Harry Medovy, OC (October 22, 1904 – October 10, 1995) was a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

pediatrician Pediatrics ( also spelled ''paediatrics'' or ''pædiatrics'') is the branch of medicine that involves the medical care of infants, children, adolescents, and young adults. In the United Kingdom, paediatrics covers many of their youth until the ...

and academic. Born in the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...

, his parents moved to

Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the province of Manitoba in Canada. It is centred on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, near the longitudinal centre of North America. , Winnipeg had a city population of 749,6 ...

Manitoba Manitoba ( ) is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada at the Centre of Canada, longitudinal centre of the country. It is Canada's Population of Canada by province and territory, fifth-most populous province, with a population o ...

when Medovy was one to escape persecution against Jews. He studied at the

University of Manitoba The University of Manitoba (U of M, UManitoba, or UM) is a Canadian public research university in the province of Manitoba.Royal Canadian Army Medical Corps The Royal Canadian Army Medical Corps (RCAMC) was an administrative corps of the Canadian Army. The Militia Medical Service was established in 1898. It consisted of an Army Medical Service (officers) and an Army Medical Corps (other ranks). ...

. In 1932, he joined the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Manitoba and was department head from 1954 to 1970. In 1954, he was appointed head of the Department of Pediatrics and Pediatrician-in-Chief of the Children's Hospital of Winnipeg. He was active in preventing children from smoking, in making people aware of the risks from children poisoning themselves with household products, in advocating the addition of vitamins C and D to milk, and warning people of the dangers of nitrates in shallow wells. He was also in charge of rapidly spreading the newly created Polio Vaccine to children throughout Winnipeg. He was one of the first doctors to recommend putting fluoride in the city's water, greatly improving the health of teeth for people throughout Winnipeg. In 1979, his book ''A vision fulfilled: the story of the Children's Hospital of Winnipeg 1909-1973'' was published. In 1990, he was made an Officer of the

Order of Canada The Order of Canada (french: Ordre du Canada; abbreviated as OC) is a Canadian state order and the second-highest honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit. To coincide with the ...

. In 1975, he received an honorary Doctor of Science degree from the University of Manitoba. In 1980, he was awarded the

Canadian Paediatric Society The Canadian Paediatric Society (CPS) is a national association of paediatricians. As a voluntary professional association, the CPS represents more than 3,000 paediatricians, paediatric subspecialists, paediatric residents, and other people wh ...

's Alan Ross Award, "recogniz nglifelong excellence in the fields of paediatric research, education, healthcare and advocacy". He died in Winnipeg in 1995.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Medovy, Harry 1904 births 1995 deaths Canadian Jews Canadian people of Russian-Jewish descent Officers of the Order of Canada Canadian pediatricians People from Winnipeg Jews from the Russian Empire Emigrants from the Russian Empire to Canada University of Manitoba alumni Academic staff of the University of Manitoba 20th-century Canadian physicians