John Collins Warren (May 4, 1842 – November 3, 1927) was an American

surgeon In modern medicine, a surgeon is a medical professional who performs surgery. Although there are different traditions in different times and places, a modern surgeon usually is also a licensed physician or received the same medical training as ...

and president of the American Surgical Association.

Early life and education

Warren was born in Boston, Massachusetts, on May 4, 1842 to Dr.

Jonathan Mason Warren Jonathan Mason Warren (February 5, 1811August 19, 1867) was a prominent Boston physician, believed to have been the first to administer anesthesia to a child during surgery. He was the son of John Collins Warren. Warren received a medical degree ...

and Annie Crowninshield.Johnson, Rossiter, ed. ''Twentieth Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans. Vol. X.'' Boston, MA, USA: The Biographical Society, 1904. He was the grandson of famed

John Collins Warren, Sr. and the

Secretary of the Navy The secretary of the Navy (or SECNAV) is a statutory officer () and the head (chief executive officer) of the Department of the Navy, a military department (component organization) within the United States Department of Defense. By law, the se ...

, Benjamin Williams Crowninshield, and also the great-grandson of surgeon

John Warren John Warren may refer to: Medicine * John Warren (surgeon) (1753–1815), American surgeon during the Revolutionary War * John Collins Warren (1778–1856), American surgeon * John Collins Warren Jr. (1842–1927), American surgeon, son of John C ...

. He was educated at

Boston Latin School The Boston Latin School is a public exam school in Boston, Massachusetts. It was established on April 23, 1635, making it both the oldest public school in the British America and the oldest existing school in the United States. Its curriculum f ...

and at a private school run by Epes Sargent Dixwell, that was also attended by future Supreme Court Justice

Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. (March 8, 1841 – March 6, 1935) was an American jurist and legal scholar who served as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1902 to 1932.Holmes was Acting Chief Justice of the Un ...

He graduated from

Harvard College Harvard College is the undergraduate college of Harvard University, an Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636, Harvard College is the original school of Harvard University, the oldest institution of higher lea ...

(1863) and from

Harvard Medical School Harvard Medical School (HMS) is the graduate medical school of Harvard University and is located in the Longwood Medical Area of Boston, Massachusetts. Founded in 1782, HMS is one of the oldest medical schools in the United States and is consi ...

(1866). Warren then continued his medical studies abroad at the Imperial Hospital 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 ...

, and at other hospitals in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

and

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

Medical career

Abdominal operation by John Collins Warren, Jr

In 1869, Warren returned to Boston and opened a private practice. Warren held several positions at Harvard Medical School. He was instructor in surgery at Harvard, 1871–1882; assistant professor of surgery, 1882–1887; associate professor of surgery, 1887–1893; and professor of surgery from 1893 until his retirement in 1907. Dr. Warren's principal area of expertise was the surgical treatment of tumors, particularly in the treatment of breast cancer. He developed a special knife for the dissection of breast tumors and had it produced by Codman and Shurtleff, makers of surgical tools. In addition to his work with Harvard medical school, Warren was employed by

Massachusetts General Hospital Massachusetts General Hospital (Mass General or MGH) is the original and largest teaching hospital of Harvard Medical School located in the West End neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts. It is the third oldest general hospital in the United Stat ...

as a surgeon from 1876. In 1908, after his retirement, he was made an overseer of Harvard University until his death on November 3, 1927. During his life Warren was honored both at home and abroad for his work. He was a fellow of the

American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (abbreviation: AAA&S) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, and ...

(1900), and an honorary fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons (1900). The honorary degree of LL.D. was conferred on him by Jefferson College (1895). From 1873 to 1881 he was editor of the ''Boston Medical and Surgical Journal'' and in 1896 served as president of the American Surgical Association. He published ''Surgical Pathology and Therapeutics'' (1895); ''The Anatomy and Development of Rodent Ulcer''; ''Pathology of Carbuncle and Columnal Adipose''; ''The Healing of Arteries after Ligature in Men and Animals;'' and edited the ''International Textbook of Surgery'' (1900).

Family

Warren was married, May 27, 1873, to fellow

Brahmin Brahmin (; sa, ब्राह्मण, brāhmaṇa) is a varna as well as a caste within Hindu society. The Brahmins are designated as the priestly class as they serve as priests (purohit, pandit, or pujari) and religious teachers (guru ...

Amy Shaw of Boston, the daughter of Gardner Howland Shaw and Cora Lyman, and niece of the scientist and congressman

Theodore Lyman III Theodore Lyman III (August 23, 1833 – September 9, 1897) was a natural scientist, military staff officer during the American Civil War, and United States Representative from Massachusetts. Biography Lyman was born in Waltham, Massachusetts o ...

. They were the parents of two sons, John Warren (b. 1874) and Joseph Warren (b. 1876).Ancestry.com. ''U.S. Passport Applications, 1795–1925 atabase on-line'' Provo, UT, USA: The Generations Network, Inc., 2007.

Notes and references

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Warren, John Collins Jr. 1842 births 1927 deaths American medical writers American male non-fiction writers American surgeons Harvard Medical School alumni Harvard Medical School faculty Physicians from Boston American Surgical Association members Crowninshield family Harvard College alumni Boston Latin School alumni