Thomas Hodgkin | |
---|---|
Born | 17 August 1798 Pentonville, Middlesex |
Died | 5 April 1866 Jaffa, Ottoman Palestine |
(aged 67)
Nationality | British |
Fields | Pathologist |
Known for | Preventive medicine |
Thomas Hodgkin (17 August 1798 – 5 April 1866) was a British physician, considered one of the most prominent pathologists of his time and a pioneer in preventive medicine. He is now best known for the first account of Hodgkin's disease, a form of lymphoma and blood disease, in 1832. Hodgkin's work marked the beginning of times when a pathologist was actively involved in the clinical process. He was a contemporary of Thomas Addison and Richard Bright at Guy's Hospital.
Thomas Hodgkin was born to a Quaker family in Pentonville, St. James Parish, Middlesex, the son of John Hodgkin. He received private education with his brother John Hodgkin, and in 1816 took a position as private secretary to William Allen. His aim was to learn the trade of apothecary, one of the routes into medicine, and Allen, despite prominence in that business, did not make it possible. They parted, and Hodgkin went to an apothecary cousin, John Glaisyer, in Brighton instead. He inherited property from his great-uncle of the same name, meaning that from age 21 he had a degree of financial independence.
In September 1819 Hodgkin was admitted to St. Thomas's and Guy's Medical School. He "walked the wards" for a year on the rounds of physicians and surgeons, and attended lectures, in particular those by Astley Cooper. He then studied at the University of Edinburgh, where the lecturers who impressed him included Andrew Duncan, the younger, and Robert Jameson in natural history. His first published paper, on the spleen, came from Duncan's course, and drew on the veterinary writings of his friend Bracy Clark. During his time as a student, he became a member of the Royal Medical Society.