Sir Astley Paston COOPER1768–1841

Who’s Who in Orthopedics

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Sir Astley Paston COOPER

1768–1841

Sir Astley Paston Cooper was the leading surgeon of London in his day. He was probably John Hunter’s most prominent pupil and Guy’s Hospi- tal’s most popular personage. Although Paré described fractures of the hip, his observations other than diagnostic were not contributive.

Cooper not only described the fracture but added the classic discussion of its major problem, the circulation of the femoral head and the circum- stance of what subsequently became known as its vascular necrosis.

With subsequent editions of his long-lasting book, A Treatise on Dislocations and Fractures, Cooper would add notes from his very popular lectures at Guy’s.

Frederic Jay COTTON

1869–1938

Frederic Jay Cotton was born in Newport, Rhode Island, and educated at Harvard. After receiving his Doctor of Medicine degree in 1894, he studied bacteriology in New York and spent 2 years in the medical and surgical clinics in Vienna. His career was spent in Boston where he was a professor of surgery at Tufts College Medical School.

He served as a surgeon during the Spanish–American War, and during World War I was Chief of Surgery at Walter Reed Army Hospital. His major interest throughout his career was in injuries of the musculoskeletal system. He actively collaborated with Charles L. Scudder in the publication of Scudder’s book on fractures, published in 1900. He published his own book on dislocations and fractures in 1910. An accom- plished artist, Cotton supplied many illustrations for his book. He promoted the use of impaction in the treatment of fractures of the neck of the femur in both the nonoperative and operative methods. The publication of his paper on the use of fascia lata for the reconstruction of ligamen- tous injuries of the knee in 1934, only 4 years before his death, indicates that his interest in mus- culoskeletal injuries never waned.

As a founding member of the American

College of Surgeons, a member of the first Board

of Regents of the College, and founding member

of the Committee on Fractures, later the Com-

mittee on Trauma, of the College, he had an

important influence on the standards of treatment

of fractures in the United States during the early decades of this century.

Mark had a wide-ranging interest in all facets of orthopedics, with particular emphasis on bone tumors and arthritis of the hip and knee. The author of more than 250 papers, he popularized and wrote extensively on proximal tibial osteotomy. He performed the first Food and Drug Administration approved total hip arthroplasty with cement in the United States, in 1969.

One of his major interests was the nurturing of orthopedic surgery in the Third World. As a member of Orthopedics Overseas and Care- Medico, he served in Tunisia, Indonesia, Saint Lucia, and Afghanistan and taught in the medical school in Honduras.

He served on the board of trustees of The

any other individual, including as its chairman.

He was editor of the Year Book of Orthopedics;

president of the American Orthopedic Associa- tion, the Hip Society, the International Hip Society, and the Orthopedic Research and Educa- tion Foundation; and an honorary member of the British Orthopedic Association and the Canadian Orthopedic Association.

Despite all of his accomplishments, Mark still found time to enjoy life away from his practice.

He was a gourmet chef, a connoisseur of fine wine, a master gardener, a skier, a fine wing shot, a horseman, and a bicyclist. He loved the out- doors and enjoyed canoeing, hiking, and swim- ming with his family at his summer home in northern Wisconsin.

Mark’s most notable attributes were his intel- lectual curiosity, his humanitarianism, his kind- ness, and his professionalism. He served as a mentor and role model for two generations of residents who honored him by forming the Coventry Society, a travel group. In addition, his colleagues at the Mayo Clinic present the Coventry Award annually to the outstanding clinical research in orthopedic surgery by a Mayo resident.

Mark Bingham Coventry died on July 13, 1994 at his home in Rochester, Minnesota, after a long battle with prostate cancer. He was 81 years old.

He lived his last few months with the dignity, dis- cipline, and equanimity that were typical of him.

Mark is survived by three daughters. His wife, Elizabeth “Betty” Servis Coventry, died in 1989.

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Who’s Who in Orthopedics

Mark Bingham COVENTRY

1913–1994

Mark Bingham Coventry was born in Duluth, Minnesota, on March 30, 1913. His father, William A. Coventry, a general surgeon, was one of the founders of the Duluth Clinic. His mother, a schoolteacher, died in the influenza epidemic in 1918, so he was raised by his father and his step- mother, Anna.

He attended public school in Duluth and college at the University of Michigan, where he played varsity hockey. He graduated from the University of Michigan Medical School, as had his father and his older brother.

In 1938, after having completed his internship at the University Hospital in Ann Arbor, he came to the Mayo Clinic in Rochester as a Fellow in General Surgery. He transferred to the Depart- ment of Orthopedic Surgery after 1 year.

Shortly after Pearl Harbor, he joined the United

States Navy and served both at sea and ashore

in Guadalcanal, Peleliu, New Guinea and the

Philippines. He returned to the staff of the Mayo

Clinic in 1946. In 1958, he became Professor of

Orthopedic Surgery, and he was Department

Chairman from 1963 to 1974. He was also a

member of the Board of Governors of the Mayo

Clinic for 5 years.