career:He lives in New York City. Rubin is a past president of the American Institute for Psychoanalysis and the Karen Horney Institute for Psychoanalysis...
(born 1923) iconoclastic psychiatrist, wrote more than twenty-five works of fiction and nonfiction; his David and Lisa was made into an acclaimed film in 1962 - Suhayl SaadiSuhayl SaadiSuhayl Saadi is a physician, author and dramatist based in Glasgow, Scotland. His varied literary output includes novels, short stories, anthologies of fiction, song lyrics, plays for stage and radio theatre, and wisdom pieces for The Dawn Patrol, the Sarah Kennedy show on BBC Radio...
(born 1961) is an author and dramatist based in GlasgowGlasgowGlasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands... - Oliver Wolf Sacks (born 1933) has written popular books about his patients (e.g. The Man Who Mistook his Wife for a Hat), the most famous of which is Awakenings, which was adapted into a film starring Robin WilliamsRobin WilliamsRobin McLaurin Williams is an American actor and comedian. Rising to fame with his role as the alien Mork in the TV series Mork and Mindy, and later stand-up comedy work, Williams has performed in many feature films since 1980. He won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance...
and Robert De NiroRobert De NiroRobert De Niro, Jr. is an American actor, director and producer. His first major film roles were in Bang the Drum Slowly and Mean Streets, both in 1973... - Ghulam Husayn Sa'idi (1936–1985) IranianIranian peoplesThe Iranian peoples are an Indo-European ethnic-linguistic group, consisting of the speakers of Iranian languages, a major branch of the Indo-European language family, as such forming a branch of Indo-European-speaking peoples...
author whose satires became anathema to the Shah's regime; he was imprisoned, tortured, and exiled; one story, "The Rubbish Heap" was made into a film, shown in the United States as The Cycle - Ferrol SamsFerrol SamsFerrol Aubrey Sams, Jr. is an American physician and novelist born in Fayette County, Georgia, U.S.A.-Early life and education:...
(born 1922) American novelist; author of Run With The Horsemen, who draws heavily on southern storytelling tradition - Charles Savona-Ventura (born 1955) Maltese obstetrician-gynaecologist concentrating researches on reproductive epidemiology and diabetes in pregnancy. Also a prolific publisher on the Natural Sciences, particularly Geology, Herpetology; and many aspects of life and history of Malta, particularly medical history.
- Moacyr ScliarMoacyr ScliarMoacyr Jaime Scliar was a Brazilian writer and physician.Scliar is best known outside Brazil for his 1981 novel Max and the Cats , the story of a young man who flees Berlin after he comes to the attention of the Nazis for having had an affair with a married woman...
(born 1937) Jewish-Brazilian writer; most of his writing centers on issues of Jewish identity in the DiasporaDiasporaA diaspora is "the movement, migration, or scattering of people away from an established or ancestral homeland" or "people dispersed by whatever cause to more than one location", or "people settled far from their ancestral homelands".The word has come to refer to historical mass-dispersions of...
and particularly on being Jewish in Brazil - Richard SelzerRichard SelzerRichard Selzer was a surgeon and author. He was born and raised in Troy, New York, United States. His father was Julius Selzer, M.D. a general practitioner who practiced from the ground floor of the family home at Fifth Avenue in Troy. His mother, Gertrude Selzer, was an amateur singer who...
(born 1928) American author of such celebrated works as Mortal Lessons, Confessions of a Knife, Letters to a Young Doctor and Taking the World in for Repairs which blur the line between case reporting and fiction - Samuel ShemSamuel ShemSamuel Shem is the pen-name of the American psychiatrist Stephen Joseph Bergman . His main works are The House of God and Mount Misery, both fictional but close-to-real first-hand descriptions of the training of doctors in the United States.Bergman was a Rhodes Scholar at Balliol College, Oxford in...
, pen-name Stephen Joseph Bergman (born 1944) wrote The House of GodThe House of GodThe House of God is a satirical novel by Samuel Shem , published in 1978. It portrays the psychological harm done to medical interns during the course of medical internship in the early 1970s.-Storyline:...
and Mount Misery, both fictional but close-to-real first-hand descriptions of the training of doctors - David Shobin (born 1945) American writer of thrillers with a medical theme
- Alison Sinclair (born 1959) writes award-winning science fiction
- Frank Slaughter, pseudonym C.V. Terry (1908–2001) American bestselling novelist whose themes include history, the Biblical world, new findings in medical research and technology; wrote Doctors' Wives
- Benjamin SpockBenjamin SpockBenjamin McLane Spock was an American pediatrician whose book Baby and Child Care, published in 1946, is one of the biggest best-sellers of all time. Its message to mothers is that "you know more than you think you do."Spock was the first pediatrician to study psychoanalysis to try to understand...
(1903–1988) - American pediatrician, wrote Baby and Child CareThe Common Sense Book of Baby and Child Care-External links:... - John Stone (born 1936) American poet, essayist, and lecturer
- Ken StraussKen StraussKen Strauss is a physician/author who is known both for his writings as well as for his work promoting the careers and works of other artistically-inclined professionals. He is the owner of a manor on the French-Belgian border, le Château du Jardin. Health-care professionals from various...
(born 1953) novelist who helps promote the work of other physician writers - Han SuyinHan SuyinHan Suyin , is the pen name of Elizabeth Comber, born Rosalie Elisabeth Kuanghu Chow . She is a Chinese-born Eurasian author of several books on modern China, novels set in East Asia, and autobiographical works, as well as a physician...
pen name of Elizabeth Comber, born Rosalie Elisabeth (born 1917), Chinese-born author of several books on modern ChinaChinaChinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
, novels set in East AsiaEast AsiaEast Asia or Eastern Asia is a subregion of Asia that can be defined in either geographical or cultural terms...
, and autobiographical works; she currently resides in LausanneLausanneLausanne is a city in Romandy, the French-speaking part of Switzerland, and is the capital of the canton of Vaud. The seat of the district of Lausanne, the city is situated on the shores of Lake Geneva . It faces the French town of Évian-les-Bains, with the Jura mountains to its north-west...
and has written in English and French - Barbara Szeffer–Marcinkowska (born in Warsaw) is a Polish maxillary and trauma surgeon and president of the Polish Union of Physician Writers (Unia Polskich Pisarzy Medyków)
- Raymond TallisRaymond TallisRaymond Tallis F.Med.Sci., F.R.C.P., F.R.S.A. is a British philosopher, humanist, poet, novelist, cultural critic and retired medical doctor.-Medical career:...
(born 1946) British author has published a novel, three volumes of poetry and over a dozen books on philosophy, literary theory, art and cultural criticism; in 2004 he was identified in ProspectProspect (magazine)Prospect is a monthly British general interest magazine, specialising in politics and current affairs. Frequent topics include British, European, and US politics, social issues, art, literature, cinema, science, the media, history, philosophy, and psychology...
magazine as one of the top 100 public intellectuals in the United KingdomUnited KingdomThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
; wrote The Enduring Significance of Parmenides: Unthinkable Thought - Lewis ThomasLewis ThomasLewis Thomas was a physician, poet, etymologist, essayist, administrator, educator, policy advisor, and researcher.Thomas was born in Flushing, New York and attended Princeton University and Harvard Medical School...
(1913–1993) celebrated American essayist and poet - Leonid TsypkinLeonid TsypkinLeonid Borisovich Tsypkin was a Soviet writer and medical doctor, best known for his book Summer in Baden-Baden.-Early life:...
(1926—1982) Jewish-Russian writer born in MinskMinsk- Ecological situation :The ecological situation is monitored by Republican Center of Radioactive and Environmental Control .During 2003–2008 the overall weight of contaminants increased from 186,000 to 247,400 tons. The change of gas as industrial fuel to mazut for financial reasons has worsened...
, best known for his book Summer in Baden-Baden - Gael TurnbullGael TurnbullGael Turnbull was a Scottish poet who was an important precursor of the British Poetry Revival.Turnbull was born in Edinburgh and grew up in the North of England and in Canada...
(1928–2004) Scottish poet who was an important precursor of the British Poetry RevivalBritish Poetry RevivalThe British Poetry Revival is the general name given to a loose poetry movement in Britain that took place in the 1960s and 1970s. The revival was a modernist-inspired reaction to the Movement's more conservative approach to British poetry.-Beginnings:... - Vaino VahingVaino VahingVaino Vahing , was an Estonian writer, prosaist, psychiatrist and playwright.Starting from 1973, he was a member of Estonian Writers Union.-Education and career:...
(born 1940) former psychiatrist, one of the most famous and gifted of EstonianEstoniansEstonians are a Finnic people closely related to the Finns and inhabiting, primarily, the country of Estonia. They speak a Finnic language known as Estonian...
writers; most of his publications date from the 1970s and ‘80’s. - Abraham VergheseAbraham VergheseAbraham Verghese is Professor for the Theory and Practice of Medicine at Stanford University Medical School and Senior Associate Chair of the Department of Internal Medicine. He was born in Ethiopia to parents from Kerala, India who worked as teachers. He is a Syro-Malabar Christian...
(born 1955) Indian-American professor at Stanford University Medical School, born and reared in EthiopiaEthiopiaEthiopia , officially known as the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. It is the second-most populous nation in Africa, with over 82 million inhabitants, and the tenth-largest by area, occupying 1,100,000 km2...
, author of the novel, Cutting for Stone. - Arturo Vivante (born 1923) publishes in numerous prominent magazines, most notably in The New YorkerThe New YorkerThe New Yorker is an American magazine of reportage, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons and poetry published by Condé Nast...
where he has published over 70 short stories - Karl Edward WagnerKarl Edward WagnerKarl Edward Wagner was an American writer, editor and publisher of horror, science fiction, and heroic fantasy, who was born in Knoxville, Tennessee and originally trained as a psychiatrist. His disillusionment with the medical profession can be seen in the stories "The Fourth Seal" and "Into...
(1945–1994) American writer, editor and publisher of horror, science fiction, and heroic fantasy - Phil Whitaker (born 1966) book reviewer for the New StatesmanNew StatesmanNew Statesman is a British centre-left political and cultural magazine published weekly in London. Founded in 1913, and connected with leading members of the Fabian Society, the magazine reached a circulation peak in the late 1960s....
and a novelist - Tim WillocksTim WillocksTimothy Willocks is a British doctor and novelist born in Stalybridge Greater Manchester, England. An experienced psychiatrist, Willocks has worked for some years on the rehabilitation of the sufferers of drug addiction.-Career:...
(born 1957) British novelist whose work usually features a central character with extensive medical knowledge (especially of drugs) and martial artsMartial artsMartial arts are extensive systems of codified practices and traditions of combat, practiced for a variety of reasons, including self-defense, competition, physical health and fitness, as well as mental and spiritual development....
ability (Willocks is a black beltBlack belt (martial arts)In martial arts, the black belt is a way to describe a graduate of a field where a practitioner's level is often marked by the color of the belt. The black belt is commonly the highest belt color used and denotes a degree of competence. It is often associated with a teaching grade though...
in Shotokan karateShotokanis a style of karate, developed from various martial arts by Gichin Funakoshi and his son Gigo Funakoshi . Gichin was born in Okinawa and is widely credited with popularizing karate through a series of public demonstrations, and by promoting the development of university karate clubs, including...
) - F. Paul WilsonF. Paul WilsonFrancis Paul Wilson is an American author, primarily in the science fiction and horror genres. His debut novel was Healer . Wilson is also a part-time practicing family physician. He made his first sales in 1970 to Analog while still in medical school , and continued to write science fiction...
(born 1946) writes novels and short stories primarily in the science fiction and horror genres - Irvin Yalom (born 1931) existentialist and accomplished psychotherapist; produced a number novels and also experimented with writing techniques; in Everyday Gets a Little Closer he invited a patient to co-write about the experience of therapy
- C. Dale YoungC. Dale YoungC. Dale Young is an American poet and writer, physician, editor and educator.-Life:Young writes and publishes poetry and short stories, practices medicine full-time, edits poetry for New England Review, and teaches in the Warren Wilson College MFA Program for Writers...
(born 1969) American poet, editor and educator; edits poetry for New England ReviewNew England ReviewThe New England Review is a quarterly literary magazine published by Middlebury College. Founded in New Hampshire in 1978 by poet, novelist, editor and professor Sydney Lea and poet Jay Parini, it was published as New England Review & Bread Loaf Quarterly from 1982 , until 1991 as a formal...
.
21st century
- Chris AdrianChris AdrianChris Adrian is an American author. Adrian's writing styles in short stories vary a great deal, from modernist realism to pronounced lyrical allegory. His novels both tend toward surrealism, having mostly realistic characters experience fantastic circumstances. He has written three novels: Gob's...
, author, paediatrician, Harvard Divinity SchoolHarvard Divinity SchoolHarvard Divinity School is one of the constituent schools of Harvard University, located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in the United States. The School's mission is to train and educate its students either in the academic study of religion, or for the practice of a religious ministry or other public...
graduate - Vincent LamVincent LamVincent Lam is a Canadian writer and medical doctor.Born in London, Ontario and raised in Ottawa, his parents came to Canada from the Chinese expatriate community in Vietnam. He attended St. Pius X High School and did his medical training at the University of Toronto, graduating in 1999...
, Canadian writer (Bloodletting & Miraculous CuresBloodletting & Miraculous CuresBloodletting & Miraculous Cures is a short story collection by Vincent Lam, published in 2006. The book, inspired by Lam's own experiences in medical school and as a professional physician, is a volume of interconnected short stories about the lives and relationships of Fitzgerald, Ming, Chen and...
) - Kevin PattersonKevin PattersonKevin Patterson is a Canadian medical doctor and writer. His short story collection, Country of Cold, won the Rogers Writers' Trust Fiction Prize in 2003...
, Canadian writer
Why physicians write
Physicians have a long history, dating back to GreekGreece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
medicine
Medicine
Medicine is the science and art of healing. It encompasses a variety of health care practices evolved to maintain and restore health by the prevention and treatment of illness....
, of literary activities. This may have its origins in mythology
Mythology
The term mythology can refer either to the study of myths, or to a body or collection of myths. As examples, comparative mythology is the study of connections between myths from different cultures, whereas Greek mythology is the body of myths from ancient Greece...
. Apollo
Apollo
Apollo is one of the most important and complex of the Olympian deities in Greek and Roman mythology...
was the god of both poetry and medicine. Pallas Athene was the goddess
Goddess
A goddess is a female deity. In some cultures goddesses are associated with Earth, motherhood, love, and the household. In other cultures, goddesses also rule over war, death, and destruction as well as healing....
of poetry, healing
Healing
Physiological healing is the restoration of damaged living tissue, organs and biological system to normal function. It is the process by which the cells in the body regenerate and repair to reduce the size of a damaged or necrotic area....
and war. Brigit was the Celtic
Celtic mythology
Celtic mythology is the mythology of Celtic polytheism, apparently the religion of the Iron Age Celts. Like other Iron Age Europeans, the early Celts maintained a polytheistic mythology and religious structure...
patroness of poets, smiths
Smith (metalwork)
A metalsmith, often shortened to smith, is a person involved in making metal objects. In contemporary use a metalsmith is a person who uses metal as a material, uses traditional metalsmithing techniques , whose work thematically relates to the practice or history of the practice, or who engages in...
and healers.
It is thought that through their privileged and intimate contact with those moments of greatest human drama (birth, illness, injury, suffering, disease, death) physicians are in a unique position to observe, record and create the stories that make us human. "The clinical gaze [has] much in common with the artist's eye."
Robert Louis Stevenson
Robert Louis Stevenson
Robert Louis Balfour Stevenson was a Scottish novelist, poet, essayist and travel writer. His best-known books include Treasure Island, Kidnapped, and Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde....
, in his Preface to Underwoods
Underwoods
Underwoods is a collection of poems by Robert Louis Stevenson published in 1887. It comprises two books, Book I with 38 poems in English, Book II with 16 poems in Scots...
, described this unique privilege:
There are men and classes of men that stand above the common herd: the soldier, the sailor, and the shepherd not infrequently; the artist rarely; rarelier still, the clergyman; the physician almost as a rule. He is the flower (such as it is) of our civilization; and when that stage of man is done with, and only to be marvelled at in history, he will be thought to have shared as little, as any in the defects of the period, and most notably exhibited the virtues of the race. Generosity he has, such as is possible to those who practise an art, never to those who drive a trade; discretion, tested by a hundred secrets; tact, tried in a thousand embarrassments; and what are more important, Heraclean cheerfulness and courage. So that he brings air and cheer into the sick room, and often enough, though not so often as he wishes, brings healing.
Professional writers often wonder how busy doctors find the time to write. Many doctors have had to quit medical practice in order to find the time. Those who do not quit, inevitably struggle with the conflict of patient responsibilities over the pull of literature.
Worldwide organizations
In 1955 a group of physician-writers created the International Federation of Societies of Physician-Writers (FISEM). One of the founders was Dr. André Soubiran, author of Hommes en blanc (The Doctors). Other founders included Italian Professors Nasi and Lombroso, Belgian Drs. Sévery and Thiriet, Swiss physicians Junod and René Kaech, and eminent French writers of the medical academy. Dr. Mirko Skoficz was a key figure at the first FISEM congress in San RemoSanremo
Sanremo or San Remo is a city with about 57,000 inhabitants on the Mediterranean coast of western Liguria in north-western Italy. Founded in Roman times, the city is best known as a tourist destination on the Italian Riviera. It hosts numerous cultural events, such as the Sanremo Music Festival...
, Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
, along with his wife, Italian
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
film star Gina Lollobrigida
Gina Lollobrigida
Gina Lollobrigida is an Italian actress, photojournalist and sculptress. She was one of the most popular European actresses of the 1950s and early 1960s. She was also an iconic sex symbol of the 1950s. Today, she remains an active supporter of Italian and Italian American causes, particularly the...
.
In 1973 FISEM changed its name to UMEM—Union Mondiale des Écrivains Médécins, or World Union of Physician Writers. Its current president is Dr. Carlos Vieira Reis of Portugal. UMEM is an umbrella organization that subsumes physician-writer groups in:
- BelgiumBelgiumBelgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
, Groupement Belge des Médecins-Écrivains - BrazilBrazilBrazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
, Sociedade Brasileira de Médicos Escritores SOBRAMES - BulgariaBulgariaBulgaria , officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a parliamentary democracy within a unitary constitutional republic in Southeast Europe. The country borders Romania to the north, Serbia and Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, as well as the Black Sea to the east...
, Club des Écrivains Médecins en Bulgarie - FranceFranceThe French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, Groupement des Ecrivains – Médecins [GEM] - GermanyGermanyGermany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, Bundesverband Deutscher Schriftstellerärzte [BDSA] - GreeceGreeceGreece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
, Hellenic Society of Physician Writers - ItalyItalyItaly , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
, A.M.S.I. - NetherlandsNetherlandsThe Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
, Penaescula - PolandPolandPoland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
, Unia Polskich Pisarzy Medyków [UPPL] - PortugalPortugalPortugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
, Sociedade Portuguesa dos Escritores Médicos [SOPEAM] - RomaniaRomaniaRomania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...
, Societaea Medicilor Scriitori şi Publicişti din România - South AmericaSouth AmericaSouth America is a continent situated in the Western Hemisphere, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere. The continent is also considered a subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east...
, Liga Sud-Americana de Médicos-Escritores LISAME - SpainSpainSpain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
, Asociación Española de Médicos Escritores e Artistas [AEMEA] - SwitzerlandSwitzerlandSwitzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
, Association Suisse des Écrivains Médecins [ASEM]
Anglophone associations
In the AnglophoneAnglosphere
Anglosphere is a neologism which refers to those nations with English as the most common language. The term can be used more specifically to refer to those nations which share certain characteristics within their cultures based on a linguistic heritage, through being former British colonies...
world, the lead has been taken by New York University
New York University
New York University is a private, nonsectarian research university based in New York City. NYU's main campus is situated in the Greenwich Village section of Manhattan...
(NYU) with their encyclopedic Literature, Arts & Medicine Database (http://litmed.med.nyu.edu) and blog
Blog
A blog is a type of website or part of a website supposed to be updated with new content from time to time. Blogs are usually maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. Entries are commonly displayed in...
(http://medhum.med.nyu.edu/blog/). An associated resource is the Medical Humanities directory: http://medhum.med.nyu.edu/directory.html.
These sites were established in 1994 at the New York University School of Medicine
New York University School of Medicine
The New York University School of Medicine is one of the graduate schools of New York University. Founded in 1841 as the University Medical College, the NYU School of Medicine is one of the foremost medical schools in the United States....
and were:
“dedicated to providing a resource for scholars, educators, students, patients, and others who are interested in the work of medical humanities. We define the term ‘medical humanities’ broadly to include an interdisciplinary field of humanities (literature, philosophy, ethics, history and religion), social science (anthropology, cultural studies, psychology, sociology), and the arts (literature, theater, film, and visual arts) and their application to medical education and practice. The humanities and arts provide insight into the human condition, suffering, personhood, our responsibility to each other, and offer a historical perspective on medical practice. Attention to literature and the arts helps to develop and nurture skills of observation, analysis, empathy, and self-reflection -- skills that are essential for humane medical care. The social sciences help us to understand how bioscience and medicine take place within cultural and social contexts and how culture interacts with the individual experience of illness and the way medicine is practiced.”
Dr. Daniel Bryant, an American internist, has compiled an extensive list of fellow physician writers which can be assessed at http://library.med.nyu.edu/library/eresources/featuredcollections/bryant/roster.html
or at http://members.aol.com/dbryantmd/index.html?f=fs
The Johns Hopkins University Press
Johns Hopkins University Press
The Johns Hopkins University Press is the publishing division of the Johns Hopkins University. It was founded in 1878 and holds the distinction of being the oldest continuously running university press in the United States. The Press publishes books, journals, and electronic databases...
publishes Literature and Medicine
Literature and Medicine
Literature and Medicine is an academic journal founded in 1982. It is devoted to researching and understanding the interfaces between literary and medical knowledge. Literary and cultural texts are used to examine concerns related to illness, trauma, the body, and other medical issues...
, “a journal devoted to exploring interfaces between literary and medical knowledge and understanding. Issues of illness, health, medical science, violence, and the body are examined through literary and cultural texts.”
The British Medical Association
British Medical Association
The British Medical Association is the professional association and registered trade union for doctors in the United Kingdom. The association does not regulate or certify doctors, a responsibility which lies with the General Medical Council. The association’s headquarters are located in BMA House,...
keeps an updated, though selective, list of Physician-Writers on its web site: http://www.bma.org.uk/ap.nsf/Content/LIBDoctorWriters