Peter William Monckton Copeman

FRCS Fellowship of the Royal Colleges of Surgeons (FRCS) is a professional certification, professional qualification to practise as a senior surgeon in Republic of Ireland, Ireland or the United Kingdom. It is bestowed on an wikt:intercollegiate, ...

(9 April 1932 – 13 July 2018) was an English

dermatologist Dermatology is the branch of medicine dealing with the skin.''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary.'' Random House, Inc. 2001. Page 537. . It is a speciality with both medical and surgical aspects. A dermatologist is a specialist medi ...

known as "Dr Spot" by his colleagues. He was consultant physician at

Westminster Hospital Westminster Hospital was a hospital in London, England, founded in 1719. In 1834 a medical school attached to the hospital was formally founded. In 1939 a newly built hospital and medical school opened in Horseferry Road, Westminster. In 1994 the ...

and consulting dermatologist at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital. He treated many celebrities and also helped modernise

Qatar Qatar, officially the State of Qatar, is a country in West Asia. It occupies the Geography of Qatar, Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it shares Qatar–Saudi Arabia border, its sole land b ...

’s medical services. He authored over a hundred peer-reviewed articles and pioneered research on allergic vasculitis and

malignant melanoma Melanoma is the most dangerous type of skin cancer; it develops from the melanin-producing cells known as melanocytes. It typically occurs in the skin, but may rarely occur in the mouth, intestines, or eye (uveal melanoma). In very rare case ...

. Outside medicine, he co-founded the Game Conservancy, where he arranged the regeneration of the British

grey partridge The grey partridge (''Perdix perdix'') is a bird in the pheasant family Phasianidae of the order Galliformes, gallinaceous birds. The scientific name is the Latin for "partridge". Taxonomy The grey partridge formally described in 1758 by the S ...

Early life

Peter Copeman was born in London on 9 April 1932, the son of

William Copeman William Sidney Charles Copeman (1900 – 24 November 1970) was a British rheumatology, rheumatologist and a history of medicine, medical historian, best remembered for his contributions to the study of Arthritis, arthritic disease. As a rhe ...

CBE, a pioneering rheumatologist, and his wife Helen. His grandfather was Sydney Copeman who worked on the refinement of

Edward Jenner Edward Jenner (17 May 1749 – 26 January 1823) was an English physician and scientist who pioneered the concept of vaccines and created the smallpox vaccine, the world's first vaccine. The terms ''vaccine'' and ''vaccination'' are derived f ...

's smallpox vaccine. He was brought up in

Hampstead Hampstead () is an area in London, England, which lies northwest of Charing Cross, located mainly in the London Borough of Camden, with a small part in the London Borough of Barnet. It borders Highgate and Golders Green to the north, Belsiz ...

and educated at Rottingdean Preparatory School in East Sussex, which was evacuated to the Cornish countryside during the Second World War. Subsequently, he attended Eton College, where he demonstrated skill at shooting and during his final year, was captain of the Eton shooting eight at Bisley. He completed his undergraduate medical studies at the

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 ...

before gaining admission to

St Thomas' Hospital St Thomas' Hospital is a large NHS teaching hospital in Central London, England. Administratively part of the Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust, together with Guy's Hospital, Evelina London Children's Hospital, Royal Brompton Hospita ...

, London, and qualifying in medicine. He was awarded a gold medal for his PhD thesis on

vasculitis Vasculitis is a group of disorders that destroy blood vessels by inflammation. Both artery, arteries and veins are affected. Lymphangitis (inflammation of lymphatic vessels) is sometimes considered a type of vasculitis. Vasculitis is primarily c ...

and was awarded membership of the

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 ...

(RCP), in January 1962 when the pass rate was less than 6%.

Career

Copeman originally planned to work in ophthalmology but transferred to dermatology after he was noticed for writing a paper on styes for ''The Lancet''. He authored over a hundred peer-reviewed articles and pioneered research on allergic vasculitis. He instituted

immunofluorescence Immunofluorescence (IF) is a light microscopy-based technique that allows detection and localization of a wide variety of target biomolecules within a cell or tissue at a quantitative level. The technique utilizes the binding specificity of anti ...

and

electron microscopy An electron microscope is a microscope that uses a beam of electrons as a source of illumination. It uses electron optics that are analogous to the glass lenses of an optical light microscope to control the electron beam, for instance focusing i ...

in research in skin disease and paid particular attention to

.Scientific Advisory Board.
ActiveGuard. Retrieved 4 August 2018. Subsequently, he travelled to the

Mayo Clinic Mayo Clinic () is a Nonprofit organization, private American Academic health science centre, academic Medical centers in the United States, medical center focused on integrated health care, healthcare, Mayo Clinic College of Medicine and Science ...

in Minnesota where he worked alongside Terence Ryan and eminent Dutch dermatologist Rudi Cormane. He later published, with Ryan, a classic paper on "The problems of classification of cutaneous angitis with reference to histopathology and pathogenesis". In 1965, at a time when leading surgeon Harold Ellis was at Westminster Hospital, Copeman, frequently known as "Dr Spot" by his colleagues, was appointed consultant physician. "He opemanalways wore a spotless white coat over a waistcoat and tie, striding the wards with a crocodile of registrars, students and nurses trailing behind." In the 1970s and 1980s, he helped modernise

's medical services, frequently visiting Qatar as the guest of the Emir. In addition, he had a private practice in

Sloane Street Sloane Street is a major London street in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea which runs north to south, from Knightsbridge to Sloane Square, crossing Pont Street about halfway along. History Sloane Street takes its name from Sir Han ...

. Between 1991 and 2013, he was the

British Association of Dermatologists The British Association of Dermatologists is a charity established in 1920 whose charitable objects are the practice, teaching, training, and research of dermatology. It produces the ''British Journal of Dermatology The ''British Journal of De ...

Willan Librarian.Past Officers.
British Association of Dermatologists. Retrieved 4 August 2018. Until retirement, he was a consulting dermatologist at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital in London and known for treating high profile personalities including Madonna and Diana, Princess of Wales.

Personal and family

In 1973, he married Lindsey Brims, who was 16 years younger and whom he had met at a ball at

Sorn Castle Sorn Castle is located by the River Ayr just outside the village of Sorn in East Ayrshire, Scotland. The castle comprises a medieval tower house, which was extended over the years, and remodelled in the Scots Baronial style by David Bryce in the ...

Ayrshire Ayrshire (, ) is a Counties of Scotland, historic county and registration county, in south-west Scotland, located on the shores of the Firth of Clyde. The lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area of Ayrshire and Arran covers the entirety ...

a year earlier. They had four children. As chairman of the wine committee at the Athenaeum, he persuaded

Eduardo Paolozzi Sir Eduardo Luigi Paolozzi (, ; 7 March 1924 – 22 April 2005) was a Scottish artist, known for his sculpture and graphic works. He is widely considered to be one of the pioneers of pop art. Early years Eduardo Luigi Paolozzi was born on 7 M ...

to design the club's wine labels. He had an appreciation for field sports and was a co-founder of the Game Conservancy, which led him to purchase a 200-acre estate in Abshield near Morpeth, Northumberland, in the 1980s, where he arranged the regeneration of the British grey partridge. The resulting re-landscaping, wildlife corridor hedgerows and several ponds were acknowledged in the finals of the Laurent-Perrier conservation awards, which ran annually by Laurent-Perrier Champagne (UK) Ltd between 1986 and 1998, and was subsequently taken over by James Purdey & Sons.

Death

Copeman died due to a series of strokes.

Selected publications

"The Problems of Classification of Cutaneous Angitis with Reference to Histopathology and Pathogenesis"
''

British Journal of Dermatology The ''British Journal of Dermatology'' is a monthly peer-reviewed medical journal that covers the field of dermatology. It is published by Wiley-Blackwell on behalf of the British Association of Dermatologists. The journal was established in 1888 ...

'', Vol. 82, Supplement 5 (May 1970). (With T. J. Ryan)
"Investigations into the Pathogenesis of Acute Cutaneous Angitis"
''British Journal of Dermatology'', Vol. 82, Supplement 5 (May 1970), pp. 51–65.
"Immunofluorescence of Cutaneous Vasculitis Associated With Systemic Disease"
''

Archives of Dermatology ''JAMA Dermatology'' is a monthly peer-reviewed medical journal published by the American Medical Association. It covers the effectiveness of diagnosis and treatment in medical and surgical dermatology, pediatric and geriatric dermatology, and onc ...

'', Vol. 104 (1971), No. 3, pp. 254–259. (With Arnold L. Schroeter and Robert E. Jordon)
"Beekeepers' dermatitis: contact allergy to beeswax, beesglue (propolis) and Royal Jelly"
''British Journal of Dermatology'', Vol. 109, Issue S24 (July 1983), p. 97. (With J. I. Harper)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Copeman, Peter 1932 births 2018 deaths English dermatologists People educated at Eton College Alumni of the University of Cambridge Fellows of the Royal College of Physicians Physicians of St Thomas' Hospital Physicians of the Westminster Hospital Medical doctors from London