Of Medicine and Men : Biographies and Ideas in European Social Medicine between the World Wars

Social medicine was one of the key health paradigms of the early twentieth century. It perceived public health as a function of social conditions and aimed at improving it through comprehensive, horizontal strategies. Yet, it was no homogeneous or static phenomenon. Depending on time, place and circumstances, it took different, sometimes ideologically contradictory forms. This volume portrays leading medical experts from seven European countries. Their juxtaposition reveals a network of international interaction and shows how different people coped with the crises of the time in different ways, sometimes as part of the scientific mainstream, sometimes as opposition under attack, sometimes in exile. Their biographies reflect an ambivalent interplay of biomedicine, politics and social theory. Cover......Page 1 Table of Contents......Page 6 Of Medicine and Men - lntroduction (Iris Borowy)......Page 8 Selskar 'Mike' Gunn and Public Health Reform in Europe (Socrates Litsios)......Page 24 Beta Johan (1889-1983) and Public Health in Inter-war Hungary (Erik lngebrigtsen)......Page 46 Andrija Stampar (1888-1958): Resolute Fighter for Health and Social Justice (Zeljko Dugac)......Page 74 Dr Melville Mackenzie (1889-1972): 'Feed the people and prevent disease, and be damned to their politics.' (Zoe C. Sprigings)......Page 104 Actions not Words. Thorvald Madsen, Denmark, and International Health. 1902-1939 (Anne Hardy)......Page 128 In the Shadow of Grotjahn. German Social Hygienists in the International Health Scene (Iris Borowy)......Page 146 Gustavo Pittaluga (1876-1956). Science as a Weapon for Social Reform in a Time of Crisis (Esteban Rodriguez-Ocana & Iris Borowy)......Page 174 A Posthumous Audit. Medical Biography and the Social History of Medicine (Patrick Zylberman)......Page 198 Notes on Contributors......Page 222 Introduction / Iris Borowy Selskar 'Mike' Gunn and public health reform in Europe / Socrates Litsios Béla Johan (1889-1983) and public health in inter-war Hungary / Erik Ingebrigtsen Andrija Štampar (1888-1958): resolute fighter for health and social justice / Željko Dugac Melville Mackenzie (1889-1972): 'Feed the people and prevent disease, and be damned to their politics' / Zoe Sprigings Actions not words: Thorvald Madsen, Denmark, and international health, 1902-1939 / Anne Hardy In the shadow of Grotjahn: German social hygienists in the international health scene / Iris Borowy Gustavo Pittaluga (1876-1956): science as a weapon for social reform in a time of crisis / Esteban Rodríguez-Ocaña & Iris Borowy A posthumous audit: medical biography and the social history of medicine / Patrick Zylberman.