Israel Weinstein (May 26, 1893 – May 25, 1975) was an American

physician A physician, medical practitioner (British English), medical doctor, or simply doctor is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through the Medical education, study, Med ...

and

bacteriologist A bacteriologist is a microbiologist, or similarly trained professional, in bacteriology— a subdivision of microbiology that studies bacteria, typically Pathogenic bacteria, pathogenic ones. Bacteriologists are interested in studying and learnin ...

, best known for his work in

public health Public health is "the science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life and promoting health through the organized efforts and informed choices of society, organizations, public and private, communities and individuals". Analyzing the de ...

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

, especially during the

1947 New York City smallpox outbreak The 1947 New York City smallpox outbreak occurred in March 1947 and was declared ended on April 24, 1947. The outbreak marked the largest mass vaccination effort ever conducted for smallpox in America. Within three weeks of the discovery of the ...

as the

Commissioner of Health of the City of New York The commissioner of health of the City of New York is the head of the city's Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. The commissioner is appointed by the Mayor of New York City, and also serves on the city's Board of Health with the chairperson ...

from March 13, 1946, to November 3, 1947, under Mayor

William O'Dwyer William O'Dwyer (July 11, 1890November 24, 1964) was an Irish-American politician who served as the 100th Mayor of New York City, holding that office from 1946 to 1950. O'Dwyer went on to serve President Harry Truman as Ambassador to Mexico fr ...

Early life and education

Israel Weinstein was born in

New York City, New York New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on New York Harbor, one of the world's largest natural harb ...

, on March 26, 1893, the fourth of seven children of David Weinstein and Freida nee Shostakowsky, recent Jewish immigrants from Brest, Russia (now Belarus). He was raised in a tenement building on the

Lower East Side The Lower East Side, sometimes abbreviated as LES, is a historic neighborhood in the southeastern part of Manhattan in New York City. It is located roughly between the Bowery and the East River from Canal to Houston streets. Historically, it w ...

, and later in the

Bronx The Bronx ( ) is the northernmost of the five Boroughs of New York City, boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. It shares a land border with Westchester County, New York, West ...

. As a child, he experienced the death of two of his younger siblings from pneumonia, and he lost his father to heart disease in 1920 when he was only 27. Weinstein graduated with his Bachelor of Arts from

City College of New York The City College of the City University of New York (also known as the City College of New York, or simply City College or CCNY) is a Public university, public research university within the City University of New York (CUNY) system in New York ...

in 1913, followed by a masters in 1915 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 ...

, in 1917 he received his D.Sc from

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...

Career

During his initial days, he was employed as a biology teacher at Morris High School in the

from 1914 to 1922. Weinstein lectured on medical and scientific topics for the

New York City Department of Health The New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (also known as NYC Health) is the department of the government of New York City responsible for public health along with issuing birth certificates, dog licenses, and conducting restaur ...

, the New York Public Lecture Bureau, the New York Botanical Gardens from 1920 to 1928. He worked as an instructor of physiology and at

from 1929 to 1931. He also worked as an assistant professor of bacteriology and hygiene from 1931 to 1934 and an assistant professor of preventive medicine from 1934 to 1939 at

. Weinstein published Extracts of Antibodies Obtained from Specific Precipitates of Typhoid-Antityphoid Serum Complex in the

Journal of Immunology The ''Journal of Immunology'' is a biweekly peer-reviewed medical journal that publishes basic and clinical studies in all aspects of immunology. Established in 1916, it changed its name to ''Journal of Immunology, Virus Research and Experimental C ...

in 1918, Quantitative Biological Effects of Monochromatic Ultraviolet Light in the Journal of the Optical Society of America in 1930, Bacteriological Study of Throats in Rheumatic and Non-Rheumatic Fever: With Special Reference to Hemolytic Streptococci in

JAMA Internal Medicine ''JAMA Internal Medicine'' is a monthly peer-reviewed medical journal published by the American Medical Association. It was established in 1908 as the ''Archives of Internal Medicine'' and obtained its current title in 2013. It covers all aspects ...

in 1934, and An Outbreak of Smallpox in New York City, about the

, among others.

Medical career

In 1917, Weinstein joined the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

as a first lieutenant. He served in the Army Expedition Force, seeing action during the

Battle of Saint-Mihiel The Battle of Saint-Mihiel was a major World War I battle fought from 12 to 15 September 1918, involving the American Expeditionary Forces (AEF) and 110,000 French troops under the command of General John J. Pershing of the United States again ...

. However, he was specifically tasked as a public health expert, producing his first public health campaign, directed at soldiers in order to reduce venereal diseases. Upon the end of World War One and the completion of his medical degree, in addition to working as a public health lecturer, Weinstein also served as a surgeon on the house staff of

Bellevue Hospital 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 ...

from 1926 to 1928, and later an assistant physician in the outpatient department at the same institution from 1929 to 1930. He was a visiting attending physician at

Metropolitan Hospital Center The Metropolitan Hospital Center (MHC, also referred to as Metropolitan Hospital) is a hospital in the East Harlem neighborhood of New York City. It has been affiliated with New York Medical College since it was founded in 1875, representing ...

from 1928 to 1929, an adjunct visiting physician at

Montefiore Medical Center Montefiore Einstein Medical Center is an academic medical center that is the primary teaching hospital of the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in the Bronx, New York City. Its main campus, the Henry and Lucy Moses Division, is in the Norwo ...

from 1931 to 1934, and an attending bacteriologist at

Sea View Hospital Seaview Hospital is a historic hospital complex in Willowbrook on Staten Island, New York. The original complex was planned and built between 1905 and 1938 and was the largest and most costly municipal facility for the treatment of tuberculosis ...

from 1934 to 1939. During the onset of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, he once again joined the

Army An army, ground force or land force is an armed force that fights primarily on land. In the broadest sense, it is the land-based military branch, service branch or armed service of a nation or country. It may also include aviation assets by ...

and was tasked with conducting public health lectures. Shortly after his discharge from the Army after the war, he was appointed to the position of New York City Health Commissioner.

Commissioner of Health of the City of New York

In May 1946 Weinstein was appointed as the Commissioner of Health of the City of New York by Mayor

. Within two days of his appointment Weinstein started work on cleaning up the Marcy Houses projects in Brooklyn and even left his 53rd birthday celebration in order to close a contaminated cannery at Camp LaGuardia.

1947 Smallpox Outbreak

In 1947, New York City experienced its first smallpox outbreak since 1912. Weinstein went to Mayor

to personally request $500,000 for the purchase of additional vaccine doses and to expand his staff for the campaign, which became the largest in American history. Within three weeks over 6,350,000 New Yorkers had been vaccinated against the disease, 5,000,000 of whom were vaccinated within the first two weeks. In the end, only 12 people had contracted smallpox, only two of whom died. Weinstein served as health commissioner for seven more months, resigning on November 3 due to "personality conflicts" and "jealousy from those above him due to his flamboyant nature and frequent news appearances". He would go on to serve as the director of the Bureau of Health Education until 1949 when he retired.

Later life

Weinstein would go on to lecture occasionally internationally, but never married and had no children; his parents and five of his six siblings predeceased him. Weinstein died on May 25, 1975, in Brooklyn.

References

External links

Dr. Weinstein speaking to the public about the importance of getting the smallpox vaccine on Apr 23, 1947

Dr. Weinstein's own writeup on the 1947 smallpox outbreak

{{DEFAULTSORT:Weinstein, Israel 1893 births 1975 deaths Scientists from New York (state) Commissioners of health of the City of New York American bacteriologists