Sir Astley Paston Cooper, 1st Baronet (23 August 176812 February 1841) was a British

surgeon In medicine, a surgeon is a medical doctor who performs surgery. Even though there are different traditions in different times and places, a modern surgeon is a licensed physician and received the same medical training as physicians before spec ...

and

anatomist Anatomy () is the branch of morphology concerned with the study of the internal structure of organisms and their parts. Anatomy is a branch of natural science that deals with the structural organization of living things. It is an old scien ...

, who made contributions to

otology Otology is a branch of medicine which studies normal, pathological anatomy and physiology of the ear (hearing). Otology also studies vestibular sensory systems, related structures and functions, as well as their diseases, diagnosis and trea ...

vascular surgery Vascular surgery is a surgical subspecialty in which vascular diseases involving the arteries, veins, or lymphatic vessels, are managed by medical therapy, minimally-invasive catheter procedures and surgical reconstruction. The specialty evolve ...

, the

anatomy Anatomy () is the branch of morphology concerned with the study of the internal structure of organisms and their parts. Anatomy is a branch of natural science that deals with the structural organization of living things. It is an old scien ...

and

pathology Pathology is the study of disease. The word ''pathology'' also refers to the study of disease in general, incorporating a wide range of biology research fields and medical practices. However, when used in the context of modern medical treatme ...

of the

mammary gland A mammary gland is an exocrine gland that produces milk in humans and other mammals. Mammals get their name from the Latin word ''mamma'', "breast". The mammary glands are arranged in organs such as the breasts in primates (for example, human ...

s and

testicle A testicle or testis ( testes) is the gonad in all male bilaterians, including humans, and is Homology (biology), homologous to the ovary in females. Its primary functions are the production of sperm and the secretion of Androgen, androgens, p ...

s, and the pathology and surgery of

hernia A hernia (: hernias or herniae, from Latin, meaning 'rupture') is the abnormal exit of tissue or an organ (anatomy), organ, such as the bowel, through the wall of the cavity in which it normally resides. The term is also used for the normal Devel ...

Biography

Born at Brooke Hall in

Brooke, Norfolk Brooke is a village and civil parish in the English county of Norfolk. Brooke is located west of Loddon and south-east of Norwich. Brooke CP also includes the smaller village of Howe. History Brook's name is of Anglo-Saxon origin and de ...

on 23 August 1768 and baptised at St. Peter's Church, Brooke, on 9 September, Astley Cooper was the son of the Rev Dr Samuel Cooper, a

clergyman Clergy are formal leaders within established religions. Their roles and functions vary in different religious traditions, but usually involve presiding over specific rituals and teaching their religion's doctrines and practices. Some of the ter ...

of the

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the State religion#State churches, established List of Christian denominations, Christian church in England and the Crown Dependencies. It is the mother church of the Anglicanism, Anglican Christian tradition, ...

; his mother Maria Susanna Cooper née Bransby wrote several epistolary novels. At the age of sixteen he was sent to London and placed under

Henry Cline Henry Cline (1750–1827) was an English surgeon and president of the Royal College of Surgeons. He was also a political radical, associated with leading supporters of the French Revolution, a farmer, and a Fellow of the Royal Society. He wa ...

(1750–1827), surgeon 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 ...

. From the first he devoted himself to the study of

, and had the privilege of attending the lectures of

John Hunter John Hunter may refer to: Politics *John Hunter (British politician) (1724–1802), British Member of Parliament for Leominster * John Hunter (Canadian politician) (1909–1993), Canadian Liberal MP for Parkdale, 1949–1957 *Sir John Hunter ( ...

. In 1789 he was appointed demonstrator of anatomy at St Thomas' Hospital, where in 1791 he became joint lecturer with Cline in anatomy and

surgery Surgery is a medical specialty that uses manual and instrumental techniques to diagnose or treat pathological conditions (e.g., trauma, disease, injury, malignancy), to alter bodily functions (e.g., malabsorption created by bariatric surgery s ...

, and in 1800 he was appointed surgeon to

Guy's Hospital Guy's Hospital is an NHS hospital founded by philanthropist Thomas Guy in 1721, located in the borough of Southwark in central London. It is part of Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust and one of the institutions that comprise the Kin ...

on the death of his uncle, William Cooper. Astley Cooper received the

Copley Medal The Copley Medal is the most prestigious award of the Royal Society of the United Kingdom, conferred "for sustained, outstanding achievements in any field of science". The award alternates between the physical sciences or mathematics and the bio ...

in 1801 for two papers read before the

Royal Society The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, re ...

of London on the destruction of the

tympanic membrane In the anatomy of humans and various other tetrapods, the eardrum, also called the tympanic membrane or myringa, is a thin, cone-shaped membrane that separates the external ear from the middle ear. Its function is to transmit changes in pressur ...

. In February 1802 or February 1805 he was elected a Fellow of the Society. In 1805 he took an active part in the formation of the

Medical and Chirurgical Society of London The Royal Medical and Chirurgical Society of London (RMCS), created in 1805 as the Medical and Chirurgical Society of London, was a learned society of physicians and surgeons, that received a Royal charter in 1834, and a supplement charter in 190 ...

and was its President in 1819. In 1804 he brought out the first, and in 1807 the second, part of his great work on

, which added so largely to his reputation that in 1813 his annual professional income rose to 21,000 pounds sterling. In the same year he was appointed professor of

comparative anatomy Comparative anatomy is the study of similarities and differences in the anatomy of different species. It is closely related to evolutionary biology and phylogeny (the evolution of species). The science began in the classical era, continuing in t ...

to the

Royal College of Surgeons The Royal College of Surgeons is an ancient college (a form of corporation) established in England to regulate the activity of surgeons. Derivative organisations survive in many present and former members of the Commonwealth. These organisations ...

and was very popular as a lecturer. In 1817 Cooper performed his famous operation of tying the abdominal aorta for aneurysm; and in 1820 he removed an infected wen (in more modern terminology, a

sebaceous cyst A sebaceous cyst is a term commonly used to refer to either: * Epidermoid cysts (also termed epidermal cysts, infundibular cyst) * Pilar cysts (also termed trichelemmal cysts, isthmus-catagen cysts) Both of the above types of cysts contain ...

) from the scalp of King

George IV George IV (George Augustus Frederick; 12 August 1762 – 26 June 1830) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and King of Hanover from 29 January 1820 until his death in 1830. At the time of his accession to the throne, h ...

. About six months afterwards he received a

baronet A baronet ( or ; abbreviated Bart or Bt) or the female equivalent, a baronetess (, , or ; abbreviation Btss), is the holder of a baronetcy, a hereditary title awarded by the British Crown. The title of baronet is mentioned as early as the 14th ...

cy, which, as he had no son, was to descend to his nephew and adopted son, Astley Cooper. He was appointed sergeant surgeon to George IV in 1828. He served as president of the

in 1827 and again in 1836, and he was elected a vice-president of the

in 1830. In 1821, he was elected a foreign member of the

Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences () is one of the Swedish Royal Academies, royal academies of Sweden. Founded on 2 June 1739, it is an independent, non-governmental scientific organization that takes special responsibility for promoting nat ...

. He died on 12 February 1841 in London, and is interred, by his own desire, in the crypt of the Chapel of Thomas Guy, St Thomas Street (on the site now shared by

King's College London King's College London (informally King's or KCL) is a public university, public research university in London, England. King's was established by royal charter in 1829 under the patronage of George IV of the United Kingdom, King George IV ...

and

). A statue by

Edward Hodges Baily Edward Hodges Baily (10 March 1788 – 22 May 1867; sometimes misspelled Bailey) was a prolific British sculptor responsible for numerous public monuments, portrait busts, statues and exhibition pieces as well as works in silver. He carved friez ...

was erected in

St Paul's Cathedral St Paul's Cathedral, formally the Cathedral Church of St Paul the Apostle, is an Anglican cathedral in London, England, the seat of the Bishop of London. The cathedral serves as the mother church of the Diocese of London in the Church of Engl ...

. Cooper lived at Gadebridge House in the market town of

Hemel Hempstead Hemel Hempstead () is a town in the Dacorum district in Hertfordshire, England. It is located north-west of London; nearby towns and cities include Watford, St Albans and Berkhamsted. The population at the 2021 United Kingdom census, 2021 cens ...

. Due to his influence and vigorous lobbying, supported by other residents of the area, a railway line was constructed in the 1830s by the

London and Birmingham Railway The London and Birmingham Railway (L&BR) was a railway company in the United Kingdom, in operation from 1833 to 1846, when it became part of the London and North Western Railway (L&NWR). The railway line which the company opened in 1838, betw ...

to the south of the town instead of directly through it. This led to the citizens of Hemel Hempstead having no railway station in their town.

Legacy

The importance of Sir Astley Cooper is remembered with a number of street names (Astley Cooper Place in the village of his birth, Brooke, Norfolk; Astley Road and Paston Road in Hemel Hempstead), and with The Astley Cooper School, formerly Grove Hill School, but renamed after him in 1984.

Works

In the field of

and

cerebral circulation Cerebral circulation is the movement of blood through a network of cerebral arteries and veins supplying the brain. The rate of cerebral blood flow in an adult human is typically 750 milliliters per minute, or about 15% of cardiac output. A ...

, Cooper was the first to demonstrate experimentally the effects of bilateral

ligation Ligation may refer to: * Ligation (molecular biology), the covalent linking of two ends of DNA or RNA molecules * Chemical ligation, the chemoselective condensation of unprotected peptides * In medicine, the making of a ligature (tie) * Tubal liga ...

of the carotid arteries in dogs and to propose treatment of

aneurysm An aneurysm is an outward :wikt:bulge, bulging, likened to a bubble or balloon, caused by a localized, abnormal, weak spot on a blood vessel wall. Aneurysms may be a result of a hereditary condition or an acquired disease. Aneurysms can also b ...

s by ligation of the vessel. In 1805 he published in the first volume of ''Medico-Chirurgical Transactions'', an account of his attempt to tie the common

carotid artery Carotid artery may refer to: * Common carotid artery, often "carotids" or "carotid", an artery on each side of the neck which divides into the external carotid artery and internal carotid artery * External carotid artery, an artery on each side of ...

for treating an aneurysm in a patient. In 1808 he tried the same with the

external iliac artery The external iliac arteries are two major Artery, arteries which bifurcate off the common iliac arteries anterior to the sacroiliac joint of the pelvis. Structure The external iliac artery arises from the bifurcation of the common iliac arter ...

for a femoral aneurysm and in 1817 he ligated the

aorta The aorta ( ; : aortas or aortae) is the main and largest artery in the human body, originating from the Ventricle (heart), left ventricle of the heart, branching upwards immediately after, and extending down to the abdomen, where it splits at ...

for an iliac aneurysm. Cooper was an anatomist and identified several previously undescribed anatomical structures, many of which were named after him: * Cooper's fascia, a covering of the

spermatic cord The spermatic cord is the cord-like structure in males formed by the vas deferens (''ductus deferens'') and surrounding tissue that runs from the deep inguinal ring down to each testicle. Its serosal covering, the tunica vaginalis, is an exten ...

. * Cooper's pubic ligament, the superior pubic ligament. * Cooper's stripes, a fibrous structure in the

ulna The ulna or ulnar bone (: ulnae or ulnas) is a long bone in the forearm stretching from the elbow to the wrist. It is on the same side of the forearm as the little finger, running parallel to the Radius (bone), radius, the forearm's other long ...

r ligaments. * Cooper's ligaments, the suspensory ligaments of the breasts. He also described a number of new diseases, which likewise became eponymous: * Cooper's testis (

neuralgia Neuralgia (Greek ''neuron'', "nerve" + ''algos'', "pain") is pain in the distribution of a nerve or nerves, as in intercostal nerve, intercostal neuralgia, trigeminal neuralgia, and glossopharyngeal nerve, glossopharyngeal neuralgia. Classifica ...

of the

s) * Cooper's disease (benign

cysts A cyst is a closed Wikt:sac, sac, having a distinct Cell envelope, envelope and cell division, division compared with the nearby Biological tissue, tissue. Hence, it is a cluster of Cell (biology), cells that have grouped together to form a sac ...

of the breast) *

Cooper's hernia Cooper, Cooper's, Coopers and similar may refer to: * Cooper (profession), a maker of wooden casks and other staved vessels Arts and entertainment * Cooper (producers), an alias of Dutch producers Klubbheads * "Cooper", a song by Roxette from ...

(retroperitoneal hernia) * Cooper's neuralgia (neuralgia of the breast) His chief published works were: * ''Anatomy and Surgical Treatment of Hernia'' (1804–1807); * ''Dislocations and Fractures'' (1822); * ''Lectures on Surgery'' (1824–1827); * ''Illustrations of Diseases of the Breast'' (1829); * ''Anatomy of the Thymus Gland'' (1832); * ''Anatomy of the Breast'' (1840).

References

Sources

* * *

External links

Astley Paston Cooper biography
WhoNamedIt.

History of Surgeons from surgeons.org.uk.

Surgical-Tutor.
On the anatomy of the breast, 1840
Digital reproduction of the book. *

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cooper, Astley Paston 1768 births 1841 deaths British anatomists British surgeons 19th-century English medical doctors English pathologists Recipients of the Copley Medal Members of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences Baronets in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom People from Hemel Hempstead 18th-century English people Fellows of the Royal Society People from Brooke, Norfolk Physicians of Guy's Hospital

Biography

Legacy

Works

See also

References

Sources

Further reading

External links