The History of Surgery According to Owen Wangensteen

Abstract

Owen Wangensteen (1898–1981), the great Minnesota surgical master, made a firm and intense dedication to the history of surgery from the early stages of his exemplary surgical career. While in Germany and Switzerland, he learned from distinguished European professors and clearly realized the importance of history on the understanding and appreciation of important surgical problems. In 1928, on returning to Minneapolis, he began his quest to introduce history into many of his clinical and research laboratory works. In 1930, he attained the surgery chairmanship at the University of Minnesota, and there he excelled until his retirement from surgical practice in 1967. Throughout his career and until he died in 1981, the history of surgery was his continuous and persistent companion. In fact, this discipline, the history of surgery, was indeed part of the family, since his wife Sally Davidson Wangensteen was a dedicated contributor to their common papers and the scholarly jewel of their work, the monumental treatise, The Rise of Surgery: From Empiric Craft to Scientific Discipline.

KEYWORDS:

• history
• surgery
• Wangensteen