William Williams Keen (January 19, 1837 – June 7, 1932)
by Dr. Farhan Asrar
Dr. W. W. Keen was an internationally renowned surgeon considered by many to be among the greatest of all time. An article in McGill University’s the Osler Library Newsletter in October 1972 by Professor G.E. Erikson of Brown University mentions three possible nominees for greatest surgeon of the early twentieth century (who could challenge Sir William Osler's achievements as a physician?). The three mentioned were Harvey Cushing, William Halsted and William W. Keen, all of whom were dear friends of Osler.
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William Williams Keen was born in Philadelphia in 1837 and went on to pursue both undergraduate and graduate studies at Brown University. He received his M.D. from Jefferson Medical College in 1862. In the Annals of Surgery in 1933, J.H. Gibbon called Keen America’s first brain surgeon as he had performed the U.S.A.’s first successful brain tumour surgery, removing a mass from a patient who lived for thirty years after the operation. Keen is credited with inventing several surgical procedures, including drainage of the cerebral ventricles. After hearing Joseph Lister’s views on antisepsis, Keen was among America's first surgeons to utilize antiseptic techniques and wrote the first American surgery text based on Listerian principles in 1892.
During Dr. Keen's career, it was estimated that he taught from between six to seven thousand medical students and wrote hundreds of articles, editorials and books. He edited an edition of Gray’s Anatomy and his 'System of Surgery' was considered to be the surgeon’s bible. He held countless honours and recognitions, including the president of several prestigious organizations such as the American Medical Association, the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Philadelphia, and the American Surgical Association. He was the first American to become President of the International Surgical Congress. Keen received honorary degrees from Toronto, Edinburgh, Paris, Yale, Harvard, Brown, Pennsylvania as well as others. He served during both the Spanish-American war and World War I.
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One of Keen's unknown achievements was being among a group of surgeons involved in operations to remove a malignant growth from the jaw of the then American President Grover Cleveland in 1893. Due to the national interests of the country, the operations were kept secret, the first of which was said to be performed on a yacht. Details of the surgeries came to light when Keen wrote about them in 1917. He noted "The entire operation was done within the mouth, without any external incision, by means of a cheek retractor”.
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The attached original letter was written by Keen to Dr. A.M. Eaton on December 11th, 1918. It mentions his work with the Medical reserve corps, as well as about a photograph that he is sending to Dr. Eaton.
William Osler and W.W. Keen shared a close friendship based on a delightful sense of humour. Professor G.E. Erikson wrote that Keen recalled how Osler would escort Keen’s prettiest daughter to functions and introduce her as his own wife with the straightest of faces. Another amusing incident is told through a post card at the Brown University archives; William Osler had sent the card to Keen, asking him not to buy a book which Osler himself was looking to purchase, stating “Please do not buy up all the incunabula you old greedy rascal. If you come across Servetus' Christianismi Restitutio - send it to me - 'twould not be a proper book for you! Love to the girls" (referring to Keen’s four daughters).
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Dr. William Williams Keen passed away in June 1932, leaving behind an unparalleled legacy in the field of surgery and medicine. Upon his death, the Canadian Medical Association Journal of August 1932 declared “One of the giants of our profession has passed. Among his contemporaries he was perhaps the only one who might be compared with Osler, in his range, his enthusiasm and his power of making friends”.
About the author and collector: Dr. Farhan M. Asrar is a resident physician (in the specialty of Community Medicine) at McMaster University. He has a keen interest in history as well as collecting arts and antiquities. The original letter of Dr. Keen is from his private collection in a specialized section entitled 'History of Medicine'.
by Dr. Farhan Asrar
Dr. W. W. Keen was an internationally renowned surgeon considered by many to be among the greatest of all time. An article in McGill University’s the Osler Library Newsletter in October 1972 by Professor G.E. Erikson of Brown University mentions three possible nominees for greatest surgeon of the early twentieth century (who could challenge Sir William Osler's achievements as a physician?). The three mentioned were Harvey Cushing, William Halsted and William W. Keen, all of whom were dear friends of Osler.
******************
William Williams Keen was born in Philadelphia in 1837 and went on to pursue both undergraduate and graduate studies at Brown University. He received his M.D. from Jefferson Medical College in 1862. In the Annals of Surgery in 1933, J.H. Gibbon called Keen America’s first brain surgeon as he had performed the U.S.A.’s first successful brain tumour surgery, removing a mass from a patient who lived for thirty years after the operation. Keen is credited with inventing several surgical procedures, including drainage of the cerebral ventricles. After hearing Joseph Lister’s views on antisepsis, Keen was among America's first surgeons to utilize antiseptic techniques and wrote the first American surgery text based on Listerian principles in 1892.
During Dr. Keen's career, it was estimated that he taught from between six to seven thousand medical students and wrote hundreds of articles, editorials and books. He edited an edition of Gray’s Anatomy and his 'System of Surgery' was considered to be the surgeon’s bible. He held countless honours and recognitions, including the president of several prestigious organizations such as the American Medical Association, the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Philadelphia, and the American Surgical Association. He was the first American to become President of the International Surgical Congress. Keen received honorary degrees from Toronto, Edinburgh, Paris, Yale, Harvard, Brown, Pennsylvania as well as others. He served during both the Spanish-American war and World War I.
******************
One of Keen's unknown achievements was being among a group of surgeons involved in operations to remove a malignant growth from the jaw of the then American President Grover Cleveland in 1893. Due to the national interests of the country, the operations were kept secret, the first of which was said to be performed on a yacht. Details of the surgeries came to light when Keen wrote about them in 1917. He noted "The entire operation was done within the mouth, without any external incision, by means of a cheek retractor”.
******************
The attached original letter was written by Keen to Dr. A.M. Eaton on December 11th, 1918. It mentions his work with the Medical reserve corps, as well as about a photograph that he is sending to Dr. Eaton.William Osler and W.W. Keen shared a close friendship based on a delightful sense of humour. Professor G.E. Erikson wrote that Keen recalled how Osler would escort Keen’s prettiest daughter to functions and introduce her as his own wife with the straightest of faces. Another amusing incident is told through a post card at the Brown University archives; William Osler had sent the card to Keen, asking him not to buy a book which Osler himself was looking to purchase, stating “Please do not buy up all the incunabula you old greedy rascal. If you come across Servetus' Christianismi Restitutio - send it to me - 'twould not be a proper book for you! Love to the girls" (referring to Keen’s four daughters).
******************
Dr. William Williams Keen passed away in June 1932, leaving behind an unparalleled legacy in the field of surgery and medicine. Upon his death, the Canadian Medical Association Journal of August 1932 declared “One of the giants of our profession has passed. Among his contemporaries he was perhaps the only one who might be compared with Osler, in his range, his enthusiasm and his power of making friends”.
About the author and collector: Dr. Farhan M. Asrar is a resident physician (in the specialty of Community Medicine) at McMaster University. He has a keen interest in history as well as collecting arts and antiquities. The original letter of Dr. Keen is from his private collection in a specialized section entitled 'History of Medicine'.
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