WILDER CRAVES PENFIELD 1891 - 1976
(v)
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TRIBUTE TO DR. WILDER PENFIELD 1891 - 1976
The recent death of Wilder Graves Penfield just a few months after his 85th birthday, marks the end of an era in Canadian neurology and the loss of a great protagonist for neurology, neurosurgery and humanism. To his w o r k as a brain surgeon, he brought insight from physiology, microscopic anatomy and neurology. T h r o u g h o u t his long and productive life, Wilder Penfield was remarkably diversified in his interests and accomplishments. At the forefront of these was the foundation of the Montreal Neurological Institute where he directed scientific and surgical teams toward the solutions of many unanswered questions about the brain and particularly about the mechanism and treatment of epilepsy. Many will remember him also for his personal w a r m t h , his insistence on excellence as a teacher and a leader and his physical stamina, w h e t h e r at w o r k or at play. His influence t o u c h e d people in many walks of life, extending outside the special field of neurology and far beyond Canada. W h e n Dr. Leon Binet, the Dean of Medicine at the University of Paris, presented Dr. Penfield for an honorary doctorate in 1954 he c o m m e n t e d , " D r . Penfield n'a pas seulement fonde une neurologie canadienne mais il a influence par son oeuvre la neurologie mondiale". Dr. Penfield was b o r n in Spokane, W a s h i n g t o n , obtained his B. Litt. in 1913 f r o m Princeton and w e n t f r o m there o n a Rhodes Scholarship to O x f o r d . Two great medical teachers deeply influenced him at this stage of his career. From Sir William Osier he gained inspiration and the sympathetic approach. From the quiet genius of Sir Charles Sherrington, he learned to observe, d o c u m e n t experimental findings and was made aware of the "undiscovered country of the brain in w h i c h the mystery of the mind of man might someday be e x p l a i n e d " . He completed his M.D. in 1918 at Johns Hopkins, took further studies in England w i t h Sherrington and at the National Hospital, where he came under the kindly tutelage of Sir G o r d o n Holmes. In 1917, Wilder Penfield married Helen Katherine Kermott, an attractive young schoolteacher from Wisconsin. They were inseparable companions. Sir George Pickering has put it recently, " W i l d e r and his wife Helen were deeply in love with one another. What he d i d , she d i d . The pair was infinitely stronger than the sum of its c o m p o n e n t s " . From 1921 to 1928, he was associated with surgery at Columbia University and the New York Neurological Institute. He made t w o important trips to Europe, what Osier w o u l d refer to as " b r a i n d u s t i n g " . In 1924, at M a d r i d w i t h Cajal and Rio-Hortega, he learned the metallic methods for demonstrating the glia and brought these back to New York where he and his new energetic partner, Dr. William Cone, launched a series of studies on tumors and glial scars. In 1928 he spent some months in the clinical laboratories of Professor O t f r i d Foerster. Here he came to realize that excision of cortical scars presented a means of treating focal epilepsy. In the same year he came to McGill University w i t h Dr. Cone, setting up a c o m b i n e d department of neurology and neurosurgery. The success of this led to the f o u n d i n g of the Montreal Neurological Institute, supported by the Rockefeller Foundation, matched by donations f r o m the generous citizens of Montreal and by the City and Province as w e l l . The Institute, c o m b i n i n g hospital and research resources, quickly gained an international reputation and became a model for others t h r o u g h o u t the w o r l d . The first neurosurgeon in China, in Norway and in India, to mention a few, were all former Fellows of the N e u r o . Graduates in various disciplines came and went from many lands and not least of all the United States, where they began to fill the most distinguished professorial positions and provided the initial team w h i c h established the Neurological Section of the National Institutes of Health. O n e of Wilder Penfield's great qualities was the confidence he instilled in his associates to put their talents to use. Penfield's studies became classics. The readers of this journal will be familiar w i t h the c o n t i n u i n g accumulation of papers o n m e m o r y , speech, motor and sensory f u n c t i o n , derived f r o m accurate observation of the responses to stimulation and recordings from the human brain. In 1960 Dr. Penfield retired to what he called his " s e c o n d career". He traveled w i t h Mrs. Penfield to China, bringing to o u r a t t e n t i o n the medical situation and our need for better friendship and c o m m u n i c a t i o n . He w r o t e t w o historical novels, and an excellent biography of Dr. Alan Gregg. He took on the first presidency, at the urging of Governor General and Madame Vanier, of the Vanier Institute of the Family. His most recent b o o k , " T h e Mystery of the M i n d " , gave him an o p p o r t u n i t y to summarize his research findings o n human brain function and to t h r o w out his courageous and provocative views in this controversial area. He was pleased to have completed an autobiography giving the story of his life up to the time of the foundation of the Institute. He was deeply satisfied at the inauguration of an Institute expansion w h i c h will be called the Penfield Pavilion. Few medical men have been so h o n o r e d as Wilder Penfield. He was awarded the C o m p a n i o n of the O r d e r of Canada, the O r d e r of Merit (which had been bestowed u p o n Sherrington, Adrian and Dale, his teachers and friends), the U.S. Medal of Freedom w i t h Silver Palm and the Cross of Chevalier of the Legion d ' h o n n e u r to m e n t i o n only a few from the long list. Recognized by learned and medical societies of many countries, he was often referred to as Canada's most distinguished citizen. " I f it seems to neurologists today," Dr. Penfield w r o t e a few years ago, " t h a t the present understanding of the brain and m i n d of man is hardly more than the beginning of science, it may be reassuring to recall that o u r task is the ultimate one. The p r o b l e m of neurology is to understand man himself. W e must analyze the means by w h i c h man, the creator of science, has done what he has d o n e . This may well be the most difficult, and surely it is the most important, task of a l l " . (vi)
William Feindel, Director, Montreal Neurological Institute.
Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. IP address: 113.173.189.242, on 23 Oct 2019 at 00:21:05, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0317167100025816
(v)
Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. IP address: 113.173.189.242, on 23 Oct 2019 at 00:21:05, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0317167100025816
TRIBUTE TO DR. WILDER PENFIELD 1891 - 1976
The recent death of Wilder Graves Penfield just a few months after his 85th birthday, marks the end of an era in Canadian neurology and the loss of a great protagonist for neurology, neurosurgery and humanism. To his w o r k as a brain surgeon, he brought insight from physiology, microscopic anatomy and neurology. T h r o u g h o u t his long and productive life, Wilder Penfield was remarkably diversified in his interests and accomplishments. At the forefront of these was the foundation of the Montreal Neurological Institute where he directed scientific and surgical teams toward the solutions of many unanswered questions about the brain and particularly about the mechanism and treatment of epilepsy. Many will remember him also for his personal w a r m t h , his insistence on excellence as a teacher and a leader and his physical stamina, w h e t h e r at w o r k or at play. His influence t o u c h e d people in many walks of life, extending outside the special field of neurology and far beyond Canada. W h e n Dr. Leon Binet, the Dean of Medicine at the University of Paris, presented Dr. Penfield for an honorary doctorate in 1954 he c o m m e n t e d , " D r . Penfield n'a pas seulement fonde une neurologie canadienne mais il a influence par son oeuvre la neurologie mondiale". Dr. Penfield was b o r n in Spokane, W a s h i n g t o n , obtained his B. Litt. in 1913 f r o m Princeton and w e n t f r o m there o n a Rhodes Scholarship to O x f o r d . Two great medical teachers deeply influenced him at this stage of his career. From Sir William Osier he gained inspiration and the sympathetic approach. From the quiet genius of Sir Charles Sherrington, he learned to observe, d o c u m e n t experimental findings and was made aware of the "undiscovered country of the brain in w h i c h the mystery of the mind of man might someday be e x p l a i n e d " . He completed his M.D. in 1918 at Johns Hopkins, took further studies in England w i t h Sherrington and at the National Hospital, where he came under the kindly tutelage of Sir G o r d o n Holmes. In 1917, Wilder Penfield married Helen Katherine Kermott, an attractive young schoolteacher from Wisconsin. They were inseparable companions. Sir George Pickering has put it recently, " W i l d e r and his wife Helen were deeply in love with one another. What he d i d , she d i d . The pair was infinitely stronger than the sum of its c o m p o n e n t s " . From 1921 to 1928, he was associated with surgery at Columbia University and the New York Neurological Institute. He made t w o important trips to Europe, what Osier w o u l d refer to as " b r a i n d u s t i n g " . In 1924, at M a d r i d w i t h Cajal and Rio-Hortega, he learned the metallic methods for demonstrating the glia and brought these back to New York where he and his new energetic partner, Dr. William Cone, launched a series of studies on tumors and glial scars. In 1928 he spent some months in the clinical laboratories of Professor O t f r i d Foerster. Here he came to realize that excision of cortical scars presented a means of treating focal epilepsy. In the same year he came to McGill University w i t h Dr. Cone, setting up a c o m b i n e d department of neurology and neurosurgery. The success of this led to the f o u n d i n g of the Montreal Neurological Institute, supported by the Rockefeller Foundation, matched by donations f r o m the generous citizens of Montreal and by the City and Province as w e l l . The Institute, c o m b i n i n g hospital and research resources, quickly gained an international reputation and became a model for others t h r o u g h o u t the w o r l d . The first neurosurgeon in China, in Norway and in India, to mention a few, were all former Fellows of the N e u r o . Graduates in various disciplines came and went from many lands and not least of all the United States, where they began to fill the most distinguished professorial positions and provided the initial team w h i c h established the Neurological Section of the National Institutes of Health. O n e of Wilder Penfield's great qualities was the confidence he instilled in his associates to put their talents to use. Penfield's studies became classics. The readers of this journal will be familiar w i t h the c o n t i n u i n g accumulation of papers o n m e m o r y , speech, motor and sensory f u n c t i o n , derived f r o m accurate observation of the responses to stimulation and recordings from the human brain. In 1960 Dr. Penfield retired to what he called his " s e c o n d career". He traveled w i t h Mrs. Penfield to China, bringing to o u r a t t e n t i o n the medical situation and our need for better friendship and c o m m u n i c a t i o n . He w r o t e t w o historical novels, and an excellent biography of Dr. Alan Gregg. He took on the first presidency, at the urging of Governor General and Madame Vanier, of the Vanier Institute of the Family. His most recent b o o k , " T h e Mystery of the M i n d " , gave him an o p p o r t u n i t y to summarize his research findings o n human brain function and to t h r o w out his courageous and provocative views in this controversial area. He was pleased to have completed an autobiography giving the story of his life up to the time of the foundation of the Institute. He was deeply satisfied at the inauguration of an Institute expansion w h i c h will be called the Penfield Pavilion. Few medical men have been so h o n o r e d as Wilder Penfield. He was awarded the C o m p a n i o n of the O r d e r of Canada, the O r d e r of Merit (which had been bestowed u p o n Sherrington, Adrian and Dale, his teachers and friends), the U.S. Medal of Freedom w i t h Silver Palm and the Cross of Chevalier of the Legion d ' h o n n e u r to m e n t i o n only a few from the long list. Recognized by learned and medical societies of many countries, he was often referred to as Canada's most distinguished citizen. " I f it seems to neurologists today," Dr. Penfield w r o t e a few years ago, " t h a t the present understanding of the brain and m i n d of man is hardly more than the beginning of science, it may be reassuring to recall that o u r task is the ultimate one. The p r o b l e m of neurology is to understand man himself. W e must analyze the means by w h i c h man, the creator of science, has done what he has d o n e . This may well be the most difficult, and surely it is the most important, task of a l l " . (vi)
William Feindel, Director, Montreal Neurological Institute.
Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. IP address: 113.173.189.242, on 23 Oct 2019 at 00:21:05, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0317167100025816
