Complete Record - Heirs of Hippocrates No. 2096

GEORGE JULIUS ENGELMANN (1847-1903) Labor among primitive peoples. J. H. Chambers 1882 xviii, 203 pp., plate (front.), 55 illus. 21.4 cm.

Engelmann's father, George, was a physician and botanist who lived many years in Germany before emigrating to the United States in 1833 where he established a successful practice at St. Louis. George Julius graduated from Washington University in 1867 and received his medical training at Berlin where he graduated in 1871. He did postgraduate work at Vienna where he received the degree of master of obstetrics. He returned to St. Louis in 1873 to enter private practice and lecture at the St. Louis Medical College. In 1874 Engelmann organized the St. Louis School for Midwives and the Maternity Hospital. He was professor of diseases of women and operative midwifery at the Missouri Medical College and served as president of the American Gynecological Society in 1900. Engelmann made numerous contributions to the medical literature and had a keen interest in archeology. He was inspired to embark on this study of the labor and delivery practices of indigenous peoples after acquiring a collection of ancient Peruvian pottery in 1877. He commented that "it appeared to me as if a study of obstetric customs among the more primitive people might lead to valuable results which would serve to guide the practice of the present day" (p. 1-2). Engelmann subsequently engaged in wide-ranging correspondence, travel, and research to complete what has become a classic contribution to obstetrics.

Cited references: Garrison-Morton 6284

Gift of Robert N. Larimer, M.D