Joseph Ransohoff / [Major Gabriel Seelig].

  • Seelig, M. G. (Major Gabriel), 1874-
Date:
[1931]
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: Joseph Ransohoff / [Major Gabriel Seelig]. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    this institution was organized on the basis of a complete university. After the University of Cincinnati was given the control of the Cincinnati General Hospi¬ tal, he found himself in a position calling for the talents of administrator, teacher, clinician, and stimulator of men. As we count years, Dr. RansohofT was still a young man, almost a youth, when he found himself confronted with these large tasks. How well he met the call can be told best in the words of his friend and biographer, Dr. Albert H. Freiberg: “It was now possible for Dr. Ransohoff to do things for the students of medicine not dreamed of when he began his career as teacher. The opportunity he now had for devoting a greater amount of time to teaching was seized with eagerness, which could not have been greater had it been the first chance of his life to show his ability and to establish his reputation. It were entirely fruitless to attempt the analysis of his success as teacher. A sufficient explanation is found in his enthusiasm and in that of his students.” A biography of Dr. Ransohoff in order to be complete must stress not only his disciplined but also his intuitive grasp of surgical diagnosis, the sane con¬ servatism which characterized his method of establishing the indications for surgical intervention, the soundness of his surgical judgment, and the deliberate sureness, of his technique as contrasted with the ordinary concept of deadly brilliance. Over a long stretch of years, he manifested a deep interest in the problems of so called organized medicine, and took seriously to heart the obligations of membership in the several organizations with which he was affiliated. Among these various societies he counted membership in the American Surgical Associ¬ ation, the Southern Surgical Association, and the Western Surgical Association. His last presentation of a paper occurred in November, 1920, when in spite of the warnings of a rebellious heart, he delivered an address of particular charm on “Drake and Holmes,” at the commemoration of the centennial of the Medical School. Following this address, his Alma Mater crowned his 40 years of tireless service with the degree of Doctor of Laws. At the time of his death, he was director of the surgical service of the Jewish Hospital of Cincinnati and was largely responsible for the outstanding position which this hospital occupies among the institutions of its type. From the time that he accepted his first teaching position up to within a short period before his death, he worked day in and day out, uninterruptedly, save for the usual vacation outings. During these years, Dr. Ransohoff published a series of one hundred and fifty papers, covering the entire field of general surgery. As an evidence of the evenness of method underlying his surgical life, it is inter¬ esting to note that these publications, beginning in 1879 continued up to within 4 months of his death, and that during all these 42 years there were only three that were barren. In addition to these numerous contributions to journal