Henry E. Sigerist: Autobiographical Writings

Henry Sigerist (1891-1957) was a leading medical historian of his generation. Restless, energetic, brilliant, charming, the range of his talents equalled that of his interests. Sigerist was born in France of Swiss parents. He received in Zurich, London, Munich, and Leipzig formal education successively in oriental philology, medicine, and medical history and before the end of his career held appointments at the Universities of Zurich and Leipzig and at Johns Hopkins and Yale. He mastered French, German, Italian, Latin, Greek, Hebrew, Arabic, Sanskrit, Chinese, Persian, Syriac, Spanish, Russian, and English. He cooked with professional skill and was a connoisseur of art and a lover of music. Sigerist worked very hardsometimes too hard, and was often troubled with upper respiratory illness. On occasion he undertook more than he could accomplish. Because his interests were global, he traveled endlessly, talking, seeking, thinking with a refreshing mixture of sentiment, erudition, and hard headedness. Through his students, books, papers, and lectures he brought to medical historiography a new enthusiasm and social direction as well as profound scholarship. Sigerist's autobiography, a record which he did not continue beyond his early days, has been supplemented by passages from his journals and other first-hand sources. The result is an engaging account of the life and doings of an observant, opinionated individual. Nora Sigerist Beeson, his daughter, selected, translated, and arranged this unusual biography with skill. The fragments are carefully fitted together to give a feeling of continuity and are further unified by Mrs. Beeson's preface. I only regret that the book lacks an index. In an important companion volume Dr. Genevieve Miller has brought together Sigerist's bibliography, a formidable assignment since there are 520 items. They are grouped in four major categories, arranged chronologically and numbered serially. Dr. Miller has added occasional annotations. There is a vita and an extensive index. Professor Erwin Ackerknecht's introduction includes a succinct interpretation of Sigerist's development and work. This is a valuable and thoroughly satisfying book.