John Belisario (1820-1900) was an Australian dental surgeon who was a pioneer in the use of anaesthesia in dentistry.

Early life

Born in

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 b ...

of Spanish ancestry to a slaveholding family, Belisario was a frail child who was sent to his uncle's plantation in the

West Indies The West Indies is a subregion of North America, surrounded by the North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea that includes 13 independent island countries and 18 dependencies and other territories in three major archipelagos: the Greater A ...

to improve his health. He returned to England and served an

apprenticeship Apprenticeship is a system for training a new generation of practitioners of a Tradesman, trade or profession with on-the-job training and often some accompanying study (classroom work and reading). Apprenticeships can also enable practitioners ...

at St Thomas's Hospital in

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 ...

but, having developed a preference for warmer climes, he decided to move to

Sydney, Australia Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and List of cities in Oceania by population, Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metro ...

in 1841.

Career

In June 1847 Belisario used

ether In organic chemistry, ethers are a class of compounds that contain an ether group—an oxygen atom connected to two alkyl or aryl groups. They have the general formula , where R and R′ represent the alkyl or aryl groups. Ethers can again be c ...

to anaesthetise a patient; he is believed to be the first person in Australia to do so. An account of Belisario's use of ether was reported in ''

The Sydney Morning Herald ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' (''SMH'') is a daily compact newspaper published in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, and owned by Nine. Founded in 1831 as the ''Sydney Herald'', the ''Herald'' is the oldest continuously published newspaper ...

'' on 16 June 1847. In an advertisement in the same year, Belisario announced that he was able, with the use of "ethereal inhalation, to perform the most difficult operations in dental surgery, with perfect freedom from pain". Being a pioneer in the use of anaesthesia in dentistry brought him substantial fame. In 1854 he was awarded an

honorary doctorate An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or ''ad hon ...

from the Baltimore College of Dental Surgery. He was a corresponding member of the

Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia The Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University, formerly the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, is the oldest natural science research institution and museum in the Americas. It was founded in 1812, by many of the leading natura ...

, the

Odontological Society of London The Royal Dental Hospital was a dental hospital in Leicester Square, London, which operated from 1858 until 1985. In 1859, it opened the London School of Dental Surgery, later renamed to the Royal Dental Hospital of London School of Dental Surge ...

, and the American Academy of Dental Surgery.

Personal life

Belisario met Mary Longfield of Cork on the voyage to Australia in 1841. They were married on 2 January 1843 at St Peter's Church of England, Campbelltown. Mary died, aged 24, on 31 May 1849. He then married Isabella Helen, daughter of Dr Ramsay of Dobroyd. Belisario died on 17 June 1900. He was survived by Isabella, three children of his first marriage, and two of the second marriage.

Early life

Career

Personal life

References

Further reading