Aubré de Lambert Maynard (November 17, 1901 – March 20, 1999) was an American medical doctor and surgeon who is most notable for operating on

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Martin Luther King Jr. (born Michael King Jr.; January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968) was an American Baptist minister and activist, one of the most prominent leaders in the civil rights movement from 1955 until his assassination in 1968 ...

to save his life after a 1958 assassination attempt. Maynard was an authority on chest and abdominal wounds.

Personal life

Maynard was born in

Georgetown, Guyana Georgetown is the capital (political), capital and largest city of Guyana. It is situated in Demerara-Mahaica, region 4, on the Atlantic Ocean coast, at the mouth of the Demerara River. It is nicknamed the "Garden City of the Caribbean." It is t ...

and migrated to the United States in 1906. He initially attended

City College of New York The City College of the City University of New York (also known as the City College of New York, or simply City College or CCNY) is a public university within the City University of New York (CUNY) system in New York City. Founded in 1847, Cit ...

in 1922 and later enrolled in

New York University Medical School NYU Grossman School of Medicine is a medical school of New York University, a private research university in New York City. It was founded in 1841 and is one of two medical schools of the university, with the other being the Long Island School of ...

. He was told that engineering had no prospects for blacks and chose medical school. Maynard had difficulties finding employment in the medical field. After finishing first on the internship examination, he was hired as the first black intern at

Harlem Hospital Harlem Hospital Center, branded as NYC Health + Hospitals/Harlem, is a 272-bed, public teaching hospital affiliated with Columbia University. It is located at 506 Lenox Avenue in Harlem, Manhattan, New York City and was founded in 1887. The hosp ...

. He lived in lower Manhattan. In 1928, he married

Ethel Maynard Ethel Reed Maynard (November 23, 1905May 20, 1980) was an American politician, activist, and registered nurse who served in the Arizona House of Representatives as a member of the Democratic Party. She was the first black woman to serve in t ...

with whom he had one daughter. The couple divorced in 1930. In 1978, he wrote the book ''Surgeons to the Poor: The Harlem Hospital Story''.

Medical career

He served as the Director of Surgery at Harlem Hospital. He also saved the life of

W. Averell Harriman William Averell Harriman (November 15, 1891July 26, 1986), better known as Averell Harriman, was an American Democratic politician, businessman, and diplomat. The son of railroad baron E. H. Harriman, he served as Secretary of Commerce un ...

Operation on Martin Luther King

Izola Curry Izola Curry ( Ware; June 14, 1916 – March 7, 2015) was an African-American woman who attempted to assassinate the civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. She stabbed King with a letter opener at a Harlem book signing on September 20, 1958, d ...

stabbed the reverend

Martin Luther King Jr. Martin Luther King Jr. (born Michael King Jr.; January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968) was an American Baptist minister and activist, one of the most prominent leaders in the civil rights movement from 1955 until his assassination in 1968 ...

in the chest with a letter opener on September 20, 1958, at book-signing in a

Harlem Harlem is a neighborhood in Upper Manhattan, New York City. It is bounded roughly by the Hudson River on the west; the Harlem River and 155th Street (Manhattan), 155th Street on the north; Fifth Avenue on the east; and 110th Street (Manhattan), ...

department store. NYPD police officers Al Howard and Phil Romano took King in the chair down to an ambulance that took King to

, and its top team of trauma surgeons, Dr. John W. V. Cordice Jr., Dr.

Emil Naclerio Emil A. Naclerio (March 21, 1915 – October 14, 1985) was an American doctor and surgeon who is most notable for operating on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. to save his life after a 1958 assassination attempt. Attempted assassination of MLK Izola ...

, Aubre C. Maynard, and Farrow Allen were called in to operate. They made incisions and inserted a

rib spreader A rib spreader, also known as Finochietto retractor, is a type of retractor specifically designed to separate ribs in thoracic surgery. Rack-and-pinion-type stainless steel rib spreaders (with a thumb-screw to lock it in place) were an innovation i ...

, making King’s

aorta The aorta ( ) is the main and largest artery in the human body, originating from the left ventricle of the heart and extending down to the abdomen, where it splits into two smaller arteries (the common iliac arteries). The aorta distributes ...

visible. Chief of Surgery Aubre de Lambert Maynard then entered and attempted to pull out the letter opener, but cut his glove on the blade; a surgical clamp was finally used to pull out the blade. Cordice mapped out a strategy and successfully saved Dr. King. He was the subject of the book ''When Harlem Nearly Killed King: The 1958 Stabbing of Dr. Martin Luther King'', by Hugh Pearson.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Maynard, Aubre de Lambert Physicians from New York (state) 1901 births 1999 deaths People from Georgetown, Guyana New York University Grossman School of Medicine alumni American surgeons