Who’s Who in Orthopedics a biography of Sir John Charnley, whom he had
known well. It was hard to write an interesting biography of a doctor whose life consisted of encounters with many different people. In this case, however, the development of the hip replacement provided a strong theme for the book, which is subtitled The Man and the Hip. It is an illuminating study of the struggles required to achieve this huge advance in surgery. It was published by Springer-Verlag in 1990.
His last book was A History of the British
Orthopedic Association, which he was invited towrite to mark its 75th anniversary. This was an even more difficult subject to organize, but William managed it very successfully, dividing it into periods, in each of which he outlined the progress of the Association and then gave pen- portraits of the successive presidents who were, of course, the leading orthopedic surgeons of their time. It is thus a history, not just of the Associa- tion, but of British orthopedics. It was published in 1993 by the British Orthopaedic Association.
In recognition of this work, William was made an honorary fellow of the British Orthopaedic Association, a distinction once described by a former president as “far more exclusive than the Presidency.”
Even after this he continued to edit papers for the journal International Orthopedics until he developed a cerebral lymphoma in 1998. After an illness lasting 2 months, he died on May 21 at the age of 76 years.
Most of us would be proud to establish a rep- utation either as a distinguished orthopedic surgeon, a professor, or a successful author. To have been all three in turn is remarkable. His col- leagues, however, will remember him best for his kindly encouragement and wise advice, which were invaluable to us. He had a stock of useful aphorisms. One of these emerged from a survey, which tried to define the characteristics of the orthopedic surgeon and concluded that he is “a reliable gentleman.” William Waugh exemplified this.
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Bernhard Georg WEBER (Hardy)
1927–2002
Shortly after his 75th birthday, quite unexpect- edly, our dear friend, teacher, and honorary trustee of the AO Foundation, Prof. Bernhard G.
Weber, died of heart failure.
Right up to the very end of his life, he was working intensively for patients and in the field of patient-oriented science. As late as the eve of his departure, he was still working on a book dealing with his own AO philosophy, as well as his presentation as the “John Border” memorial lecturer at the Orthopedic Trauma Association in Toronto, in October 2002.
Having completed his medical studies in his home city of Basel, he built up his knowledge in the posts of house physician, seagoing medical officer on an ocean liner and hospital assistant. He adopted his very own idiosyncratic approach to resolving a personal dilemma as to whether he should choose medicine or architecture, therefore, during his period at the Zürich Balgrist Hospital, he recognized in orthopedics the way in which medicine, engineering and craftsmanship, includ- ing the artistic side of our occupation (hobby), all fuse together.
When, in 1959, Maurice E. Müller took up his
post in St. Gallen as head of the first orthopedics
and trauma clinic in Switzerland, Hardy Weber
followed him, taking up the post of Oberarzt; or
senior surgeon. At that time, St. Gallen was a
Mecca for AO, which was in its infancy and rev- olutionary in those days. Hardy Weber’s ideas enriched those of Maurice E. Müller, a process that intensified after his selection as successor to Müller, in 1967. I, myself, was privileged to become a part of his enthusiasm for innovative ideas (1969–1973). After the founding genera- tion, Hardy Weber was, indeed, the leading expo- nent of AO, both at home and abroad. There is hardly a single AO surgeon of the older genera- tion who did not visit the St. Gallen Clinic as a guest or as a fellow. Thereafter, Hardy was also
“the inspiration” for the AO Technical Commis- sion for many years.
At that stage, many of his ideas were far too revolutionary for the general good, but some of his pupils and guests took them up and carried them forward.
Although the list of publications attributable to Hardy Weber extends to approximately 180 titles, he found that writing articles was, in his own words “an act of self-gratification” and he was far more interested in setting out his practical expe- riences in well-documented books.
Unfortunately, his books dealing with the clas- sification of malleolar fractures, pseudarthrosis, fractures in children, special osteosyntheses and external fixators are now out of print, yet they are still in demand, since they continue to be relevant and of topical interest.
His great hobby was hip surgery. He developed his own, novel prosthetic hip system, found his way back to metal–metal prostheses and was still receiving accolades for his contributions in May 2002. This, however, was but one of many honors bestowed upon him from all corners of the globe.
In parallel with this, in his teaching, he was taking the Charnley “Greenhouse” technique further towards perfection.
At the end of 1986, much to the surprise of observers, he resigned from his post as Chefarzt at the St. Gallen Clinic. For those in the know, it was clear that the “totally dedicated orthopedic specialist” was finding the increasing administra- tive burden a handicap. It was the same reason- ing that had led him, at an earlier stage, to turn down a possible nomination as a full-time uni- versity professor.
Following his retirement, he was able to dedi- cate himself on a full-time basis to patients in private hospital practice. As the same time, he resigned from the AO and remained officially outside the active organization until he ultimately
found his way back in, as a guest speaker among AO courses and committees.
With his “Minimax” slogan, in other words, maximum stability with a minimal approach and metal, he may be regarded as the pioneer of today’s minimally invasive techniques. “Back to the Future” was the last paper that I heard him present, one in which he explained how total hip replacement had evolved.
Right at the end, somewhat late in the day, Hardy Weber was elected as an honorary trustee of the AO Foundation at their meeting in Oslo. He was really pleased about this, but he would not have been true to his reputation had he not exploited the opportunity to regale me with his ideas for the future of the AO.
For the benefit of our patients, the full list of his achievements cannot be reproduced here, but we really cannot overlook Hardy, the man. The talented teacher was no patriarch. He shared his private income with his Oberarzt colleagues and he tolerated and supported other people’s views and original ideas, provided that they were well- founded. By nature, he was of a happy disposi- tion, but he could really explode when facing unfounded criticism. Sport was his hobby and shared causes helped to create the good working atmosphere at the St. Gallen Hospital. Hardy Weber had many pupils and others who held him in high regard. These are the people who will carry his ideas and techniques forward. Thanks to his widow, Alice, I have the personal task of man- aging his scientific legacy.
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