Healers of Our Age Portrait Collection

The collection contains black and white portraits of 12 prominent figures in the history of medicine known for their commitment to the art and science of healing. This portfolio of photographs was produced for the benefit of the Oliver Wendell Holmes Endowment of the Francis A. Countway Library of Medicine in Boston in a limited edition of 590. Each portfolio has been personally signed by the photographer, Yousuf Karsh. Portraits include Walter Clement Alvarez, Charles Herbert Best, Alfred Blalock, William Boyd, Thomas Stephen Cullen, Albert Einstein, Sir Alexander Fleming, Carl Gustav Jung, Helen Keller, Albert Schweitzer, George Hoyt Whipple, and Paul Dudley White.

Each of the 12 portraits is 12.9" x 17.3", printed on Bristol paper board, sanitized white, and weighs 320 grams. Photographs and commentary are by Yousuf Karsh, Ottowa, Canada.

(1884-1978), American physician. He received his medical training at Cooper Medical College, Harvard Medical School, and Hahnemann Medical College. He practiced in Mexico and California and held early teaching posts at Stanford and the University of California. He was the Professor of Medicine at the Mayo Foundation of the University of Minnesota, and he was widely honored for his scientific and clinical work in the fields of gastroenterology and psychosomatic medicine. Alvarez was a member of leading professional societies and holder of many distinguished lectureships, as well as being known as editor of clinical journals and writing for the laity.

(1899-1978), Canadian physician. Born in north-eastern U.S.A., he spent most of his life in Canada, and was educated at the University of Toronto. He was the recipient of honorary degrees from leading institutions in many parts of the world, and his activities include the posts of Head of Physiology at Toronto, Head of Banting and Best Department of Medical Research, Member of the Board of Directors of the International Health Division, Rockefeller Foundation, and of the Commission in Medical Research, World Health Organization. A member of many Canadian government agencies, he is known as the co-discoverer of insulin in 1921, as a brilliant researcher in the field of biochemistry, and as the author of a number of works on physiology.

(1899-1964), American physician. He was educated at University of Georgia and Johns Hopkins University and held early teaching posts at Vanderbilt Medical School. He subsequently became Professor of Surgery at Johns Hopkins University and Surgeon-in-Chief at the Hospital. A member and officer of numerous leading scholarly societies, he was the recipient of many awards, medals and honorary degrees. He was also on the editorial boards of a number of surgical journals, and he was a pioneer and leader in surgery for the correction of congenital heart disease. He was also a leading researcher in vascular disease and shock.

(1885-1979), Canadian physician. Although he was born in Scotland and educated at Edinburgh, he spent most of his professional life in Canada, at first at various Canadian schools and hospitals and finally as Professor of Pathology and Bacteriology at the University of Toronto Medical School and Chief Pathologist at the Hospital. He is known for his pathology texts and his important research into cancer. He was a leading expert on the physiology and pathology of the cerebrospinal fluid, providing physicians with a refined diagnostic tool.

(1868-1953), Canadian and American physician. Educated in Toronto, Cullen specialized in gynacology at Johns Hopkins University under the legendary Dr. Howard A. Kelly. He wrote and taught extensively on embryology, anatomy, diagnosis and treatment of clinical gynaecological conditions. A member and officer of surgical and gynaecological societies, he was the first to recognize a number of diseases and their physical signs (e.g., Cullen's sign for rupturred ectopic pregnancy). His work on gynaecology was the standard textbook for many years.

(1879-1955), German and American physicist. After receiving his education in Germany and Switzerland, Einstein developed concepts which helped to usher in the electronic era of physics while working as a technical assistant in the Swiss Patent Office. He held professorships in Zurich, Prague, Leyden and Berlin, and he became a naturalized citizen of the U.S.A. in 1940. He was a Fellow of the Royal Society and a Life Member of the Institute of Advanced Studies, Princeton. He turned down the offer of the Presidency of Israel. With others, Einstein was responsible for the revolutionary concepts which underlie almost all of today's understanding of life and current technical developments. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1921.

(1881-1955), British bacteriologist. Born in Scotland, he was educated at the University of London and St. Mary's Medical School, where he subsequently became Professor of Bacteriology. He was also the Rector of the University of Edinburgh, and the head of the Wright-Fleming Institute of Microbiology. He received numerous honours, awards and honorary degrees, and he was knighted in 1944. Fleming discovered lysozyme in bacteria in 1922, and penicillin in 1929. In 1945 he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Physiology and Medicine (together with Chain and Florey).

(1875-1961), Swiss psychiatrist. He was educated in Zurich, where he subsequently lectured and practiced psychiatry. In 1908 he organized the First International Psychoanalytic Congress, and he was the author of many books on the psychoanalytic interpretation of man's nature and history. He defined and described the concept of introversion/extroversion, and he stressed the connection between physiological and psychological phenomena. Jung used his scholarly knowledge of mythology and yoga to explain his psychoanalytic concepts, most of which differed from the more simplistic notions perpetuated by those of his teacher and colleague, Freud.

(1880-1968), American author and lecturer. Born normal, Helen Keller contracted a febrile disease of the brain which left her blind and deaf at the age of 19 months. She continued to detect sound as vibration, however, and when she was six, at the suggestion of Alexander Graham Bell, a teacher was sent for from the Perkins School for the Blind in Boston. The teacher, Annie Sullivan, and Helen Keller together proved conclusively that severe sensory loss does not preclude education for a full life. Helen Keller received her A.B. Degree cum laude at Radcliffe College and spent the rest of her life writing and lecturing on the problems of blindness and deafness, and promoting world understanding.

(1875-1964), Alsatian physician, medical missionary and musicologist. He studied medicine and theology in Strasbourg, and tropical medicine in Paris and Hamburg. He was active as preacher, deacon and curate at St. Christopher's, Strasbourg, and as acting principal and teacher at the Theological College. His musical activities included founder membership of the Bach Society (founded in 1905), the editing of Bach's organ works, and the reintroduction of the baroque organ. He wrote numerous books on theology, philosophy and music, and he was the founder of the jungle hospital in Lambarene, Africa. He received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1952.

(1878-1976), American physician. He was educated at the Universities of Yale and Johns Hopkins and held teaching posts at the latter until he became Professor of Research Medicine and Director at the Hooper Foundation, University of California. He was subsequently active as Dean and Professor of Pathology at the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry. A trustee of the Rockefeller Foundation, he was a member of the Board of Directors of the Rockefeller Institute, and also a member of the General Education Board. Whipple is famous for his research into blood and its pigments. He received the Nobel Prize in Physiology and Medicine in 1934.

(1886-1973), American physician. Educated at Harvard College and Medical School, he trained at the Massachusetts General Hospital and remained on its staff until his retirement. He was also Clinical Professor of Medicine at Harvard, and he studied under Sir Thomas Lewis and James MacKenzie in England. A founder of the Americam Heart Association, he was a pioneer in the development of clinical electrocardiology and author of one of the greatest cardiology texts of all time. He taught distinguished students in all parts of the world, including China, which he visited in 1971. He was famous for his unabating care and concern for each one of his patients, one of whom was President Eisenhower.