Sir Geoffrey Jefferson
(10 April 1886 – 29 January 1961) was a British
neurologist
Neurology (from el, νεῦρον (neûron), "string, nerve" and the suffix -logia, "study of") is the branch of medicine dealing with the diagnosis and treatment of all categories of conditions and disease involving the brain, the spinal c ...
and pioneering
neurosurgeon
Neurosurgery or neurological surgery, known in common parlance as brain surgery, is the medical specialty concerned with the surgical treatment of disorders which affect any portion of the nervous system including the brain, spinal cord and peri ...
.
Jefferson was born in
Stockton-on-Tees
Stockton-on-Tees, often simply referred to as Stockton, is a market town in the Borough of Stockton-on-Tees in County Durham, England. It is on the northern banks of the River Tees, part of the Teesside built-up area. The town had an estimated ...
, County Durham, the son of surgeon Arthur John Jefferson (1857–1915), and Cecilia James. He was educated in
Manchester
Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...
,
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
, obtaining his medical degree in 1909. He became a
fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons
Fellowship of the Royal Colleges of Surgeons (FRCS) is a professional qualification to practise as a senior surgeon in Ireland or the United Kingdom. It is bestowed on an intercollegiate basis by the four Royal Colleges of Surgeons (the Royal C ...
two years later. He married in 1914, and moved to
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
. On the outbreak of
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
, he returned to
Europe
Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...
and worked at the Anglo-Russian Hospital in
Petrograd
Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...
,
Russia
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...
, and then with the
Royal Army Medical Corps
The Royal Army Medical Corps (RAMC) is a specialist corps in the British Army which provides medical services to all Army personnel and their families, in war and in peace. The RAMC, the Royal Army Veterinary Corps, the Royal Army Dental Corps a ...
in
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
.
After the war, he returned to Manchester, working at the
Salford Royal Hospital
Salford Royal Hospital (formerly known as Hope Hospital) is a large university teaching hospital in Pendleton, Salford, England operated by Northern Care Alliance NHS Foundation Trust. It is one of the top-performing hospitals in the United King ...
. It was here, in 1925 that Jefferson performed the first successful
embolectomy
Embolectomy is the emergency surgical removal of emboli which are blocking blood circulation. It usually involves removal of thrombi (blood clots), and is then referred to as thrombectomy. Embolectomy is an emergency procedure often as the last res ...
in England. By 1934, he was a neurosurgeon at the
Manchester Royal Infirmary
Manchester Royal Infirmary (MRI) is a large NHS teaching hospital in Chorlton-on-Medlock, Manchester, England. Founded by Charles White in 1752 as part of the voluntary hospital movement of the 18th century, it is now a major regional and nati ...
, becoming the UK's first professor of neurosurgery at the
University of Manchester
, mottoeng = Knowledge, Wisdom, Humanity
, established = 2004 – University of Manchester Predecessor institutions: 1956 – UMIST (as university college; university 1994) 1904 – Victoria University of Manchester 1880 – Victoria Univer ...
five years later. The
Jefferson fracture
A Jefferson fracture is a bone fracture of the anterior and posterior arches of the C1 vertebra, though it may also appear as a three- or two-part fracture. The fracture may result from an axial load on the back of the head or hyperextension of ...
, which he was the first to describe, was named after him.
Manchester Royal Infirmary
Manchester Royal Infirmary (MRI) is a large NHS teaching hospital in Chorlton-on-Medlock, Manchester, England. Founded by Charles White in 1752 as part of the voluntary hospital movement of the 18th century, it is now a major regional and nati ...
also honours Jefferson with the Jefferson Suite, a training area in their Medical Education Campus.
Jefferson was elected a fellow of the
Royal Society
The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, re ...
in 1947.
He was awarded the
Lister Medal
__NOTOC__
The Lister Medal is an award presented by the Royal College of Surgeons of England in recognition of contributions to surgical science. It is named after the English surgeon Joseph Lister (1827-1912), whose work on antiseptics establi ...
in 1948 for his contributions to surgical science. The corresponding Lister Oration, given at the
Royal College of Surgeons of England
The Royal College of Surgeons of England (RCS England) is an independent professional body and registered charity that promotes and advances standards of surgical care for patients, and regulates surgery and dentistry in England and Wales. The ...
, was not delivered until 1949, and was titled 'The Mind of Mechanical Man'. The subject of this lecture was the
Manchester Mark 1
The Manchester Mark 1 was one of the earliest stored-program computers, developed at the Victoria University of Manchester, England from the Manchester Baby (operational in June 1948). Work began in August 1948, and the first version was operat ...
, one of the earliest electronic computers, and Jefferson's lecture formed part of the early debate over the possibility of
artificial intelligence
Artificial intelligence (AI) is intelligence—perceiving, synthesizing, and inferring information—demonstrated by machines, as opposed to intelligence displayed by animals and humans. Example tasks in which this is done include speech re ...
. In 1956 he presented the
Sir Hugh Cairns Memorial Lecture at the
Society of British Neurological Surgeons
The Society of British Neurological Surgeons is a medical association for British neurosurgeons.
History
It was formed in 1926, with Sir Geoffrey Jefferson and Professor Norman Dott. Sir Charles Alfred Ballance was the first President. Other fo ...
.
The
University of Manchester Library
The University of Manchester Library is the library system and information service of the University of Manchester. The main library is on the Oxford Road campus of the university, with its entrance on Burlington Street. There are also ten other ...
holds a collection of papers relating to Jefferson, which includes details of his early research and professional correspondence, more details of which can be foun
here The University of Manchester also holds a significant collection of Jefferson's patient files, numbering approximately 3,500, which are as yet uncatalogued.
A ward at
the Walton Centre is named in his honour.
In April 2021, a partnership between the Manchester Centre for Clinical Neurosciences (part of the Northern Care Alliance NHS Foundation Trust), The University of Manchester and the Manchester Academic Health Science Centre opened a new centre for discovery science and experimental medicine to rapidly translate research into healthcare benefit. The Centre develops new treatments and interventions to improve outcomes and transform the lives of patients with neurological disease and was name
Geoffrey Jefferson Brain Research Centrein his honour.
Sources
*''So That Was Life: A Biography of Sir Geoffrey Jefferson, Master of the Neurosciences and Man of Letters'', Peter H. Schurr,
Royal Society of Medicine Press
The Royal Society of Medicine (RSM) is a medical society in the United Kingdom, headquartered in London.
History
The Society was established in 1805 as Medical and Chirurgical Society of London, meeting in two rooms in barristers’ chambers ...
, 1997.
References
External links
Sir Geoffrey Jefferson, MD biography from ''The Society Of Neurological Surgeons''
biography from ''
Who Named It?
''Whonamedit?'' is an online English-language dictionary of medical eponyms and the people associated with their identification. Though it is a dictionary, many eponyms and persons are presented in extensive articles with comprehensive bibliograph ...
''
Articles relating to Geoffrey Jefferson from Unbound
MEDLINE
MEDLINE (Medical Literature Analysis and Retrieval System Online, or MEDLARS Online) is a bibliographic database of life sciences and biomedical information. It includes bibliographic information for articles from academic journals covering medic ...
Sir Geoffrey Jefferson's Papersare held by the
University of Manchester Library
The University of Manchester Library is the library system and information service of the University of Manchester. The main library is on the Oxford Road campus of the university, with its entrance on Burlington Street. There are also ten other ...
.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jefferson, Geoffrey
1886 births
1961 deaths
People from Stockton-on-Tees
British neurologists
British surgeons
Academics of the Victoria University of Manchester
Fellows of the Royal Society
Knights Bachelor
Commanders of the Order of the British Empire
20th-century surgeons
Manchester Literary and Philosophical Society