Chaim Sheba ( he, חיים שיבא; born 1908, died 10 July 1971) was an Israeli physician, notable for being the founder of

Sheba Medical Center Chaim Sheba Medical Center at Tel HaShomer ( he, המרכז הרפואי ע"ש חיים שיבא – תל השומר), also Tel HaShomer Hospital, is the largest hospital in Israel, located in the Tel Aviv District city of Ramat Gan at Tel HaShome ...

Biography

Chaim Scheiber (later Sheba) was born in

Frasin Frasin (german: Frassin or Fraßin) is a town in Suceava County, mountainous northeastern Romania. It is situated in the historical region of Bukovina. Frasin is the thirteenth-largest urban settlement in the county, with a population of 5,702 ...

, near Gurahumora, Bukovina, then in

Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of ...

(now Suceava County,

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Moldova to the east, and ...

), to the well known Scheiber Hasidic family, a descendant of the Hasidic court of Ruzhin. As a young child he studied in

heder A ''cheder'' ( he, חדר, lit. "room"; Yiddish pronunciation ''kheyder'') is a traditional primary school teaching the basics of Judaism and the Hebrew language. History ''Cheders'' were widely found in Europe before the end of the 18th ...

, a school for religious studies only. He transferred from there to the 8th grade in a secular school. Influenced by his grandfather, he began medical studies in

Cernăuți Chernivtsi ( uk, Чернівці́}, ; ro, Cernăuți, ; see also other names) is a city in the historical region of Bukovina, which is now divided along the borders of Romania and Ukraine, including this city, which is situated on the up ...

and completed such studies in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

in December 1932. In the beginning of 1933, Sheba

immigrated Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not natives or where they do not possess citizenship in order to settle as permanent residents or naturalized citizens. Commuters, tourists, and ...

Mandate Palestine Mandatory Palestine ( ar, فلسطين الانتدابية '; he, פָּלֶשְׂתִּינָה (א״י) ', where "E.Y." indicates ''’Eretz Yiśrā’ēl'', the Land of Israel) was a geopolitical entity established between 1920 and 1948 i ...

. Sheba died in 1971 of a heart attack.

Medical career

Until 1936, Sheba served as rural doctor and later in Beilinson Hospital. In 1942, he joined the

Jewish Brigade The Jewish Infantry Brigade Group, more commonly known as the Jewish Brigade Group or Jewish Brigade, was a military formation of the British Army in the World War II, Second World War. It was formed in late 1944 and was recruited among Yishuv, Y ...

as a doctor, joining the Haganah in 1947. From 1948 to 1950, he commanded the

Medical Corps A medical corps is generally a military branch or officer corps responsible for medical care for serving military personnel. Such officers are typically military physicians. List of medical corps The following organizations are examples of medica ...

of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), and became Director General of the Ministry of Health after leaving the IDF. He fulfilled this position until 1953, when he moved on to become the director of the

Tel HaShomer Hospital Chaim Sheba Medical Center at Tel HaShomer ( he, המרכז הרפואי ע"ש חיים שיבא – תל השומר), also Tel HaShomer Hospital, is the largest hospital in Israel, located in the Tel Aviv District city of Ramat Gan at Tel HaShome ...

(today Chaim Sheba Medical Center, named in his honor). In addition, from 1949 Sheba served as Professor of Medicine at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He was one of the founders of the

Tel Aviv University Tel Aviv University (TAU) ( he, אוּנִיבֶרְסִיטַת תֵּל אָבִיב, ''Universitat Tel Aviv'') is a public research university in Tel Aviv, Israel. With over 30,000 students, it is the largest university in the country. Locate ...

Medical School and served as a Vice-President of that University. He also helped to establish medical schools in Jerusalem and in Haifa. During his tenure as Director General, Sheba was responsible for managing the

tinea capitis Tinea capitis (also known as "herpes tonsurans", "ringworm of the hair", "ringworm of the scalp", "scalp ringworm", and "tinea tonsurans") is a cutaneous fungal infection (dermatophytosis) of the scalp. The disease is primarily caused by dermato ...

outbreak. The standard treatment at the time involved X-raying the head area. This treatment was eventually discovered to be harmful, and the event became a source of controversy.

Awards and recognition

In 1968, Sheba was awarded the Israel Prize, in medicine.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sheba, Chaim 1908 births 1971 deaths People from Frasin Bukovina Jews Ashkenazi Jews in Mandatory Palestine Israeli Ashkenazi Jews Israeli military doctors Israel Prize in medicine recipients Academic staff of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem Israeli healthcare managers Mandatory Palestine military personnel of World War II Jewish Brigade personnel Romanian emigrants to Mandatory Palestine

Biography

Medical career

Awards and recognition

See also

References