Leila Alice Denmark (née Daughtry; February 1, 1898 – April 1, 2012) was an American

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 ...

Atlanta, Georgia Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

. She was the world's oldest practicing pediatrician until her retirement in May 2001 at the age of 103, after 73 years. She was a

supercentenarian A supercentenarian (sometimes hyphenated as super-centenarian) is a person who has reached the age of 110 years. This age is achieved by about one in 1,000 centenarians. Supercentenarians typically live a life free of major age-related diseases u ...

, living to the age of 114 years, 60 days. A co-developer of the

pertussis Whooping cough, also known as pertussis or the 100-day cough, is a highly contagious bacterial disease. Initial symptoms are usually similar to those of the common cold with a runny nose, fever, and mild cough, but these are followed by two or ...

(whooping cough)

vaccine A vaccine is a biological Dosage form, preparation that provides active acquired immunity to a particular infectious disease, infectious or cancer, malignant disease. The safety and effectiveness of vaccines has been widely studied and verifie ...

, Denmark was one of the few supercentenarians in history to gain prominence in life for reasons other than

longevity The word " longevity" is sometimes used as a synonym for "life expectancy" in demography. However, the term ''longevity'' is sometimes meant to refer only to especially long-lived members of a population, whereas ''life expectancy'' is always d ...

. She started treating children in 1928. By the time of her retirement, Denmark was treating grandchildren and great-grandchildren of her first patients.

Early life and education

Born in

Portal, Georgia Portal is a town in Bulloch County, Georgia, United States. The population was 638 at the 2010 census. History The Georgia General Assembly incorporated Portal as a town in 1914. It is unknown why the name "Portal" was applied to this place. Geo ...

, Leila Alice Daughtry was the third of 12 children of Elerbee and Alice Cornelia (Hendricks) Daughtry. Her paternal uncle was

Missouri Missouri is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee ...

Congressman

James Alexander Daugherty James Alexander Daugherty (August 30, 1847 – January 26, 1920) was an American politician who was a Democratic U.S. Representative and state judge from southwest Missouri. Biography Daugherty was born in Athens, McMinn County, Tennessee, Au ...

. She was the older sister of Clyde Daughtry (1910–85), who is known for shooting the only known authentic color footage of the

attack on Pearl Harbor The attack on Pearl HarborAlso known as the Battle of Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike by the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service upon the United States against the naval base at Pearl Harbor in Honolulu, Territory of Hawaii, j ...

. She attended

Tift College Tift College was a private liberal arts women's college located in Forsyth, Georgia. Founded in 1849, the college ceased operations in 1987, after being merged with Mercer University in nearby Macon, Georgia. The campus facilities have been ada ...

Forsyth, Georgia Forsyth is a city in and the county seat of Monroe County, Georgia, United States.Forsyth
Georgia.gov The populat ...

, where she trained to be a teacher. She studied chemistry and physics at

Mercer University Mercer University is a private research university with its main campus in Macon, Georgia. Founded in 1833 as Mercer Institute and gaining university status in 1837, it is the oldest private university in the state and enrolls more than 9,000 ...

in Macon. She decided to attend

medical school A medical school is a tertiary educational institution, or part of such an institution, that teaches medicine, and awards a professional degree for physicians. Such medical degrees include the Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS, M ...

when her fiancé John Eustace Denmark (1899–1990) was posted to

Java Java (; id, Jawa, ; jv, ꦗꦮ; su, ) is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea to the north. With a population of 151.6 million people, Java is the world's List ...

Dutch Indies The Dutch East Indies, also known as the Netherlands East Indies ( nl, Nederlands(ch)-Indië; ), was a Dutch colony consisting of what is now Indonesia. It was formed from the nationalised trading posts of the Dutch East India Company, which ...

, by the

United States Department of State The United States Department of State (DOS), or State Department, is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy and relations. Equivalent to the ministry of foreign affairs of other n ...

, as no wives were allowed to accompany their spouses to that post. Daughtry was the only woman in the 1928 graduating class of the

Medical College of Georgia The Medical College of Georgia (often referred to as MCG) is the flagship medical school of the University System of Georgia, the state's only public medical school, and one of the top 10 largest medical schools in the United States. Established ...

in Augusta, and the third woman ever to graduate from the school with a medical degree. John Eustace Denmark had returned from his overseas assignment and they married on June 11, 1928, soon after she received her medical diploma. They had one child together, Mary, on November 19, 1930. Leila Denmark was a registered

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...

and a practicing

Baptist Baptists form a major branch of Protestantism distinguished by baptizing professing Christian believers only (believer's baptism), and doing so by complete immersion. Baptist churches also generally subscribe to the doctrines of soul compete ...

Medical career

Denmark accepted a

residency Residency may refer to: * Domicile (law), the act of establishing or maintaining a residence in a given place ** Permanent residency, indefinite residence within a country despite not having citizenship * Residency (medicine), a stage of postgrad ...

Grady Memorial Hospital Grady Memorial Hospital, frequently referred to as Grady Hospital or simply Grady, is the public hospital for the city of Atlanta. It is the tenth-largest public hospital in the United States, and one of the busiest Level I trauma centers in th ...

, and moved to the Virginia-Highland neighborhood with her husband.Lola Carlisle, DR. LEILA DENMARK — 114 YEARS OF MEMORIES: Pediatrician To Virginia-Highland’s “Little Angels”
''The Virginia-Highland Voice'' (online edition), 6 April 2012 Denmark was the first physician on staff when Henrietta Egleston Hospital, a

pediatric hospital A children's hospital is a hospital that offers its services exclusively to infants, children, adolescents, and young adults. In certain special cases, they may also treat adults. The number of children's hospitals proliferated in the 20th ...

, opened on the

Emory University Emory University is a private research university in Atlanta, Georgia. Founded in 1836 as "Emory College" by the Methodist Episcopal Church and named in honor of Methodist bishop John Emory, Emory is the second-oldest private institution of ...

campus. She also developed a private practice, seeing patients in a clinic at her home. Denmark devoted a substantial amount of her professional time to charity. By 1935, she was a listed staff member at the Presbyterian Church Baby Clinic in Atlanta, while serving at Grady and maintaining a private practice. She conducted research from the 1930s, and especially from 1933 to 1944 in the diagnosis, treatment, and immunization of whooping cough, then frequently fatal to children. Denmark is credited as co-developer of the

(whooping cough)

, with support from

Eli Lilly and Company Eli Lilly and Company is an American pharmaceutical company headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana, with offices in 18 countries. Its products are sold in approximately 125 countries. The company was founded in 1876 by, and named after, Colonel ...

, and Emory University."Leila Denmark"
''New Georgia Encyclopedia'' For this, she was awarded the Fisher Prize in 1935. Denmark discussed her views on child-rearing in her book ''Every Child Should Have a Chance'' (1971). She was among the first doctors to object to adults

smoking cigarettes Tobacco smoking is the practice of burning tobacco and ingesting the resulting tobacco smoke, smoke. The smoke may be inhaled, as is done with cigarettes, or simply released from the mouth, as is generally done with tobacco pipes, pipes and cig ...

around children, and to

pregnant women Pregnancy is the time during which one or more offspring develops ( gestates) inside a woman's uterus (womb). A multiple pregnancy involves more than one offspring, such as with twins. Pregnancy usually occurs by sexual intercourse, but can ...

using drugs. She believed that drinking

cow's milk Milk is a white liquid food produced by the mammary glands of mammals. It is the primary source of nutrition for young mammals (including breastfed human infants) before they are able to digest solid food. Immune factors and immune-modulati ...

is harmful. She also recommended that children and adults should eat fresh fruit rather than drinking

fruit juices Juice is a drink made from the extraction or pressing of the natural liquid contained in fruit and vegetables. It can also refer to liquids that are flavored with concentrate or other biological food sources, such as meat or seafood, such as ...

, and drink only

water Water (chemical formula ) is an inorganic, transparent, tasteless, odorless, and nearly colorless chemical substance, which is the main constituent of Earth's hydrosphere and the fluids of all known living organisms (in which it acts as a ...

. On March 9, 2000, the

Georgia General Assembly The Georgia General Assembly is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is bicameral, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. Each of the General Assembly's 236 members serve two-year terms and are directly ...

honored Denmark in a resolution.

Later life

She wrote a second book, with Madia Bowman, titled ''Dr. Denmark Said It!: Advice for Mothers from America's Most Experienced Pediatrician'' written in 2002. Denmark later retired in 2002 because her eyesight was getting too weak for more involved tasks, such as examining children's throats. Denmark lived independently in her

Cumming, Georgia Cumming is a city in Forsyth County, Georgia, United States, and the sole incorporated area in the county. It is a suburban city, and part of the Atlanta metropolitan area. In the 2020 census, the population is 7,318, up from 5,430 in 2010. Su ...

home until age 106. She moved to

Athens, Georgia Athens, officially Athens–Clarke County, is a consolidated city-county and college town in the U.S. state of Georgia. Athens lies about northeast of downtown Atlanta, and is a satellite city of the capital. The University of Georgia, the sta ...

to live with her only child, Mary (Denmark) Hutcherson. On February 1, 2008, Denmark celebrated her 110th birthday, becoming a

. According to Hutcherson, Denmark's health deteriorated severely in the autumn of 2008 but later improved as she neared her 111th birthday. She died in 2012 at the age of 114 and 2 months. She was one of the few supercentenarians notable for something other than their longevity. A new Forsyth County, Georgia high school constructed 2016-2018 is located near her former home and is named after Dr. Denmark.

Awards and honors

* 1935, the Fisher Award for "outstanding research in diagnosis, treatment, and immunization of whooping cough for her work on the vaccine" * 1953, named Atlanta's Woman of the Year * 1970, Distinguished Service Citation from Tift College as a "devout humanitarian who has invested her life in pediatric services to all families without respect to economic status, race, or national origin…. Devoted Humanitarian, Doctor par excellence, Generous Benefactor." * 1980, Distinguished Alumni Award, Tift College * 1980, Community Service Award, sponsored by television station WXIA, Atlanta, Georgia * 1981, Book of Golden deeds Award, Buckhead Exchange Club, Atlanta * 1982, Citation, Citizens of Portal, Georgia, jointly with her husband, John Eustace Denmark, for Outstanding Achievement and Service * 1989, Shining Light Award, Atlanta Gas Light Company * 1998, Lifetime Achievement Award, ''Atlanta Business Chronicle'' * 2000, Georgia General Assembly passed a resolution honoring her * 2000, Heroes, Saints and Legends Award, Wesley Woods * 2000, Honorary doctorate, Emory University * 2016, a new high school in Forsyth County, Georgia, to be opened in 2018, was named in her memory. * 2019, named to the

Georgia Women of Achievement The Georgia Women of Achievement (GWA) recognizes women natives or residents of the U.S. state of Georgia for their significant achievements or statewide contributions. The concept was first proposed by Rosalynn Carter in 1988. The first induction ...

hall of fame

References

External links