From mourning to scientific legacy: commemorating Lister in London and Scotland

Abstract

This paper examines the changing methods, underlying motives, clienteles and controversy surrounding posthumous commemorations of Lord Lister in Britain. The importance of the commemorations for professional identity formation continues throughout the twentieth century, but World War I appears as a turning point. The constituencies commemorating Lister change from broadly international, national and civic with an emphasis on fundraising, to more narrowly professional; the use of religious imagery is notable after the war in the debates in the 1920s; and as his students, so central to the creation and preservation of his image, die, the focus begins to shift from the man and his achievements, 'the great benefactor of mankind', to his legacy in the current state of subjects related to his work. The changing nature of the commemorations suggests that although Lister's precise position in the history of surgery is contentious today, his importance as an iconic figure in the history of the medical profession is secure.

Belly-Rippers, Surgical Innovation and the Ovariotomy Controversy

“…Obstetrical Society,the,118,129,146 O'Flanagan,James,136,162 Oöphorectomy,151. See also Battey's operation and Removal of the uterine appendages and class, 155-156 and sterility, 153-154, 156 as a form of contraception, 154 Ovarian disease, 1, 26, 30, 31, 36, 50, 51, 53, 62, 76, 77, 84, 135, 139, 156, 191, 192, 218 and social stigma, 29, 35-36 association with pregnancy, 21, 27-30, 36-37, 65-66 dropsy, 26, 29-30, 34 histology of, 176 Ovarian physiology, [24][25]118,149,151,[186][187]190 Ovariotomists,3,11,14,15,55,104,108,111,115,118,120,121,125,[133][134][135][136][137][138][139][140][145][146][147][148]150,[156][157][158][159]162,166,171,…”

“…107 Churchill's statistics were swiftly questioned by The Medico-Chirurgical Review, who argued that his collected numbers barely scratched the surface as to the true number of caesarean sections that had been performed in Europe so far, the estimated extent of which led the Review to conclude that 'the real proportionate mortality can…never be accurately ascertained'. 108 Statistics were being sought as a means of attaining a definitive idea of operative risk, but like ovariotomy statistics, those for caesarean section seemed deeply uncertain. In this way, operative statistics, where data was being retrospectively collected, differed considerably from those for anaesthesia, where statistical methods had been quickly employed soon after it was introduced into practice.…”

“…Pozzi, who was gynaecological surgeon at l'hôpital Broca, and who counted John Singer Sargent and Sarah Bernhardt among his friends, was a leading light in a field of practice that was considerably smaller in France than it was in Britain and America. 108 Nonetheless Pozzi was equally susceptible to allusions regarding the fashionable nature of his work. The caricature, probably published by the Académie Nationale de Médecine, shows the dapper Pozzi dangling two 'o's, representing the ovaries, from an épée.…”

The Afterlife of an Operation

“…At the turn of the century, Lister's successes and popular public image were a vital constituent of the profession's projection of itself. 108 Yet for those more personally invested in ovariotomy, a historical stocktake of the operation also allowed for quite the opposite-to conceptualise the operation as an innovation which ran independently of other developments. Thomas Spencer Wells' historical account of ovariotomy, written in 1884, had the operation at the centre of its narrative:…”

Lister at home and abroad: a continuing legacy

“…44 In writing this article I was conscious of how this Empire legacy had touched on my own life, although I did not realize it at the time. As a child in South Australia, a schoolward encounter between a car and my bicycle took me to the Lister at home and abroad…”