Hugo Bart Huges (also Hughes; 23 April 1934 – 30 August 2004) was a Dutch

librarian A librarian is a person who works professionally in a library providing access to information, and sometimes social or technical programming, or instruction on information literacy to users. The role of the librarian has changed much over time, ...

and proponent of

trepanation Trepanning, also known as trepanation, trephination, trephining or making a burr hole (the verb ''trepan'' derives from Old French from Medieval Latin from Greek , literally "borer, auger"), is a surgical intervention in which a hole is drill ...

. He attended

medical school A medical school is a tertiary educational institution, or part of such an institution, that teaches medicine, and awards a professional degree for physicians. Such medical degrees include the Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS, M ...

at the

University of Amsterdam The University of Amsterdam (abbreviated as UvA, nl, Universiteit van Amsterdam) is a public research university located in Amsterdam, Netherlands. The UvA is one of two large, publicly funded research universities in the city, the other being ...

, but was refused a degree due to his advocacy of LSD research and naming his daughter "Maria Juana". In 1964 he published "The Mechanism of Brainbloodvolume ('BBV')" (also known as "Homo Sapiens Correctus"), a

scroll A scroll (from the Old French ''escroe'' or ''escroue''), also known as a roll, is a roll of papyrus, parchment, or paper containing writing. Structure A scroll is usually partitioned into pages, which are sometimes separate sheets of papyrus ...

in which he proposed that trepanation could be used to enhance brain functionality by balancing the proportion of

blood Blood is a body fluid in the circulatory system of humans and other vertebrates that delivers necessary substances such as nutrients and oxygen to the cells, and transports metabolic waste products away from those same cells. Blood in the c ...

and

cerebral spinal fluid Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) is a clear, colorless body fluid found within the tissue that surrounds the brain and spinal cord of all vertebrates. CSF is produced by specialised ependymal cells in the choroid plexus of the ventricles of the br ...

. Huges believed that, when mankind began to walk upright, our brains drained of blood and that trepanation allowed the blood to better flow in and out of the brain, causing a permanent "high". Using a foot-operated electric dentist drill, Huges drilled a hole in his skull on 6 January 1965. He also published "Trepanation: A Cure for Psychosis", in which he expanded upon his theory, and an autobiography, ''The Book With The Hole'', in 1972. In the 1970s Huges and his girlfriend Eveline van Dijk made several comics promoting

. His writings influenced the British-born

Joey Mellen Joseph Mellen (born September 1939) is the British-born author of ''Bore Hole'', a book about his attempts at self-trepanation, influenced by Bart Huges, and his eventual success with the help of his partner Amanda Feilding. Mellen and Feilding ...

to undergo self-trepanation, which he documented in a book called ''Bore Hole''. Huges died of heart disease on 30 August 2004, at the age of 70. He is buried at Zorgvlied cemetery.

Publications

* Bart Huges: ''The book with the hole. Autobiography''. Translation and elaboration by Joe Mellen and Amanda Feilding. Amsterdam, Foundation for Independent Thinking (F.I.T.), 1972. * H.B. Huges: ''Trepanation. The cure for psychosis'' Transl. by Joe Mellen. Amsterdam, Foundation for Independent Thinking (F.I.T.), 1971. * Hugo Bart Huges: ''The mechanism of brainbloodvolume''. Transl. by Joe Mellen. Amsterdam, Foundation for Independent Thinking (F.I.T.), 1970.

References

External links

*
The Hole to Luck
Interview with Huges by Joe Mellen, ''The Transatlantic Review'' No. 23, Winter 1966-1967
The Doctor of LSD Who Drilled A Hole In His Head: Amsterdam's Counter Culture Revolution of the 60s
Mini-documentary about Bart Huges done as of a part of a 8 episodes based on different characters and shenanigans of the Provos movement in Amsterdam in the 1960's. The series cover various subjects, such as the attack on Beatrix and Claus' Royal Wedding, Anti-Rook Magier, Provo magazine, The White Bicycle plan, the Happenings at the Spui, all the way up to the Telegraaf riots and the cementing of Amsterdam as the counter culture centre of Europe Dutch librarians Dutch activists Dutch comics writers 1934 births 2004 deaths University of Amsterdam alumni {{library-bio-stub