Abraham Jacobi (6 May 1830 – 10 July 1919) was a German physician and pioneer of

pediatrics Pediatrics (American English) also spelled paediatrics (British English), is the branch of medicine that involves the medical care of infants, children, Adolescence, adolescents, and young adults. In the United Kingdom, pediatrics covers many o ...

. He was a key figure in the movement to improve child healthcare and welfare in the United States and opened the first children's clinic in the country. To date, he is the only foreign-born president of the

American Medical Association The American Medical Association (AMA) is an American professional association and lobbying group of physicians and medical students. This medical association was founded in 1847 and is headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. Membership was 271,660 ...

. He helped found the ''American Journal of Obstetrics''. He is regarded as the ''Father of American Pediatrics''.

Biography

Born in Hartum (now a district of Hille),

Westphalia Westphalia (; ; ) is a region of northwestern Germany and one of the three historic parts of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. It has an area of and 7.9 million inhabitants. The territory of the region is almost identical with the h ...

, he was the son of a poor Jewish shopkeeper and his wife, who educated him at great sacrifice. He attended the gymnasium in

Minden Minden () is a middle-sized town in the very north-east of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, the largest town in population between Bielefeld and Hanover. It is the capital of the district () of Minden-Lübbecke, situated in the cultural region ...

. After graduating there, he studied medicine at the universities of

Greifswald Greifswald (), officially the University and Hanseatic City of Greifswald (, Low German: ''Griepswoold'') is the fourth-largest city in the German state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania after Rostock, Schwerin and Neubrandenburg. In 2021 it surpa ...

Göttingen Göttingen (, ; ; ) is a college town, university city in Lower Saxony, central Germany, the Capital (political), capital of Göttingen (district), the eponymous district. The River Leine runs through it. According to the 2022 German census, t ...

, and

Bonn Bonn () is a federal city in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, located on the banks of the Rhine. With a population exceeding 300,000, it lies about south-southeast of Cologne, in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ruhr region. This ...

, receiving a

Doctor of Medicine A Doctor of Medicine (abbreviated MD, from the Latin language, Latin ) is a medical degree, the meaning of which varies between different jurisdictions. In the United States, and some other countries, the ''MD'' denotes a professional degree of ph ...

at Bonn in 1851. Shortly thereafter, Jacobi joined the revolutionary movement in Germany (see Revolution of 1848). He was detained in prisons at Berlin and

Cologne Cologne ( ; ; ) is the largest city of the States of Germany, German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with nearly 1.1 million inhabitants in the city pr ...

in 1851, where he was acquitted as defendant in the Cologne Communist Trial in 1852. Later he was imprisoned at

Bielefeld Bielefeld () is a city in the Ostwestfalen-Lippe Region in the north-east of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. With a population of 341,755, it is also the most populous city in the administrative region () of Detmold (region), Detmold and the L ...

and Minden, where he was convicted of lese Majeste in 1853. Upon release, Jacobi sailed to England, where he stayed with both

Karl Marx Karl Marx (; 5 May 1818 – 14 March 1883) was a German philosopher, political theorist, economist, journalist, and revolutionary socialist. He is best-known for the 1848 pamphlet '' The Communist Manifesto'' (written with Friedrich Engels) ...

and

Friedrich Engels Friedrich Engels ( ;"Engels"
''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary''.New York Communist Club. Starting in 1861 at

New York Medical College New York Medical College (NYMC or New York Med) is a Private university, private medical school in Valhalla, New York. Founded in 1860, it is a member of the Touro University System. NYMC offers advanced degrees through its three schools: the ...

, he was a professor of childhood diseases. From 1867 to 1870, he was chair of the medical department of the University of the City of New York. He taught at

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

for 30+ years from 1870 to 1902. He later moved to Mount Sinai Hospital, where he established the first Department of Pediatrics at a general hospital. He was president of the New York Pathological and Obstetrical Societies, and twice of the Medical Society of the County of New York, visiting physician to the German Hospital beginning 1857, to Mount Sinai Hospital beginning 1860, to the Hebrew Orphan Asylum and the infant hospital on

Randall's Island Randalls Island (sometimes called Randall's Island) and Wards Island are conjoined islands, collectively called Randalls and Wards Island, in New York City.

beginning 1868, and to Bellevue Hospital beginning 1874. In 1882 he was president of the New York State Medical Society, and in 1885 became 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 r ...

. From 1868 to 1871, he was joint editor of the ''American Journal of Obstetrics and Diseases of Women and Children''. Civic work was an important part of his life. He advocated for

birth control Birth control, also known as contraception, anticonception, and fertility control, is the use of methods or devices to prevent pregnancy. Birth control has been used since ancient times, but effective and safe methods of birth control only be ...

and civil service reform, and opposed

prohibition Prohibition is the act or practice of forbidding something by law; more particularly the term refers to the banning of the manufacture, storage (whether in barrels or in bottles), transportation, sale, possession, and consumption of alcoholic b ...

. Jacobi was strongly anti- Hohenzollern during

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. In the summer of 1918, a house fire destroyed the manuscript of his autobiography, and other personal papers at his Lake George home. He died on 10 July 1919 at his summer home in Bolton Landing at age 89. Jacobi is interred at

Green-Wood Cemetery Green-Wood Cemetery is a cemetery in the western portion of Brooklyn, New York City. The cemetery is located between South Slope, Brooklyn, South Slope/Greenwood Heights, Brooklyn, Greenwood Heights, Park Slope, Windsor Terrace, Brooklyn, Win ...

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

, New York.

Family

His first wife, Fanny Meier (1833−1856), was a sister of Sophie Meyer Boas (1828−1916), the mother of ethnologist

Franz Boas Franz Uri Boas (July 9, 1858 – December 21, 1942) was a German-American anthropologist and ethnomusicologist. He was a pioneer of modern anthropology who has been called the "Father of American Anthropology". His work is associated with the mov ...

, who also attended the gymnasium in Minden. In 1873, he married Mary Putnam, also a physician. She was the very first female student at the in Paris, France. They had three children, only one of whom—Marjorie—survived to adulthood.

Works

*''Contributions to Midwifery and Diseases of Women and Children'' (with E. Noeggerath; New York, 1859) *''Dentition and its Derangements'' (1862) *''The Raising and Education of Abandoned Children in Europe'' (1870) * ''Infant Diet'' (1874) *''Treatise on Diphtheria'' (1880) Jacobi contributed chapters on the care and nutrition of children, diphtheria, and dysentery to Gerhardt's ''Handbuch der Kinderkrankheiten'' (Tübingen, 1877), and on diphtheria, rachitis, and laryngitis to Pepper's ''System of Practical Medicine'' (Philadelphia), and has published lectures and reports on midwifery and female and infantile disease, and a number of articles in medical journals. His ''Sarcoma of the Kidney in the Fœtus and Infant'' is printed in the ''Transactions'' of the International Medical Congress in

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a population of 1.4 million in the Urban area of Copenhagen, urban area. The city is situated on the islands of Zealand and Amager, separated from Malmö, Sweden, by the ...

Legacy

*Abraham Jacobi and

Carl Schurz Carl Christian Schurz (; March 2, 1829 – May 14, 1906) was a German-American revolutionary and an American statesman, journalist, and reformer. He migrated to the United States after the German revolutions of 1848–1849 and became a prominent ...

Memorial Park in Bolton Landing, New York *A collection of his papers is held at the

National Library of Medicine The United States National Library of Medicine (NLM), operated by the United States federal government, is the world's largest medical library. Located in Bethesda, Maryland, the NLM is an institute within the National Institutes of Health. I ...

in Bethesda, Maryland. * Jacobi Medical Center in New York City was named in his honor *

William Osler Sir William Osler, 1st Baronet, (; July 12, 1849 – December 29, 1919) was a Canadian physician and one of the "Big Four" founding professors of Johns Hopkins Hospital. Osler created the first Residency (medicine), residency program for speci ...

, founder of Johns Hopkins Medicine, said of Abraham Jacobi, "''It may be said that the safety of a nation depends on the care of its infants and no one in this country has done so much for their bodily welfare as Dr. Jacobi. Had they any other language but a cry, countless thousands of colic-stricken babies...would ordain great praise to him'' " on 6 May 1900 (Jacobi's 70th birthday).

Notes

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Jacobi, Abraham 1830 births 1919 deaths 19th-century German Jews People from Minden-Lübbecke New York Medical College faculty New York University Grossman School of Medicine faculty Columbia Medical School faculty American pediatricians American people of German-Jewish descent German pediatricians Burials at Green-Wood Cemetery University of Göttingen alumni University of Greifswald alumni University of Bonn alumni German-American Forty-Eighters People from Bolton Landing, New York People from Lake George, New York American communists Presidents of the American Pediatric Society Bellevue Hospital physicians Presidents of the American Medical Association