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The Journal of Hand Surgery (Eur) 39(3)
Letter to the Editor Harold E. Kleinert MD October 7, 1921–September 28, 2013 Dear Sir, If there were one sentence to describe Harold E. Kleinert the man, it would be, “He was filled with eternal joy and happiness that he shared with those around him”. Ever the non-confrontational human being, Harold Kleinert flitted through life lightly with his humor, his vivacity and his compassion for his fellow beings. He made the world so much better with his grace, wisdom, care and knowledge that when he left it on the 28th September 2013, he left a great void in the lives of those who had the privilege of knowing him. Born to Amil and Christine Kleinert on October 7, 1921 Harold Kleinert grew up in Sunburst, Montana. Growing up on a farm, he learned the value of hard work. He went to North Montana State University and then on to Ann Arbor. When he wanted to go to medical school, his embryology professor advised him to go east, “Kleinert, you need a lot of polish. Go as far east as you can”. He took the advice and went to medical school at Temple University in Philadelphia from where he graduated in 1946. He then went to Grace Hospital, Detroit for his surgical residency. A chance meeting in a bar led Harold Kleinert to Louisville, KY where he worked and lived the rest of his life and where he created history. He started as a general and vascular surgeon, working on smaller and smaller blood vessels till he reached his calling, the hand. Fascinated by the beauty of hand anatomy and intrigued by the intricacies of its function, he decided to dedicate his life to hand surgery. He tackled the unresolved problem of zone 2-flexor tendon repair, showing excellent results
in primary repairs at a time when the prevailing wisdom was secondary repair –changing a whole management paradigm. He recognized the promise of microsurgery travelling to China and Taiwan and bringing microsurgery to Louisville. He whole-heartedly embraced Marco Godina’s concept of early reconstruction of the injured hand making it the cornerstone of management of hand injuries in Louisville. He actively searched for and brought people from all over the world to enhance the center especially for areas like microsurgery, children’s hand surgery, reconstructive surgery, arthroscopy and internal fixation. He also provided great support and backing to Hand Transplantation when it was only a controversial concept. Undoubtedly, Dr. Harold Kleinert’s greatest contribution and impact is hand education. The Christine M. Kleinert Institute for Hand and Microsurgery that he started has trained more than 1400 hand surgeons throughout the world and continues to do so. Apart from hand surgery what he taught his students by example was humility, true care, humanity, patience and perseverance. He urged us to always hear what the patient was trying to say, to always do something for the patient and to always be the patient advocate. His advice was “be available, be amiable and be able”. Harold leaves behind his wife, Sharon, his 6 children, 14 grandchildren, and 12 great-grandchildren. He also leaves behind his many fellows, grand fellows and great grand fellows. Personally, he started as my teacher, became my mentor, then my intellectual father and a great friend. I miss his kindness, his compassion and his love but know that his blessings are with me. Rest in peace, my guru, my friend. Amit Gupta MD, FRCS. Louisville Arm & Hand 315 E. Broadway, Suite # 195 Louisville, KY 40202 USA
© The Author(s) 2014 Reprints and permissions: sagepub.co.uk/journalsPermissions.nav doi: 10.1177/1753193414522345 available online at http://jhs.sagepub.com
Downloaded from jhs.sagepub.com at NORTHERN ARIZONA UNIVERSITY on May 30, 2015
The Journal of Hand Surgery (Eur) 39(3)
Letter to the Editor Harold E. Kleinert MD October 7, 1921–September 28, 2013 Dear Sir, If there were one sentence to describe Harold E. Kleinert the man, it would be, “He was filled with eternal joy and happiness that he shared with those around him”. Ever the non-confrontational human being, Harold Kleinert flitted through life lightly with his humor, his vivacity and his compassion for his fellow beings. He made the world so much better with his grace, wisdom, care and knowledge that when he left it on the 28th September 2013, he left a great void in the lives of those who had the privilege of knowing him. Born to Amil and Christine Kleinert on October 7, 1921 Harold Kleinert grew up in Sunburst, Montana. Growing up on a farm, he learned the value of hard work. He went to North Montana State University and then on to Ann Arbor. When he wanted to go to medical school, his embryology professor advised him to go east, “Kleinert, you need a lot of polish. Go as far east as you can”. He took the advice and went to medical school at Temple University in Philadelphia from where he graduated in 1946. He then went to Grace Hospital, Detroit for his surgical residency. A chance meeting in a bar led Harold Kleinert to Louisville, KY where he worked and lived the rest of his life and where he created history. He started as a general and vascular surgeon, working on smaller and smaller blood vessels till he reached his calling, the hand. Fascinated by the beauty of hand anatomy and intrigued by the intricacies of its function, he decided to dedicate his life to hand surgery. He tackled the unresolved problem of zone 2-flexor tendon repair, showing excellent results
in primary repairs at a time when the prevailing wisdom was secondary repair –changing a whole management paradigm. He recognized the promise of microsurgery travelling to China and Taiwan and bringing microsurgery to Louisville. He whole-heartedly embraced Marco Godina’s concept of early reconstruction of the injured hand making it the cornerstone of management of hand injuries in Louisville. He actively searched for and brought people from all over the world to enhance the center especially for areas like microsurgery, children’s hand surgery, reconstructive surgery, arthroscopy and internal fixation. He also provided great support and backing to Hand Transplantation when it was only a controversial concept. Undoubtedly, Dr. Harold Kleinert’s greatest contribution and impact is hand education. The Christine M. Kleinert Institute for Hand and Microsurgery that he started has trained more than 1400 hand surgeons throughout the world and continues to do so. Apart from hand surgery what he taught his students by example was humility, true care, humanity, patience and perseverance. He urged us to always hear what the patient was trying to say, to always do something for the patient and to always be the patient advocate. His advice was “be available, be amiable and be able”. Harold leaves behind his wife, Sharon, his 6 children, 14 grandchildren, and 12 great-grandchildren. He also leaves behind his many fellows, grand fellows and great grand fellows. Personally, he started as my teacher, became my mentor, then my intellectual father and a great friend. I miss his kindness, his compassion and his love but know that his blessings are with me. Rest in peace, my guru, my friend. Amit Gupta MD, FRCS. Louisville Arm & Hand 315 E. Broadway, Suite # 195 Louisville, KY 40202 USA
© The Author(s) 2014 Reprints and permissions: sagepub.co.uk/journalsPermissions.nav doi: 10.1177/1753193414522345 available online at http://jhs.sagepub.com
Downloaded from jhs.sagepub.com at NORTHERN ARIZONA UNIVERSITY on May 30, 2015
