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 estimat ...

, 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 ...

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 ...

, 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 ...

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 to ...

. On the outbreak of

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

, 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 transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-ei ...

, 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 ...

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 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 natio ...

, becoming the UK's first professor of neurosurgery at the

University of Manchester The University of Manchester is a public university, public research university in Manchester, England. The main campus is south of Manchester city centre, Manchester City Centre on Wilmslow Road, Oxford Road. The university owns and operates majo ...

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.

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. T ...

, 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 oper ...

, 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 ...

. 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 f ...

. 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 Centre
in 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 bibliograp ...

''
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 med ...

Sir Geoffrey Jefferson's Papers
are held by the

. {{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