Colonel William KELLER1874–1959

Who’s Who in Orthopedics anatomy and physiology of the extremities. Many

contemporary hand surgeons were his students, and many of his students are now chiefs of service at medical centers throughout the United States and in a number of other countries.

In addition, Dr. Kaplan was an active practi- tioner for more than 60 years. Literally hundreds of patients who were afflicted with conditions affecting the upper extremities were helped by his skill, his knowledge, and his patience. Perhaps because of his early experience in general medi- cine, he was an excellent diagnostician. Certainly because of his personality, he never said “no” to anyone, least of all to his patients.

His professional work was recognized interna- tionally. He was elected to more than 25 presti- gious surgical societies in the United States, Britain, France, and Italy. He was awarded medals of honor by a number of such societies in Europe.

He was a member of the British Society for Surgery of the Hand, the Groupe d’Étude de la Main (GEM), and the Société Internationale de Chirurgie Orthopédique et de Traumatologie (SICOT). On the evening of April 11, 1977, stu- dents, colleagues, and friends gathered at the New York Academy of Medicine to honor him, and the scientific program that night was made up of papers by his former students, many of whom are leaders in orthopedics and hand surgery in the United States.

Despite these substantial achievements, his most marked personal characteristics were humil- ity and modesty. In his long and productive life- time, he contributed much to his chosen field and he proved much; he claimed very little. He was kind and gentle, devoting himself selflessly, without thought to his own needs or strength, to his work and to the alleviation of suffering wher- ever he found it. His sense of integrity and his empathy for the human condition made him end- lessly responsive to every call on him, whether from colleague or patient. His massive contribu- tions to the medical literature were written in his adopted language, English, and it flowed with style, force, elegance, and precision.

He died at home on September 20, 1980, at the age of 86.

169

Colonel William KELLER

1874–1959

Keller introduced his operation for bunions at the very beginning of his surgical career, while he was working in Manila during the Philippine insurrection. Though it is now one of the most commonly performed operations, he was not very interested in it, but went on to achieve fame in the field of general surgery, and in particular in the field of pulmonary surgery in its early days.

He was born in Connecticut in 1874, and grad- uated from Virginia in 1899. The following year he became a contract surgeon with the US Army, and was commissioned in 1902. He moved around hospitals in the USA and the Pacific until the First World War, when he was assigned to the American Expeditionary Forces as Director of Professional Services.

In 1919 he joined the Walter Reed Hospital to head the Department of Surgery. During this time he developed an unroofing technique for empyema, a type of inguinal hernia repair, a repair for recurrent shoulder dislocations (cruci- ate implication of the inferior capsule through an axillary approach), and the tunnel skin graft. This last was rather intriguing; when an ulcer or scar was to be grafted, he made a tunnel underneath it and laid the graft in it. The roof kept the graft in position and the roof either disappeared by itself or could be removed.

He was offered the post of Surgeon General,

but refused because he wanted to continue clini-

cal surgery. He remained at the Walter Reed until

his retirement in 1935. He was one of those for- tunate people who only need 4 hours’ sleep a night, and so have more time to work than most.

On his retirement, he was, by special congres- sional legislation, made a consultant with pay and allowances for life, the first man to be so honored in US Army history. In 1953 an annual lecture was named after him.

research assistant at the Institute of Orthopedics under Sir Herbert Seddon and was appointed con- sultant at Fulham and St. Mary Abbot Hospitals in 1952. Here he established an orthopedic unit, which became renowed. Lippy—as he was affec- tionately known to all—was especially concerned with teaching junior orthopedic surgeons, and many doctors, both from this country and abroad, have cause to be grateful to him for the meticu- lous training and superb surgical instruction they received. During this time he took a keen interest in the hitherto rather neglected casualty services of this country, and played an important part in the eventual establishment of recognized accident and emergency departments, together with ade- quate training programs for the staff. At the end of his time at Fulham and St. Mary Abbots Hospitals, he was involved in the planning and smooth amalgamation of these hospitals with the Charing Cross Hospitals to form the existing New Charing Cross Hospital.

At an age when most men would have begun to take life more easily, he accepted the post of director of clinical studies at the Institute of Orthopedics with his customary enthusiasm and dedication, and in 1974 he became professor of orthopedics of London University. He was able to foresee the problems that the postgraduate hospi- tals would face in the coming years, and set out to establish specialist departments at the Royal National Orthopedic Hospital that would help to maintain its identity and reputation. In particular, he was largely instrumental in the setting up of the spinal injuries unit and a specialist shoulder unit, his own particular lifelong interest. In this way he did his best to ensure that the future of the Royal National Orthopedic Hospital was pro- tected.

His list of publications is long and ranges from articles about his early experiences with the para- chute surgical team to many publications about the shoulder joint, which remained his greatest interest. He published several authoritative books on this subject and formed an international organ- ization for the study of the shoulder joint and related diseases. He was executive member of the council of the British Orthopedic Association and served on the editorial board of The Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery. He had an international reputation and lectured all over the world.

This catalogue of a distinguished orthopedic career, however, gives only a glimpse of the merits of this man. He was a great teacher, par- ticularly in the art of clinical diagnosis. To the

Who’s Who in Orthopedics

Lipmann KESSEL

1914–1986

Professor Lipmann Kessel was born in South Africa, educated at the University of Witwater- srand, and came to this country to attend St.

Mary’s Hospital Medical School, from whence he graduated in 1937. After holding various junior resident posts, he joined the Royal Army Medical Corps at the onset of war. He later volunteered for parachute duties and, as surgeon in command of a parachute team, took part in the battle of Arnhem, where with exceptional skill and courage he was directly responsible for saving many lives. When he had done all he could for the wounded, he managed to escape his German captors and, with the help of the Dutch Resis- tance, eventually made his way home. These experiences were related in his book Surgeon at Arms. For his service he was appointed MBE (Military) and awarded the Military Cross.

After the war he returned to St. Mary’s Hospi-

tal as a registrar, and was greatly influenced by

the late V.H. Ellis. He then became clinical