, Sir Martin Roth (6 November 1917 – 26 September 2006) was a

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

psychiatrist A psychiatrist is a physician who specializes in psychiatry. Psychiatrists are physicians who evaluate patients to determine whether their symptoms are the result of a physical illness, a combination of physical and mental ailments or strictly ...

, academic, and researcher. He was a leading figure in British psychiatry, especially in the study of mental illness and mental disorders of the elderly. He was the co-author of ''Clinical Psychiatry,'' an influential textbook that was used in England from 1954 through the 1980s.

Early life

Roth was born in

Budapest Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...

Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe#Before World War I, Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military ...

, on 6 November 1917. He was the son of a

synagogue A synagogue, also called a shul or a temple, is a place of worship for Jews and Samaritans. It is a place for prayer (the main sanctuary and sometimes smaller chapels) where Jews attend religious services or special ceremonies such as wed ...

cantor A cantor or chanter is a person who leads people in singing or sometimes in prayer. Cantor as a profession generally refers to those leading a Jewish congregation, although it also applies to the lead singer or choir director in Christian contexts. ...

. His family moved to the East End of

London, England London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

when he was five years old. He attended the

Davenant Foundation School Davenant Foundation School is a Christian Ecumenical secondary school, founded in 1680, currently in Loughton, Essex, England. History Foundation in Whitechapel In February 1680 the Reverend Ralph Davenant, rector of St Mary's Whitechapel, ...

Loughton, Essex Loughton () is a suburban town and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Epping Forest District of Essex. The town borders Waltham Abbey, Theydon Bois, Chigwell, Chingford, and Buckhurst Hill, and lies East London, north-east of Char ...

. Roth trained in medicine at St. Mary's Hospital in

Paddington, London Paddington is an List of areas of London, area in the City of Westminster, in central London, England. A medieval parish then a Metropolitan Borough of Paddington, metropolitan borough of the County of London, it was integrated with Westminster ...

, qualifying to practice medicine in 1941. He then trained in neurology under

Russell Brain, 1st Baron Brain Walter Russell Brain, 1st Baron Brain (23 October 1895 – 29 December 1966) was a British neurologist. He was principal author of the standard work on neurology, ''Brain's Diseases of the Nervous System'', and longtime editor of the neurolog ...

Maida Vale Hospital for Nervous Diseases The Maida Vale Hospital for Nervous Diseases was a hospital that existed in west London from 1867 to 1993. History The hospital was founded as the London Infirmary for Epilepsy and Paralysis by the German physician Julius Althaus (1833-1900) in ...

. Next, he went to

Maudsley Hospital The Maudsley Hospital is a British psychiatric hospital in south London. The Maudsley is the largest mental health training institution in the UK. It is part of South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust, and works in partnership with the I ...

where he trained in psychiatry.

Career

In 1948, Roth worked with Willy Mayer-Gross at Crichton Royal Hospital in

Dumfries Dumfries ( ; ; from ) is a market town and former royal burgh in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland, near the mouth of the River Nith on the Solway Firth, from the Anglo-Scottish border. Dumfries is the county town of the Counties of Scotland, ...

.Richmond Caroline.
Sir Martin Roth
. ''

The BMJ ''The BMJ'' is a fortnightly peer-reviewed medical journal, published by BMJ Publishing Group Ltd, which in turn is wholly-owned by the British Medical Association (BMA). ''The BMJ'' has editorial freedom from the BMA. It is one of the world ...

''. vol. 333, no. 7579 (December 2, 2006), p. 1175. doi: 10.1136/bmj.39038.720775.FA. PMCID: PMC1676153. via National Library of Medicine. After two years in 1950, he moved to Graylingwell Hospital, psychiatric hospital in

Chichester, Sussex Chichester ( ) is a cathedral city and civil parish in the Chichester district of West Sussex, England.OS Explorer map 120: Chichester, South Harting and Selsey Scale: 1:25 000. Publisher:Ordnance Survey – Southampton B2 edition. Publishing ...

, where he was the director of clinical research. In 1954, Roth, Mayer-Gross, and Eliot Slater (a friend from Maudsley Hospital) published ''Clinical Psychiatry,'' a textbook that was released in three editions through 1977, was translated into five languages, and used in British medical schools through the 1980s. He became the director of the clinical research unit at Graylingwell Hospital in

Chichester Chichester ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and civil parish in the Chichester District, Chichester district of West Sussex, England.OS Explorer map 120: Chichester, South Harting and Selsey Scale: 1:25 000. Publisher ...

where he studied brain and strokes. Roth was the chair of psychological medicine at

Newcastle University Newcastle University (legally the University of Newcastle upon Tyne) is a public research university based in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. It has overseas campuses in Singapore and Malaysia. The university is a red brick university and a mem ...

from 1956 to 1977, establishing the main psychiatric clinical research center in Britain. At Newcastle, he created units for the study of

child psychiatry Child and adolescent psychiatry (or pediatric psychiatry) is a branch of psychiatry that focuses on the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of mental disorders in children, adolescents, and their families. It investigates the biopsychosocial fact ...

neurosis Neurosis (: neuroses) is a term mainly used today by followers of Freudian thinking to describe mental disorders caused by past anxiety, often that has been repressed. In recent history, the term has been used to refer to anxiety-related con ...

, and psychogeriatrics. He was also influential the field of

clinical psychology Clinical psychology is an integration of human science, behavioral science, theory, and clinical knowledge for the purpose of understanding, preventing, and relieving psychologically-based distress or dysfunction and to promote subjective well ...

and in the study of mental illness. Next, he was the first professor of psychiatry at

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

from 1977 to 1985. There, he was one of the pioneers in developing psychogeriatrics as a subspecialty, with an emphasis on

Alzheimer's disease Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disease and the cause of 60–70% of cases of dementia. The most common early symptom is difficulty in remembering recent events. As the disease advances, symptoms can include problems wit ...

. Roth was a fellow at

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any ...

in 1977 and 2006. Roth authored more than 400 papers that were published in scholarly journals. He was an examiner in medicine at

Royal College of Physicians The Royal College of Physicians of London, commonly referred to simply as the Royal College of Physicians (RCP), is a British professional membership body dedicated to improving the practice of medicine, chiefly through the accreditation of ph ...

from 1962 to 1964 and 1968 and 1972. He was a member of the council of the

from 1968 to 1971. He was the first president of the

Royal College of Psychiatrists The Royal College of Psychiatrists is the main professional organisation of psychiatrists in the United Kingdom, and is responsible for representing psychiatrists, for psychiatric research and for providing public information about mental healt ...

from 1971 to 1975. Roth was also a trustee of the Schizophrenia Research Fund, a charity founded by

Miriam Rothschild Dame Miriam Louisa Rothschild (5 August 1908 – 20 January 2005) was a British natural scientist and author with contributions to zoology, entomology, and botany. Early life Miriam Rothschild was born in 1908 in Ashton, North Northamptonshire ...

Honours

Martin Roth was

knighted A knight is a person granted an honorary title of a knighthood by a head of state (including the pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church, or the country, especially in a military capacity. The concept of a knighthood ...

in the 1972 New Year Honours List. He was elected a

Fellow of the Royal Society Fellowship of the Royal Society (FRS, ForMemRS and HonFRS) is an award granted by the Fellows of the Royal Society of London to individuals who have made a "substantial contribution to the improvement of natural science, natural knowledge, incl ...

(FRS) in 1996.

Personal life

Roth married Constance Heller in 1945. The couple had three daughters. Roth died on 26 September 2006 in

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...

Cambridgeshire Cambridgeshire (abbreviated Cambs.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England and East Anglia. It is bordered by Lincolnshire to the north, Norfolk to the north-east, Suffolk to the east, Essex and Hertfor ...

at the age of 88 years. He was buried in Cambridge City Cemetery.

Selected publications

Author

* ''Clinical Psychiatry.'' with Willy Mayer-Gross and Eliot Slater. London: Cassell, 1954. * ''The Reality of Mental Illness''. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1986. *
CAMDEX—the Cambridge Examination for Mental Disorders of the Elderly
'' with Felicia A. Huppert, C. Q. Mountjoy, and Elizabeth Tym. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1988. * ''Ageing and the Aged in Contemporary Society''. Indiana University Institute for Advanced Study, 1993. * ''Philosophical Foundations of Neurolaw''. Lanham: Lexington Books, 2017.

Editor

* ''Psychiatry, Human Rights and the Law.'' with Robert Bluglass. Cambridge University Press, 1986. * ''Handbook of Anxiety, vol. 1: Biological, Clinical, and Cultural Perspectives.'' with Russell Noyes Jr. and Graham D Burrows''.'' Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1988. * ''Handbook of Anxiety, vol. 2: Classification, Etiological Factors, and Associated Disturbances.'' with Russell Noyes Jr. and Graham D Burrows''.'' Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1988. * '' Handbook of Anxiety, vol. 3: The Neurobiology of Anxiety.'' with Russell Noyes Jr. and Graham D Burrows''.'' Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1990. * '' Handbook of Anxiety, vol. 4: The Treatment of Anxiety.'' with Russell Noyes Jr. and Graham D Burrows''.'' Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1990. * ''Handbook of Anxiety, vol. 5: Contemporary Issues and Prospects for Research in Anxiety Disorders.'' with Russell Noyes Jr. and Graham D Burrows''.'' Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1992.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Roth, Martin 1917 births 2006 deaths Knights Bachelor Fellows of the Royal Society Fellows of Trinity College, Cambridge Hungarian Jews Jewish scientists British psychiatrists Physicians from Budapest Hungarian emigrants to England Naturalised citizens of the United Kingdom Burials at the Cambridge City Cemetery Jewish physicians