William Holme Van Buren (born in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

, 5 April 1819; died in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, 25 March 1883) was an American surgeon. His grandfather was Abraham Van Buren, a son of John Beuren, a pupil of

Herman Boerhaave Herman Boerhaave (, 31 December 1668 – 23 September 1738Underwood, E. Ashworth. "Boerhaave After Three Hundred Years." ''The British Medical Journal'' 4, no. 5634 (1968): 820–25. https://www.jstor.org/stable/20395297.) was a Dutch botanist, ...

, who emigrated to New York from Beuren, near

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...

, in 1700. Van Buren entered

Yale College Yale College is the undergraduate college of Yale University. Founded in 1701, it is the original school of the university. Although other Yale schools were founded as early as 1810, all of Yale was officially known as Yale College until 1887, ...

in 1834. Before graduation he left to take his medical education at the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...

, finishing his studies before the legal age at which a diploma could be awarded him. He spent some eighteen months in Paris and returned to receive his degree in medicine at the University of Pennsylvania in 1840, with a graduation thesis on "The Starch and Dextrin Bandage", the technique of which he had learned in Paris. He entered the army, passing the highest competitive examination. In 1842 he married the daughter of Dr.

Valentine Mott Valentine Mott (August 20, 1785April 26, 1865) was an American surgeon. Life Valentine Mott was born at Glen Cove, New York. He graduated at Columbia College, studied under Sir Astley Cooper in London, and also spent a winter in Edinburgh. A ...

, and in 1845 received the appointment as pro-sector to the medical department of the University of New York under Dr. Mott. In 1852 he became professor of

anatomy Anatomy () is the branch of biology concerned with the study of the structure of organisms and their parts. Anatomy is a branch of natural science that deals with the structural organization of living things. It is an old science, having its ...

and remained in that position until the burning of the college building in 1865. He attempted to reorganize the university medical school after the fire, insisting on the erection of a building near

Bellevue Hospital Center Bellevue Hospital (officially NYC Health + Hospitals/Bellevue and formerly known as Bellevue Hospital Center) is a hospital in New York City and the oldest public hospital in the United States. One of the largest hospitals in the United States b ...

. His plans, all adopted later, being rejected, Dr. Van Buren resigned. In 1868 he became professor of surgery in the Bellevue Hospital Medical College, a position which he retained until his death. In 1854 he translated from the French Charles Morel's ''Histology'', and afterwards, Bernard and Huette's ''Operative Surgery''. This latter work was furnished by the United States Government to the army surgeons during the Civil War. President

Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln ( ; February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was an American lawyer, politician, and statesman who served as the 16th president of the United States from 1861 until his assassination in 1865. Lincoln led the nation thro ...

offered to make Van Buren Surgeon General at the time of the war, and on his refusal consulted him with regard to the appointment. In 1865 he published ''Contributions to Practical Surgery'', in 1870 ''Lectures on Diseases of the Rectum'', and in 1874, in conjunction with Dr. Edward L. Keyes, a textbook on genito-urinary surgery. His contributions to medical periodical literature were frequent. He became a Catholic early in his medical career and remained one for the rest of his life. He was consulting surgeon to many of the prominent New York City hospitals, and had been president of the Pathological Society, vice-president of the

New York Academy of Medicine The New York Academy of Medicine (the Academy) is a health policy and advocacy organization founded in 1847 by a group of leading New York metropolitan area physicians as a voice for the medical profession in medical practice and public health ...

, and corresponding member of the Société de Chirurgie of Paris, an honour that had been conferred on only one American before him.

References

;Attribution * **KEYES, ''New York Academy of Medicine Memorial Address'' in ''N. Y. Med. Journal'', XXXVII (1883); **SMITH, ''Surgery of New York, Mid-nineteenth century'' in ''N.Y. Med. Record'' (July 2, 1910).

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Van Buren, W 1819 births 1883 deaths American anatomists Writers from Philadelphia Yale College alumni Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania alumni American surgeons American male writers New York University Grossman School of Medicine faculty Burials at Green-Wood Cemetery