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In his day, Henry Sigerist was the outstanding historian of medicine in the world and a major, sought-after, and influential public health figure.1
Sigerist was born of Swiss parents and grew up in Paris, France, and Zurich, Switzerland. Interested in everything, he studied classical and oriental languages in Zurich and London, England, and then decided to study medicine. During his medical studies in Zurich, he became fascinated by the history of medicine and began publishing in the field. In 1925, at the precocious age of 34 years, he succeeded Karl Sudhoff (1853-1938), a scholar of towering international reputation, as Director of the University of Leipzig's pioneering Institute of the History of Medicine.
Sigerist was invited to lecture in the United States in the 1931-1932 academic year and soon started writing a new book, American Medicine.2 Its tone was upbeat and optimistic: the overarching themes were the progressive nature of American medicine and the tremendous speed of its development.
In 1932, Sigerist succeeded William Henry Welch (18501934), the founding dean of the Johns Hopkins University Medical School, as director of the Johns Hopkins Institute of the History of Medicine, recently created on the Leipzig model. During the next 15 years, Sigerist turned the Hopkins Institute into the leading center for the history of medicine in North America. The scope of Sigerist's historical work was enormous, and his publications ranged from ancient and medieval medicine; to medicine in the Renaissance, the Early Modern period, and...