Sir Victor Ewings Negus (1887 – 1974) was a British surgeon who specialised in laryngology and also made fundamental contributions to comparative anatomy with his work on the structure and evolution of the larynx. He was educated in London, studying at King's College School, then King's College, London, followed by King's College Hospital. The final years of his medical training were interrupted by the First World War, during which he served with the Royal Army Medical Corps. After the war, he qualified as a surgeon and worked at King's College Hospital where he became a senior surgeon in 1940 and a consulting surgeon in 1946. He was elected a Fellow of King's College, London, in 1945.
His major publications included The Mechanism of the Larynx (1929) and his work on the clinical text Diseases of the Nose and Throat, starting with the fourth edition of 1937. He also published many medical papers and several other works on comparative anatomy, laryngology, and the history of medicine. Negus was one of the founders of the British Association of Otorhinolaryngologists, and was a member of numerous international and national otolaryngology organisations.
Negus, who had married in 1929 and had two sons, retired from hospital work in 1952, though he continued to work and publish on comparative anatomy. His honours before and after retirement included an honorary degree, the Lister Medal (1954), a knighthood (1956), honorary fellowships of the Royal College of Surgeons of both Edinburgh and Ireland, and the Honorary Gold Medal of the Royal College of Surgeons of England (1969). He died aged 87 in 1974.
Early life and education
Victor Ewings Negus was born on 6 February 1887 in Tooting, London, the youngest of three sons born to William and Emily (née Ewings).[1] His father, William Negus, was a solicitor, Justice of the Peace, and Lieutenant for the County of Surrey.[1][2] Victor's pre-university education took place at King's College School.[3][n 1] In 1906, he was awarded the Sambrooke scholarship to King's College, London, on the Strand, where his studies for the next three years included premedical and preclinical subjects.[3][4]
After passing the required examinations, he proceeded in 1909 to the next stage of his basic medical education at the nearby King's College Hospital, also on the Strand.[3] Three more years of study led to the attainment in 1912 of the MRCS and LRCP degrees (the 'conjoint diploma'), marking his formal qualification to practice medicine.[1] In the final year of these studies, Negus was an usher at the funeral service for Lord Lister at Westminster Abbey.[3][n 2] Another connection with Lister's generation came when Negus worked during this period under William Watson Cheyne.[4] The postgraduate stages of Negus's training involved specialisation in diseases of the ear, nose and throat, a direction influenced and guided by the otorhinolaryngologist St Clair Thomson.[1] In the years following his qualification in 1912, Negus worked at King's College Hospital, and had started further clinical training at the Hospital for Diseases of the Throat in Golden Square, Soho, but this was interrupted by the outbreak of the First World War.[4]
Negus served in the Royal Army Medical Corps with the British Expeditionary Force for the first 18 months of the war.[4] He initially deployed with the 1st General Hospital, then saw action in the trenches on the front line with a machine-gun battalion at the First Battle of Ypres.[1] The effects of explosives during this period left him with tinnitus.[4] This was followed by a period serving on hospital barges.[3] In 1916, Negus, still with the RAMC, was posted to the 3rd (Lahore) Division (part of the British Indian Army) and took part in the Mesopotamia Campaign.[1] As one of those who had deployed to the Western Front in the opening months of the war, he was later awarded the Mons Star. He was also mentioned in dispatches. His service in the RAMC ended in 1919.[2][n 3]
Surgical career and family
Following his discharge from the army, Negus, again with the advice and guidance of St Clair Thomson, resumed his studies and preparations for a career in throat surgery.[4] By 1921 he had graduated MB BS (London) and by 1922 he had taken the surgical exams for the FRCS (Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons) qualification.[1] To gain further experience, he spent periods of time abroad studying with renowned laryngologists: firstly with Emil-Jean Gabriel Moure and Georges Portmann in Bordeaux, France; and secondly with Chevalier Jackson in Philadelphia, USA.[3] On his return to London, he became clinical assistant to St Clair Thomson at King's College Hospital.[4]
At this point, still early in his surgical career, Negus took a different approach to that which was common at the time. Rather than be apprenticed to a leading surgeon in his ENT speciality, he undertook basic research on the structure of the larynx that would lead to a higher degree in 1924 and the publication of books and papers on the topic in later years (see the following section).[5] While engaged in this research, Negus continued his work at King's College Hospital, being appointed junior surgeon in 1924.[1] It was during this period, following his return from the USA, that Negus both promoted the methods and tools he had seen used in Philadelphia by Jackson, and worked to improve the designs of the endoscopes and other equipment used in ENT surgery.[3] These instruments, developed in collaboration with the Genito-Urinary Company of London, included laryngoscopes, bronchoscopes (such as the Negus bronchoscope) and oesophagoscopes.[3] Other surgical innovations developed by Negus included an operating table (known as the King's College table), and a speaking valve for use in tracheotomy tubes.[4] He also helped develop strategies for treatments of throat cancer to aid the choice between surgery and radiotherapy.[3]
In 1929, Negus married Winifred Adelaide Gladys Rennie (1901-1979, known as Eve) with whom he would have two sons.[1] His surgical career continued to progress, and he was appointed surgeon in 1931.[3] It was in 1937 that his major work in clinical medicine, the fourth edition of Diseases of the Nose and Throat, was published. This work, "still used for reference",[1] was described as "for many years the standard textbook in English on this subject",[5] and as Negus's "major literary contribution to clinical medicine".[3] The 1937 edition continued work on earlier editions by St Clair Thomson, who worked jointly with Negus on the new edition. A fifth edition worked on by both men was published in 1948 following Thomson's death, and the sixth edition by Negus alone appeared in 1955.[1]
In 1939, the Negus family moved to Haslemere, Surrey.[1] During the Second World War, Negus again served in a medical capacity, this time with the Emergency Medical Service (EMS) at Horton Hospital, Epsom, from 1939 to 1946.[2] In 1940 he had been appointed senior surgeon at King's College Hospital, and in 1946 he reached the peak of his profession as a consulting surgeon.[3]. Negus retired from clinical work six years later in 1952 at the age of 65.[4]
Comparative anatomy
Medical societies
Honours and awards
Timeline
- 1924 - Arris and Gale Lecture on 28 April 1924 at the Royal College of Surgeons of England[6]
- 1924 - became MS (Master of Surgery) and received a Gold Medal from the University of London for his work for this degree[7]
- 1925 - Hunterian Professor
- 1928 - Triennial John Hunter Medal (1925-7)[8]
- 1930 - Semon Lecture (named after Felix Semon) on 6 November 1930 at the Royal Society of Medicine[9]
- 1945 - Fellow of King's College London
- 1947 - member of the Council of the Royal College of Surgeons of England
- 1949 - President of the Fourth International Congress of Otolaryngology
- 1949 - Honorary Fellowship of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh[10]
- 1950 - Honorary DSc from Manchester University[11]
- 1952 - retired from King's College Hospital and spent four years as curator of the Ferens Institute of Otolaryngology (at the Middlesex Hospital)
- 1952 - Contributed part of the article on 'Voice' for the 1952 edition of the Encyclopedia Britannica and also contributed to editions of the 15-volume 1950 Chambers's Encyclopaedia
- 1954 - Hunterian Lecture on 20 May 1954 at the Royal College of Surgeons of England[12]
- 1954 - Awarded the Lister Medal[13]
- 1955 - Lister Oration on 5 April 1955 (part of the award of the Lister Medal) at the Royal College of Surgeons of England[14]
- 1956 - Knighted at Buckingham Palace on 7 February 1956[15]
- 1957 - John Hopkins Lecture on 30 April 1957[16]
- 1958 - Honorary Fellowship of the Royal College of Surgeons of Ireland[17]
- 1963 - Gould Award from the William and Harriet Gould Foundation of Chicago[18]
- 1969 - Honorary Gold Medal from the Royal College of Surgeons of England[19]
- 1974 - died on 15 July (Hindhead, Surrey) at the age of 87
Notes
- ^ King's College School had originally been located in the premises of King's College, London on the Strand in Central London, but moved to Wimbledon in the suburbs of South-West London in 1897.
- ^ This funeral service on 16 February 1912 was a grand affair, attended by representatives from all over Europe. A contemporary description is given in Funeral Of Lord Lister, The British Medical Journal, Vol. 1, No. 2669 (Feb. 24, 1912), pp. 440-446
- ^ Negus's memoirs from this period were deposited in archives at the Royal College of Surgeons of England, see Negus, Sir Victor (1887-1974) Knight Surgeon (The National Archives).
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Negus, Sir Victor Ewings (1887–1974), Neil Weir, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004, accessed 26 December 2011
- ^ a b c Negus, Sir Victor, Who Was Who, A & C Black, 1920–2008; online edn, Oxford University Press, Dec 2007, accessed 26 December 2011
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Sir Victor Negus, Br Med J. 1974 Jul 27; 3(5925): 263.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i 'Obituary: Sir Victor Negus - Distinguished laryngologist', The Times, Wednesday, Jul 17, 1974; pg. 18; Issue 59141; col F
- ^ a b In memoriam. Sir Victor Ewings Negus., Geoffrey Hirst Bateman, Ann R Coll Surg Engl. 1974 October; 55(4): 201–202.
- ^ On the Mechanism of the Larynx, The Lancet, Volume 203, Issue 5255, 17 May 1924, Pages 987-993
- ^ The award of this Gold Medal (still awarded today) is covered in Back matter, The Journal of Laryngology & Otology (1924), 39: pp b1-b5
- ^ Scientific Notes and News, Science, 18 May 1928: 505-508. "The John Hunter Medal in bronze, with the triennial prize of £50, has been awarded by the Royal College of Surgeons of England to Victor Ewings Negus, for his investigations into the comparative anatomy and physiology of the larynx and the bronchi in their relation to surgery."
- ^ Observations on Semon's Law, The Journal of Laryngology & Otology (1931), 46 : pp 1-30
- ^ Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh, Br Med J. 1949 August 6; 2(4622): 341 "At a reception held on July 25 the Honorary Fellowship of the College was conferred on Mr. Victor Ewings Negus. M.S., F.R.C.S., President of the Fourth International Congress of Otolaryngology held in London last month..."
- ^ University of Manchester, Br Med J. 1950 April 1; 1(4656): 795–794. "On Founder's Day, May 17, the honorary degree of D.Sc. will be conferred on Victor Ewings Negus, M.S., F.R.C.S., Surgeon to the Ear, Nose, and Throat Department, King's College Hospital, for his contributions to medical research, particularly in laryngology..."
- ^ Introduction to the Comparative Anatomy of the Nose and Paranasal Sinuses, Ann R Coll Surg Engl. 1954 September; 15(3): 141–173
- ^ Lister Medal, Ann R Coll Surg Engl. 1954 September; 15(3): 173. "...in recognition of Mr. Negus's services to the advancement of knowledge in the surgery of the nose and throat by means of his researches into the comparative anatomy and physiology of the larynx and paranasal sinuses."
- ^ The Comparative Anatomy and Physiology of the Respiratory Tract in Relation to Clinical Problems, Ann R Coll Surg Engl. 1955 May; 16(5): 281–304
- ^ Victor Ewings Negus, The London Gazette, 10 February 1956, Issue 40706, page 5 of 64
- ^ The Etiology of Pharyngeal Diverticula, Bull Johns Hopkins Hosp. 1957 Oct; 101(4):209-23
- ^ Sir Victor Negus, The Journal of Laryngology & Otology (1967), 81 : pp 259-262
- ^ The Laryngoscope Volume 74, Issue 5, "for his monumental contributions to the science of laryngology"
- ^ Award of the Honorary Medal of the College, Ann R Coll Surg Engl. 1969 March; 44(3): 169–171 "Sir Victor Negus is perhaps the most distinguished of all those who have served the Council as a co-opted member. He has always been known to us as a great research worker and scientist, whose labours earned him the Lister Medal, a man of exceptional integrity and industry and a persistent advocate of the value of tradition in its best sense."
External links
- Obituaries
- In memoriam. Sir Victor Ewings Negus., Negus VE, Fish W, Campbell JM, J R Coll Surg Edinb. 1974 Nov; 19(6): 394.
- Victor Ewings Negus, Lancet. 1974 Jul 27; 2(7874): 234-5.
- Sir Victor Negus, J Laryngol Otol. 1967 Mar; 81(3): 259-62.
- Biographical
- Sir Victor Negus, The Journal of Laryngology & Otology (1967), 81 : pp 259-262 (article on the occasion of his 80th birthday)
- Notable men in E. N. T. - Victor Negus, Santanu Banerjee, Indian Journal of Otolaryngology and Head & Neck Surgery, Volume 47, Number 1, 66, 1995
- Entry in Lives of the Fellows of the Royal College of Surgeons of England, 1974-1982 (1988)
- Portraits
- Sir Victor Ewings Negus by Lafayette in 1928 (National Portrait Gallery)
- Sir Victor Ewings Negus by Elliott & Fry in 1956 (National Portrait Gallery)
- Sir Victor Ewings Negus, photograph and biographical caption, figure 15.16, page 139, The Royal College of Surgeons of England: 200 years of history at the millennium (2000)
- Publications
- The Mechanism of the Larynx (Victor Ewings Negus, Heinemann, 1929)
- Diseases of the Nose and Throat (Victor Ewings Negus and St Clair Thomson, Cassell, 4th edition 1937; 5th edition 1948; 6th edition 1955)
- The Biology of Respiration (Victor Ewings Negus, Williams and Wilkins, 1965)
- Lectures
- On the Mechanism of the Larynx, The Lancet, Volume 203, Issue 5255, 17 May 1924, Pages 987-993 (1924 Arris and Gale Lecture)
- Observations on Semon's Law, The Journal of Laryngology & Otology (1931), 46 : pp 1-30 (1930 Semon Lecture)
- Introduction to the Comparative Anatomy of the Nose and Paranasal Sinuses, Ann R Coll Surg Engl. 1954 September; 15(3): 141–173 (1954 Hunterian Lecture)
- The Comparative Anatomy and Physiology of the Respiratory Tract in Relation to Clinical Problems, Ann R Coll Surg Engl. 1955 May; 16(5): 281–304 (1955 Lister Oration)
- The Etiology of Pharyngeal Diverticula, Bull Johns Hopkins Hosp. 1957 Oct; 101(4):209-23 (1957 John Hopkins Lecture)
- Further Observations on the Air Conditioning Mechanism of the Nose, Ann R Coll Surg Engl. 1960 September; 27(3): 171–204.
- Archives and collections
- Negus, Sir Victor (1887-1974) Knight Surgeon (The National Archives)
- To Acknowledge a Generous and Welcome Gift from Sir Victor Negus, Ann R Coll Surg Engl. 1962 October; 31(4): 267–268
- Collections, The Royal College of Surgeons of England (includes over 200 sagittal sections of animals prepared by Sir Victor Negus)
- The Collections, Grant Museum of Zoology (includes collection of bisected animal heads prepared by Sir Victor Negus)
- Other
- Victor Negus: 57 years later, D. F. Harrison, Ann Otol Rhinol Laryngol. 1986 Nov-Dec; 95(6 Pt 1): 561-6. (Twelfth Daniel C. Baker Jr memorial lecture)
- Sir Victor Negus, page 16 of The Anatomy and Physiology of the Mammalian Larynx (Cambridge University Press, 1995) by Sir Donald Frederick Norris Harrison
- Award of the Honorary Medal of the College, Ann R Coll Surg Engl. 1969 March; 44(3): 169–171. (includes photograph)
- Victor Ewings Negus (genealogy page from geni.com)
Metadata
Category:1887 births Category:1974 deaths Category:British surgeons