George Emerson Brewer (July 28, 1861 – December 24, 1939) was an American surgeon and

urologist Urology (from Greek οὖρον ''ouron'' "urine" and '' -logia'' "study of"), also known as genitourinary surgery, is the branch of medicine that focuses on surgical and medical diseases of the urinary-tract system and the reproductive org ...

known for his contributions to the eponymous

Brewer infarcts Brewer infarcts are a histological finding found in renal disease. They can indicate pyelonephritis Pyelonephritis is inflammation of the kidney, typically due to a bacterial infection. Symptoms most often include fever and flank tenderness. Ot ...

Biography

George Brewer was born on 28 July 1861 in

Westfield, New York Westfield is a town in the western part of Chautauqua County, New York, United States. The population was 4,513 at the 2020 census. Westfield is also the name of a village within the town, containing 65% of the town's population. This unique to ...

, the son of physician Francis B. Brewer. He graduated from

Hamilton College Hamilton College is a private liberal arts college in Clinton, Oneida County, New York. It was founded as Hamilton-Oneida Academy in 1793 and was chartered as Hamilton College in 1812 in honor of inaugural trustee Alexander Hamilton, following ...

in 1881 and studied medicine at the

University at Buffalo The State University of New York at Buffalo, commonly called the University at Buffalo (UB) and sometimes called SUNY Buffalo, is a public research university with campuses in Buffalo and Amherst, New York. The university was founded in 18 ...

and the College of Medicine at Harvard, graduating with a

M.D. Doctor of Medicine (abbreviated M.D., from the Latin ''Medicinae Doctor'') is a medical degree, the meaning of which varies between different jurisdictions. In the United States, and some other countries, the M.D. denotes a professional degree. ...

degree in 1885. He worked at the

Columbia Hospital for Women The Columbia Hospital for Women was a hospital located in Washington, D.C. Originally opening in 1866 as a health-care facility for wives and widows of Civil War soldiers, it moved in 1870 from Thomas Circle to its later location at 2425 L Street, ...

and

Johns Hopkins Hospital The Johns Hopkins Hospital (JHH) is the teaching hospital and biomedical research facility of the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, located in Baltimore, Maryland, U.S. It was founded in 1889 using money from a bequest of over $7 million (1873 m ...

before starting work in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

in 1887. He also began teaching at the

Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons (VP&S) is the graduate medical school of Columbia University, located at the Columbia University Irving Medical Center in the Washington Heights neighborhood of Manhattan. Founded ...

. He became attending surgeon at the

Roosevelt Roosevelt may refer to: *Theodore Roosevelt (1858–1919), 26th U.S. president * Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882–1945), 32nd U.S. president Businesses and organisations * Roosevelt Hotel (disambiguation) * Roosevelt & Son, a merchant bank * Rooseve ...

and

Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their nam ...

Hospitals in New York. In 1893 he married Effie Leighton Brown of

Chester, Pennsylvania Chester is a city in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, United States. Located within the Philadelphia Metropolitan Area, it is the only city in Delaware County and had a population of 32,605 as of the 2020 census. Incorporated in 1682, Chester i ...

. He was the founder, and first president, of the Society of Clinical Surgery, and was president of the American Surgical Association. He was president of the Clinical Congress of Surgeons of North America, and became surgical director of the Presbyterian Hospital in 1913.Barry G. Firkin, Judith A. Whitworth. ''Dictionary of Medical Eponyms.'' Informa Health Care, 2001, page 44. . He was the author of ''Textbook on Surgery'' and ''Surgical Diagnosis''. Hamilton College awarded him the degree of

LL.D. Legum Doctor (Latin: “teacher of the laws”) (LL.D.) or, in English, Doctor of Laws, is a doctorate-level academic degree in law or an honorary degree, depending on the jurisdiction. The double “L” in the abbreviation refers to the early ...

in 1916, and Columbia University awarded him Sc.D. (hon) in 1929. He became an honorary fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland in 1920. In 1917 he, along with 22 other doctors and 65 nurses from the Presbyterian Base Unit of the American Red Cross, travelled to France on active duty in the

First World War 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 ...

. Brewer became the Director of Base Hospital 2 in Etretat. In August 1917 he was part of an American surgical team, which also included

Harvey Cushing Harvey Williams Cushing (April 8, 1869 – October 7, 1939) was an American neurosurgeon, pathologist, writer, and draftsman. A pioneer of brain surgery, he was the first exclusive neurosurgeon and the first person to describe Cushing's disease. ...

, who tried to save Lt. Edward Revere Osler, the only son of

Sir William Osler Sir William Osler, 1st Baronet, (; July 12, 1849 – December 29, 1919) was a Canadian physician and one of the "Big Four" founding professors of Johns Hopkins Hospital. Osler created the first residency program for specialty training of phys ...

, who was wounded at the 3rd

Battle of Ypres The Battle of Ypres was a series of engagements during the First World War, near the Belgian city of Ypres, between the German and the Allied armies (Belgian, French, British Expeditionary Force and Canadian Expeditionary Force). During the five ...

. In 1918 he became Consulting Surgeon to the 42nd Division of the American Expeditionary Force, and later became Chief Consultant to the First Army.George Emerson Brewer
, Columbia University Augustus C. Long Health Sciences Library. Accessed on 26 March 2009. He retired in 1928, and travelled to

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

to study

anthropology Anthropology is the scientific study of humanity, concerned with human behavior, human biology, cultures, societies, and linguistics, in both the present and past, including past human species. Social anthropology studies patterns of be ...

, and was made Research Associate of Somatic Anthropology at the American Museum of Natural History on his return to the United States. He was diagnosed with

bladder cancer Bladder cancer is any of several types of cancer arising from the tissues of the urinary bladder. Symptoms include blood in the urine, pain with urination, and low back pain. It is caused when epithelial cells that line the bladder become ma ...

in 1937, which was treated by radiotherapy for two years; he deteriorated in December 1939, and died on 24 December 1939 at the Presbyterian Hospital in New York.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Brewer, George Emerson 1861 births 1939 deaths American surgeons American urologists Hamilton College (New York) alumni University at Buffalo alumni Harvard Medical School alumni Johns Hopkins Hospital physicians People from Westfield, New York People associated with the American Museum of Natural History Fellows of the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland United States Army personnel of World War I