Jean Hamburger (15 July 1909 – 1 February 1992) was a French physician, surgeon and essayist. He is particularly known for his contribution to nephrology, and for having performed the first

renal transplantation Kidney transplant or renal transplant is the organ transplant of a kidney into a patient with end-stage kidney disease (ESRD). Kidney transplant is typically classified as deceased-donor (formerly known as cadaveric) or living-donor transplantat ...

in France in 1952.

Biography

Hamburger was born to a Jewish family in Paris. Together with René Kuss, Hamburger defined the precise methods and rules for conducting renal transplantation surgery and is attributed with founding the medical discipline of

nephrology Nephrology (from Greek'' nephros'' "kidney", combined with the suffix ''-logy'', "the study of") is a specialty of adult internal medicine and pediatric medicine that concerns the study of the kidneys, specifically normal kidney function (ren ...

. In 1952, at

Necker Hospital Necker may refer to: * Necker (surname) * ''Necker'' (ship), several ships * Neckerchief, cloth worn round the neck * Necker cube, optical illusion * Necker Island (Hawaii) * Necker Island (British Virgin Islands) * Necker–Enfants Malades Hospi ...

in Paris, he performed the first successful

renal transplant Kidney transplant or renal transplant is the organ transplant of a kidney into a patient with end-stage kidney disease (ESRD). Kidney transplant is typically classified as deceased-donor (formerly known as cadaveric) or living-donor transplantati ...

surgery in France, on a 16-year-old carpenter, Marius Renard who damaged his only kidney when he fell off scaffolding, using a kidney donated by the subject's mother. The organ failed, but the rejection was staved off for three weeks, a record at the time. In 1955, he created the very first artificial kidney. Hamburger is credited with major breakthroughs in renal transplants: first prolonged success in 1953, first unqualified success between twins in 1959 and non-twins in 1962. He also authored basic research on the immunological basis of kidney disease, graft immunology and

auto-immune In immunology, autoimmunity is the system of immune responses of an organism against its own healthy cells, tissues and other normal body constituents. Any disease resulting from this type of immune response is termed an "autoimmune disease". P ...

diseases.

Personal life

Hamburger married concert pianist Annette Haas and had 3 children -

Michel Michel may refer to: * Michel (name), a given name or surname of French origin (and list of people with the name) * Míchel (nickname), a nickname (a list of people with the nickname, mainly Spanish footballers) * Míchel (footballer, born 1963), ...

, Bernard and Françoise. His son Michel was the well-known French singer-songwriter,

Michel Berger Michel Berger (born Michel Jean Hamburger; 28 November 1947 – 2 August 1992) was a French singer and songwriter. He was a leading figure of France's pop music scene for two decades as a singer; as a songwriter, he was active for such artists ...

. His grandson Raphael Hamburger is a French music supervisor. In the 1950s, Hamburger contracted a lung infection which weakened him severely. He died on 1 February 1992 in Paris. Just six months later, on 2 August 1992, his son Michel Berger died suddenly of a massive heart attack.

Published works

*1972 ''La Puissance et la Fragilité'' (Flammarion) *1975 ''Dictionnaire de médecine'', préface et direction (Flammarion) *1976 ''L’Homme et les Hommes'' (Flammarion) *1979 ''Demain, les autres'' (Flammarion) *1981 ''Un jour, un homme...'' (Flammarion) *1982 ''Introduction au langage de la médecine'' (Flammarion) *1983 ''Le journal d’Harvey'' (Flammarion) *1984 ''La Raison et la Passion'' (Le Seuil) *1985 ''Le Dieu foudroyé'' (Flammarion) *1986 ''Le Miel et la Ciguë'' (Le Seuil) *1988 ''Monsieur Littré'' (Flammarion) *1988 ''La plus belle aventure du monde'' (Gallimard) *1988 ''Zouchy et quelques autres histoires'' (Flammarion) *1989 ''Dictionnaire promenade'' (Le Seuil) *1990 ''La Puissance et la Fragilité. Vingt ans après'' (Flammarion) *1990 ''Le Livre de l’aventure humaine'' (Gallimard) *1991 ''Les Belles Imprudences, Réflexion sur la condition humaine'' (Odile Jacob)

Honours and awards

He was elected to life membership to Seat 4 of the

Académie française An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary education, secondary or tertiary education, tertiary higher education, higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membershi ...

on 18 April 1985, succeeding

Pierre Emmanuel Noël Mathieu (3 May 1916, Gan, Pyrénées-Atlantiques – 22 September 1984, Paris) better known under his pseudonym Pierre Emmanuel, was a French poet of Christian inspiration. Biography He was the third member elected to occupy seat 4 of the ...

, in an official ceremony which took place on 16 January 1986. Upon his death, Cardinal

Albert Decourtray Albert Florent Augustin Decourtray S.T.D. (9 April 1923 – 16 September 1994) was a French Catholic Cardinal and Archbishop of Lyon. Biography Early life He was born in the hamlet of L'Amiteuse near Lille, France. He entered the minor seminar ...

was elected to fill his seat on 1 July 1993. *Member of the

Académie Nationale de Médecine Situated at 16 Rue Bonaparte in the 6th arrondissement of Paris, the Académie nationale de médecine (National Academy of Medicine) was created in 1820 by King Louis XVIII at the urging of baron Antoine Portal. At its inception, the instituti ...

*Grand officier de la

Légion d'honneur The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon ...

*Grand officier de l'

ordre national du Mérite The Ordre national du Mérite (; en, National Order of Merit) is a French order of merit with membership awarded by the President of the French Republic, founded on 3 December 1963 by President Charles de Gaulle. The reason for the order's esta ...

*Commandeur des Arts et des Lettres

External links

Académie française biographyRFI Musique
– biography of Michel Berger

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hamburger, Jean 1909 births 1992 deaths Physicians from Paris French nephrologists French medical writers French Resistance members Commandeurs of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres Grand Officiers of the Légion d'honneur Grand Officers of the Ordre national du Mérite Members of the Académie Française Members of the French Academy of Sciences Lycée Carnot alumni University of Paris alumni Jewish physicians 20th-century French Jews French transplant surgeons 20th-century French physicians