Sir Ludwig Guttmann
(3 July 1899 – 18 March 1980) was a German-British
neurologist
Neurology (from el, νεῦρον (neûron), "string, nerve" and the suffix -logia, "study of") is the branch of medicine dealing with the diagnosis and treatment of all categories of conditions and disease involving the brain, the spinal c ...
who established the
Stoke Mandeville Games
Stoke is a common place name in the United Kingdom.
Stoke may refer to:
Places United Kingdom
The largest city called Stoke is Stoke-on-Trent in Staffordshire. See below.
Berkshire
* Stoke Row, Berkshire
Bristol
* Stoke Bishop
* Stok ...
, the sporting event for people with disabilities (PWD) that evolved in England into the
Paralympic Games
The Paralympic Games or Paralympics, also known as the ''Games of the Paralympiad'', is a periodic series of international multisport events involving athletes with a range of physical disabilities, including impaired muscle power and impaire ...
. A
Jewish
Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
doctor who fled
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...
just before the start of the
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, Guttmann was a founding father of organized physical activities for people with
disabilities
Disability is the experience of any condition that makes it more difficult for a person to do certain activities or have equitable access within a given society. Disabilities may be cognitive, developmental, intellectual, mental, physical, se ...
.
Early life
Ludwig Guttmann was born on 3 July 1899 to a
German Jewish
The history of the Jews in Germany goes back at least to the year 321, and continued through the Early Middle Ages (5th to 10th centuries CE) and High Middle Ages (''circa'' 1000–1299 CE) when Jewish immigrants founded the Ashkenazi Jewish ...
family, in the town of Tost,
Upper Silesia
Upper Silesia ( pl, Górny Śląsk; szl, Gůrny Ślůnsk, Gōrny Ślōnsk; cs, Horní Slezsko; german: Oberschlesien; Silesian German: ; la, Silesia Superior) is the southeastern part of the historical and geographical region of Silesia, located ...
, in the former
German Empire
The German Empire (),Herbert Tuttle wrote in September 1881 that the term "Reich" does not literally connote an empire as has been commonly assumed by English-speaking people. The term literally denotes an empire – particularly a hereditary ...
(now
Toszek
Toszek (german: Tost) is a small town in southern Poland. It is situated within Gliwice County in the Silesian Voivodeship (province), and its population was estimated at 3,600 inhabitants in 2019.
History
The beginning of the settlement and fo ...
in southern Poland), the son of Dorothy (née Weissenberg) and Bernard Guttmann, a distiller.
[GRO – Register of Deaths – MAR 1980 19 1000 Aylesbury, Ludwig Guttmann, DoB = 3 July 1899] When Guttmann was three years old, the family moved to the
Silesia
Silesia (, also , ) is a historical region of Central Europe that lies mostly within Poland, with small parts in the Czech Republic and Germany. Its area is approximately , and the population is estimated at around 8,000,000. Silesia is split ...
n city of
Königshütte (today
Chorzów
Chorzów ( ; ; german: link=no, Königshütte ; szl, Chorzōw) is a city in the Silesia region of southern Poland, near Katowice. Chorzów is one of the central cities of the Upper Silesian Metropolitan Union – a metropolis with a population ...
, Poland).
In 1917, while volunteering at an accident hospital in Königshütte, he encountered his first
paraplegic
Paraplegia, or paraparesis, is an impairment in motor or sensory function of the lower extremities. The word comes from Ionic Greek ()
"half-stricken". It is usually caused by spinal cord injury or a congenital condition that affects the neural ...
patient, a
coal miner
Coal mining is the process of resource extraction, extracting coal from the ground. Coal is valued for its Energy value of coal, energy content and since the 1880s has been widely used to generate electricity. Steel and cement industries use c ...
with a
spinal fracture
A spinal fracture, also called a vertebral fracture or a broken back, is a fracture affecting the vertebrae of the spinal column. Most types of spinal fracture confer a significant risk of spinal cord injury. After the immediate trauma, there is ...
who later died of
sepsis
Sepsis, formerly known as septicemia (septicaemia in British English) or blood poisoning, is a life-threatening condition that arises when the body's response to infection causes injury to its own tissues and organs. This initial stage is follo ...
.
That same year, Guttmann passed his
Abitur
''Abitur'' (), often shortened colloquially to ''Abi'', is a qualification granted at the end of secondary education in Germany. It is conferred on students who pass their final exams at the end of ISCED 3, usually after twelve or thirteen year ...
at the
humanistic grammar school in Königshütte before being called up for
military service
Military service is service by an individual or group in an army or other militia, air forces, and naval forces, whether as a chosen job (volunteer) or as a result of an involuntary draft (conscription).
Some nations (e.g., Mexico) require a ...
.
Guttmann started his medical studies in April 1918 at the
University of Breslau
A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, th ...
. He transferred to the
University of Freiburg
The University of Freiburg (colloquially german: Uni Freiburg), officially the Albert Ludwig University of Freiburg (german: Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg), is a public university, public research university located in Freiburg im Breisg ...
in 1919 and received his
Doctorate of Medicine
Doctor of Medicine (abbreviated M.D., from the Latin ''Medicinae Doctor'') is a medical degree, the meaning of which varies between different jurisdictions. In the United States, and some other countries, the M.D. denotes a professional degree. ...
in 1924.
Escape to Britain
By 1933, Guttmann was working in Breslau (now
Wrocław
Wrocław (; german: Breslau, or . ; Silesian German: ''Brassel'') is a city in southwestern Poland and the largest city in the historical region of Silesia. It lies on the banks of the River Oder in the Silesian Lowlands of Central Europe, rou ...
, Poland) as a
neurosurgeon
Neurosurgery or neurological surgery, known in common parlance as brain surgery, is the medical specialty concerned with the surgical treatment of disorders which affect any portion of the nervous system including the brain, spinal cord and peri ...
and lecturing at the university.
He learned from the pioneer of neurosurgery,
Otfrid Foerster
Otfrid Foerster (9 November 1873 – 15 June 1941) was a German neurologist and neurosurgeon, who made innovative contributions to neurology and neurosurgery, such as rhizotomy for the treatment of spasticity, anterolateral cordotomy for pain, ...
, at his research institute. Despite having worked successfully as first assistant to Foerster, Guttmann was expelled from his university appointment and his job in 1933 under the
Nuremberg Laws
The Nuremberg Laws (german: link=no, Nürnberger Gesetze, ) were antisemitic and racist laws that were enacted in Nazi Germany on 15 September 1935, at a special meeting of the Reichstag convened during the annual Nuremberg Rally of th ...
, and his title was changed to "Krankenbehandler" (one who treats the sick). With the arrival of the
Nazis
Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Na ...
in power,
Jews
Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
were banned from practising medicine professionally; Guttmann was assigned to work at the Breslau Jewish Hospital, where he became medical director in 1937.
Following the violent attacks on Jewish people and properties during ''
Kristallnacht
() or the Night of Broken Glass, also called the November pogrom(s) (german: Novemberpogrome, ), was a pogrom against Jews carried out by the Nazi Party's (SA) paramilitary and (SS) paramilitary forces along with some participation from ...
'' on 9 November 1938, Guttmann ordered his staff to admit any patients without question. The following day, he justified his decision on a case-by-case basis with the ''
Gestapo
The (), abbreviated Gestapo (; ), was the official secret police of Nazi Germany and in German-occupied Europe.
The force was created by Hermann Göring in 1933 by combining the various political police agencies of Prussia into one organi ...
''. Out of 64 admissions, 60 patients were saved from arrest and
deportation
Deportation is the expulsion of a person or group of people from a place or country. The term ''expulsion'' is often used as a synonym for deportation, though expulsion is more often used in the context of international law, while deportation ...
to
concentration camps
Internment is the imprisonment of people, commonly in large groups, without charges or intent to file charges. The term is especially used for the confinement "of enemy citizens in wartime or of terrorism suspects". Thus, while it can simply ...
.
In early 1939, Guttmann and his family left Germany because of the Nazi persecution of the Jews. An opportunity for escape had come when the Nazis provided him with a visa and ordered him to travel to
Portugal
Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...
to treat a friend of the Portuguese dictator
António de Oliveira Salazar
António de Oliveira Salazar (, , ; 28 April 1889 – 27 July 1970) was a Portuguese dictator who served as President of the Council of Ministers from 1932 to 1968. Having come to power under the ("National Dictatorship"), he reframed the re ...
. Guttmann was scheduled to return to Germany via London, when the
Council for Assisting Refugee Academics
The Council for At-Risk Academics (CARA) is a charitable British organisation dedicated to assisting academics in immediate danger, those forced into exile, and many who choose to remain in their home countries despite the serious risks they face ...
(CARA) arranged for him to remain in the United Kingdom. He arrived in
Oxford
Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...
, England, on 14 March 1939 with his wife, Else Samuel Guttmann, and their two children: a son, Dennis, and a daughter, Eva, aged six.
CARA negotiated with the British
Home Office on their behalf, and gave Guttmann and his family £250 () to help settle in Oxford.
Guttmann continued his spinal injury research at the Nuffield Department of Neurosurgery in the
Radcliffe Infirmary
The Radcliffe Infirmary was a hospital in central north Oxford, England, located at the southern end of Woodstock Road on the western side, backing onto Walton Street.
History
The initial proposals to build a hospital in Oxford were put forw ...
. For the first few weeks after arrival the family resided in the Master's Lodge of
Balliol College
Balliol College () is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. One of Oxford's oldest colleges, it was founded around 1263 by John I de Balliol, a landowner from Barnard Castle in County Durham, who provided the f ...
(with the Master
Sandie Lindsay) until they moved into a small semi-detached house in
Lonsdale Road.
Both children were offered free places by the headmistress of
Greycotes School
Oxford High School is an independent day school for girls in Oxford, England. It was founded by the Girls' Day School Trust in 1875, making it the city's oldest girls' school.
History
Oxford High School was opened on 3 November 1875, with tw ...
. The family were members of the Oxford Jewish community, and Eva remembers becoming friendly with
Miriam Margolyes
Miriam ( he, מִרְיָם ''Mīryām'', lit. 'Rebellion') is described in the Hebrew Bible as the daughter of Amram and Jochebed, and the older sister of Moses and Aaron. She was a prophetess and first appears in the Book of Exodus.
The Tora ...
, now a famous actress. The Jewish community in Oxford was growing rapidly as a result of the influx of displaced academic Jews from Europe.
With the outbreak of the
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, Guttmann and his family stayed in the home of
Lord Lindsay, CARA Councillor and Master of Balliol College.
Stoke Mandeville and Paralympic Games
In September 1943, the British government asked Guttmann to establish the National Spinal Injuries Centre at
Stoke Mandeville Hospital
Stoke Mandeville Hospital is a large National Health Service (NHS) hospital located on the parish borders of Aylesbury and Stoke Mandeville, Buckinghamshire, England. It is managed by Buckinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust.
It was established i ...
in Buckinghamshire.
The initiative came from the Royal Air Force to make sure the treatment and rehabilitation of pilots with spine injuries, "who often crashed on approach with their bombers damaged".
When the centre opened on 1 February 1944, the United Kingdom's first specialist unit for treating spinal injuries, Guttmann was appointed its director (a position he held until 1966). He believed that sport was an important method of therapy for the rehabilitation of injured military personnel, helping them build up physical strength and self-respect.
Guttmann became a naturalised British citizen in 1945. He organised the first
Stoke Mandeville Games
Stoke is a common place name in the United Kingdom.
Stoke may refer to:
Places United Kingdom
The largest city called Stoke is Stoke-on-Trent in Staffordshire. See below.
Berkshire
* Stoke Row, Berkshire
Bristol
* Stoke Bishop
* Stok ...
for disabled war veterans, which was held at the hospital on 29 July 1948, the same day as the opening of the
London Olympics. All participants had spinal cord injuries and competed in wheelchairs.
In an effort to encourage his patients to take part in national events, Guttmann used the term ''
Paraplegic
Paraplegia, or paraparesis, is an impairment in motor or sensory function of the lower extremities. The word comes from Ionic Greek ()
"half-stricken". It is usually caused by spinal cord injury or a congenital condition that affects the neural ...
Games''. These came to be known as the "
Paralympic Games
The Paralympic Games or Paralympics, also known as the ''Games of the Paralympiad'', is a periodic series of international multisport events involving athletes with a range of physical disabilities, including impaired muscle power and impaire ...
", which grew to include other disabilities.
![Xx1168 - Tony South receives 1968 gold medal - 3b - scan](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/87/Xx1168_-_Tony_South_receives_1968_gold_medal_-_3b_-_scan.jpg)
By 1952, more than 130 international competitors had entered the Stoke Mandeville Games. As the annual event continued to grow, the ethos and efforts by all those involved started to impress the organisers of the
Olympic Games
The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a var ...
and members of the international community. At the 1956 Stoke Mandeville Games, Guttmann was awarded the
Sir Thomas Fearnley Cup by the
International Olympic Committee (IOC) for his meritorious achievement in service to the Olympic movement through the social and human value derived from wheelchair sports.
His vision of an international games, the equivalent of the Olympic Games themselves, was realised in 1960 when the International Stoke Mandeville Games were held alongside the official
1960 Summer Olympics
The 1960 Summer Olympics ( it, Giochi Olimpici estivi del 1960), officially known as the Games of the XVII Olympiad ( it, Giochi della XVII Olimpiade) and commonly known as Rome 1960 ( it, Roma 1960), were an international multi-sport event held ...
in Rome. Known at the time as the 9th Annual International Stoke Mandeville Games, and organised with the support of the World Federation of Ex-servicemen (an International Working Group on Sport for the Disabled), they are now recognised as the first Paralympic Games. (The term "Paralympic Games" was
retroactively applied by the IOC in 1984.)
In 1961, Guttmann founded the British Sports Association for the Disabled, which would later become known as the
English Federation of Disability Sport
The English Federation of Disability Sport (EFDS) inow operating as Activity Alliance Activity Alliance brings our members, partners and disabled people together to make active lives possible. Collectively, the charity continues to challenge percep ...
.
Later life
Guttmann was appointed
Officer of the Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations,
and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...
(OBE) in the
1950 King's Birthday Honours, as "Neurological Surgeon in charge of the Spinal Injuries Centre at the Ministry of Pensions Hospital, Stoke Mandeville".
On 28 June 1957, he was made an Associate Officer of the
Venerable Order of Saint John
The Order of St John, short for Most Venerable Order of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem (french: l'ordre très vénérable de l'Hôpital de Saint-Jean de Jérusalem) and also known as St John International, is a British royal order of ...
.
He was promoted to
Commander of the Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations,
and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...
(CBE) in 1960, and he was
knighted
A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the Christian denomination, church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood ...
by
Queen Elizabeth II
Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. She was queen ...
in 1966.
In 1961, Guttmann founded the International Medical Society of Paraplegia, now the
International Spinal Cord Society
The International Spinal Cord Society (ISCoS) was founded in 1961 as the International Medical Society of Paraplegia. It is an INGO, whose purpose is to study all problems relating to lesions of the spinal cord.
History
The International Medi ...
(ISCoS); he was the inaugural president of the society, a position that he held until 1970. He became the first editor of the journal, ''Paraplegia'' (now named ''Spinal Cord'').
He retired from clinical work in 1966 but continued his involvement with sport.
Guttmann had a heart attack in October 1979, and died on 18 March 1980 at the age of 80.
Legacy
Stoke Mandeville Stadium, the National Centre for Disability Sport in the United Kingdom, was developed by him alongside the hospital.
A specialist
neurorehabilitation
Neurorehabilitation is a complex medical process which aims to aid recovery from a nervous system injury, and to minimize and/or compensate for any functional alterations resulting from it.
Features
In case of a serious disability, such as caused ...
hospital in
Barcelona
Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...
, the ', is named in his honour. The founder of this, the first rehabilitation clinic for paraplegics in Spain, was Guillermo González Gilbey, who himself had paraplegia and made great progress in England with Ludwig Guttmann.
In June 2012, a life-sized cast-bronze statue of Guttmann was unveiled at Stoke Mandeville Stadium as part of the run-up to the London
2012 Summer Paralympics
The 2012 Summer Paralympics, branded as the London 2012 Paralympic Games, were an international multi-sport parasports event held from 29 August to 9 September 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. They were the 14th Summer Paralympic Gam ...
and
Olympic Games
The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a var ...
. After the Games, it was moved to its permanent home at the National Spinal Injuries Centre. Guttmann's daughter, Eva Loeffler, was appointed the mayor of the London 2012 Paralympic Games athletes' village.
In August 2012, the BBC broadcast ''
The Best of Men
''The Best of Men'' is a factually based 2012 television film which describes the pioneering work of Dr Ludwig Guttmann with paraplegic patients at Stoke Mandeville Hospital, which led to the foundation of the Paralympic Games. It stars Eddie M ...
'', a TV film about Guttmann's work at Stoke Mandeville during and after the Second World War. The film, written by
Lucy Gannon Lucy Gannon (born 1948) is a British playwright and television writer, and producer. She was the recipient of the 1989-90 Susan Smith Blackburn Prize.
Life
Lucy Gannon once worked as a military policewoman, a residential social worker, and a nurse ...
, starred
Eddie Marsan
Edward Maurice Charles Marsan (born 9 June 1968) is an English actor. He won the London Film Critics Circle Award and the National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Supporting Actor for the film '' Happy-Go-Lucky'' (2008).
He has feature ...
as Dr. Guttmann and
Rob Brydon
Robert Brydon Jones (; born 3 May 1965) is a Welsh actor, comedian, impressionist, presenter, singer and writer. He played Dr Paul Hamilton in the Australian/British comedy series ''Supernova'', Bryn West in the BBC sitcom ''Gavin & Stacey'' a ...
as one of the seriously injured patients, who were given a purpose in life by the doctor.
The Sir Ludwig Guttmann Centre is an NHS facility providing GP,
Orthopaedic
Orthopedic surgery or orthopedics ( alternatively spelt orthopaedics), is the branch of surgery concerned with conditions involving the musculoskeletal system. Orthopedic surgeons use both surgical and nonsurgical means to treat musculoskeletal ...
and Sports and Exercise Medicine outpatient services as well as imaging on the site of the 2012 Olympic village.
The Sir Ludwig Guttmann Lectureship was established by the International Medical Society of Paraplegia (now ISCoS) to recognize Guttmann's pioneering work and lifelong contribution to spinal cord care.
The Ludwig Guttmann Prize of the German Medical Society for Paraplegia is awarded for "excellent scientific work in the field of clinical research on spinal cord injury".
On 24 October 2013, a
commemorative plaque
A commemorative plaque, or simply plaque, or in other places referred to as a historical marker, historic marker, or historic plaque, is a plate of metal, ceramic, stone, wood, or other material, typically attached to a wall, stone, or other ...
was unveiled by the Association of Jewish Refugees (AJR) at the
National Spinal Injuries Centre to celebrate Guttmann's life and work. As an active member of the AJR, he had served on the board for more than 25 years.
In 2019 th
National Paralympic Heritage Centre a small accessible museum, was opened at Stoke Mandeville Stadium celebrating the birthplace of the Paralympics, sharing the collections of the early Paralympic Movement and the central role played by Professor Sir Ludwig Guttmann.
On 3 July 2021, a
Google Doodle
A Google Doodle is a special, temporary alteration of the logo on Google's homepages intended to commemorate holidays, events, achievements, and notable historical figures. The first Google Doodle honored the 1998 edition of the long-running an ...
of Guttmann was featured on the Google homepage for Guttmann's 122nd birthday.
Selected publications
* 1959. ''The Place of Our Spinal Paraplegic Fellow-Man in Society: A Survey on 2000 Patients''. Dame Georgina Buller Memorial Lecture.
* 1973. ''Spinal Cord Injuries: Comprehensive Management and Research''. Blackwell Science. .
* 1973. "Sport and Recreation for the Mentally and Physically Handicapped" in ''
The Journal of the Royal Society for the Promotion of Health''. 1973; 93(4): 208–21, .
* 1976. ''Textbook of Sport for the Disabled''. Aylesbury: HM+M. .
References
Citations
Bibliography
*
*
*
*
*
External links
International Spinal Cord Society (ISCoS) websiteStory of Paralympics founder Sir Ludwig Guttmann–
BBC News
BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broadca ...
(video), 24 August 2012
{{DEFAULTSORT:Guttmann, Ludwig
British neurologists
German neurologists
Sports scientists
1899 births
1980 deaths
Paralympic Games
Commanders of the Order of the British Empire
Fellows of the Royal Society
Knights Commander of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany
Knights Bachelor
Naturalised citizens of the United Kingdom
Jewish emigrants from Nazi Germany to the United Kingdom
People from Gliwice County
People from the Province of Silesia
Silesian Jews
University of Freiburg alumni
20th-century British scientists
20th-century German scientists
British neurosurgeons
German neurosurgeons