HOME

TheInfoList



Click Here for Items Related To - Max Thorek
OR:
Max Thorek on:   [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Amazon]

Max Thorek (10 March 1880 – 25 January 1960) was a Hungarian-American surgeon, best known for founding the
International College of Surgeons The International College of Surgeons (ICS) is a global organization dedicated to promoting excellence of surgeons and surgical specialists worldwide. It was founded in 1935 by Max Thorek and is headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. ICS works thou ...
in 1935 and writing his autobiography entitled ''A Surgeon's World'' in 1943.''International College of Surgeons: Past,Present, and Future''
Henry Ling Ltd, The Dorsct Press, Dorchester (1995).


Early life and education

Max Thorek was born in
Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia a ...
where his father was a physician in a small town. Thorek’s preparation for university training began in
Budapest Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population ...
but was interrupted when his younger brother was killed in a
pogrom A pogrom () is a violent riot incited with the aim of massacring or expelling an ethnic or religious group, particularly Jews. The term entered the English language from Russian to describe 19th- and 20th-century attacks on Jews in the Russia ...
and the family emigrated to
Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...
, where he attended the
University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chicago is consistently ranked among the b ...
. He completed his medical degree at
Rush Medical College Rush Medical College is the medical school of Rush University, located in the Illinois Medical District, about 3 km (2 miles) west of the Loop in Chicago. Offering a full-time Doctor of Medicine program, the school was chartered in 1837, and ...
in 1904. Thorek later worked in
obstetrics Obstetrics is the field of study concentrated on pregnancy, childbirth and the postpartum period. As a medical specialty, obstetrics is combined with gynecology under the discipline known as obstetrics and gynecology (OB/GYN), which is a surgi ...
,
general A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of highest military ranks, high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers t ...
, and
reconstructive surgery Reconstructive surgery is surgery performed to restore normal appearance and function to body parts malformed by a disease or medical condition. Description Reconstructive surgery is a term with training, clinical, and reimbursement implica ...
. In 1954, he founded the
International Museum of Surgical Science The International Museum of Surgical Science is a museum located in the Gold Coast neighborhood of Chicago, Illinois. It is operated by The International College of Surgeons and features exhibits dealing with various aspects of Eastern and Western ...
in a Chicago
Gold Coast Gold Coast may refer to: Places Africa * Gold Coast (region), in West Africa, which was made up of the following colonies, before being established as the independent nation of Ghana: ** Portuguese Gold Coast (Portuguese, 1482–1642) ** Dutch G ...
mansion, and was the founder of Thorek Memorial Hospital, as of 2019 still in operation in Chicago's Uptown neighborhood. He became an internationally acclaimed amateur photographer during the pictorialist movement, and author of several books on the subject, including ''Camera Art as a Means of Self-Expression'' (1947) and ''Creative Camera Art'' (1937).


Death and legacy

He died in Chicago on 25 January 1960.


References


Further reading


''Fellowship of Surgeons: A History of the American College of Surgeons''
Loyal Davis


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Thorek, Max 1880 births 1960 deaths American surgeons Hungarian surgeons Austro-Hungarian emigrants to the United States People from Chicago 20th-century surgeons University of Chicago alumni Rush Medical College alumni