William Ludwig Detmold (27 December 1808

Hanover Hanover (; german: Hannover ; nds, Hannober) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Lower Saxony. Its 535,932 (2021) inhabitants make it the 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-largest city in Northern Germany ...

– 26 December 1894 New York City) was a German-American surgeon who introduced

orthopedic surgery 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 ...

into the United States.

Biography

His father was a physician. William received his medical degree from the

University of Göttingen The University of Göttingen, officially the Georg August University of Göttingen, (german: Georg-August-Universität Göttingen, known informally as Georgia Augusta) is a public research university in the city of Göttingen, Germany. Founded ...

in 1830, and enlisted as surgeon in the royal Hanoverian grenadier-guard. He went to the United States on leave of absence in 1837, and sent back his resignation from New York City. Detmold introduced orthopedic surgery into the United States, and as early as 1841 he established an orthopedic clinic in New York, having previously published an article on orthopedic surgery in the '' American Journal of the Medical Sciences''. He wrote infrequently for the medical journals and managed his dispensary until the beginning of the

Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

, when he assisted in the organization of the

United States Army Medical Corps The Medical Corps (MC) of the U.S. Army is a staff corps (non-combat specialty branch) of the U.S. Army Medical Department (AMEDD) consisting of commissioned medical officers – physicians with either an M.D. or a D.O. degree, at least one ye ...

. He became professor of military surgery and hygiene at Columbia in 1862. In 1865 his title was changed to professor of clinical and military surgery. In 1866, the war being over, military surgery lost its prominence, and he was made professor emeritus. During the war, he introduced a knife and fork for one-handed men, which was put by Surgeon General

Barnes Barnes may refer to: People * Barnes (name), a family name and a given name (includes lists of people with that name) Places United Kingdom *Barnes, London, England **Barnes railway station ** Barnes Bridge railway station ** Barnes Railway Bri ...

on the supply list, under the name of "Detmold's knife." In 1884, he was a founder and the first president of the New York County Medical Association, and at one time he was president of the Medical Relief Fund for Widows and Orphans.

Publications

He published a book on the treatment of club foot and analogous subjects that was one of the milestones of the pre-Listerian epochs of orthopedics. He also published "Opening an Abscess in the Brain," in the ''Journal of the Medical Sciences'' for February 1850.

Family

His brother,

Christian Edward Detmold Christian Edward Detmold (2 February 1810 Hanover – 2 July 1887 New York City) was a civil engineer. Biography He was educated at the military academy in Hanover, and came to New York in 1826, with the intention of entering the Brazilian arm ...

, also emigrated to the United States. He was an engineer, and among his projects he supervised the building and design of the New York Crystal Palace.

Notes

References

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Detmold, William Ludwig 1808 births 1894 deaths 19th-century American physicians Physicians from Hanover American orthopedic surgeons German surgeons Columbia University faculty University of Göttingen alumni Emigrants from the Kingdom of Hanover to the United States Union Army surgeons