William DARRACH1876–1948

Who’s Who in Orthopedics On the basis of this work, he can be considered to be one of the originators of the technique of compression plating.

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William DARRACH

1876–1948

Dr. William Darrach was born in Germantown, Pennsylvania, the son of William and Edith Romeyn Aertson Darrach. He attended Hill School and was graduated from Yale University in 1897. Following his graduation from the College of Physicians and Surgeons in 1901, he served an internship at the Presbyterian Hospital.

From 1903 to 1909, he served as demonstrator in the Department of Anatomy. In 1913, he was appointed Associate Attending Surgeon at the Presbyterian Hospital, and continued to serve there in varying capacities until his death.

During World War I, Dr. Darrach went overseas with Base Hospital 2, serving as Chief of Surgi- cal Service, later as Consulting Surgeon for the First Army, and, still later, for the Third Army. He was discharged, after serving with distinction, with the rank of Colonel.

In World War II, Dr. Darrach served as Civil- ian Consultant to the Surgeon General. His final service to the government was in the post of Director of Education and Research at the Kingsbridge Veterans Administration Hospital.

Between the wars, Dr. Darrach served for 11 years as Dean of the College of Physicians

Robert DANIS

1880–1962

Robert Danis was born in a small town in the Belgian province of Tournai. His father was an army veterinarian. After classical studies at Anvers and Louvain, he studied medicine at the University of Brussels, from which he received his degree in 1904. He became associated with Antoine Depage and moved up through the system, becoming professor of operative surgery and gynecology in 1919 and succeeding his chief as professor of clinical surgery in 1925. He was a surgeon with very broad interests.

He made significant contributions to the field of local and regional anesthesia, especially sacral blocks. His interest in vascular surgery led to the invention of a clamp to be used for portocaval shunts. He studied the use of vein grafts to recon- struct defects in arteries and bile ducts. Beginning in 1925, his work gradually focused on trauma- tology and especially on the operative treatment of fractures.

Danis pursued his interest in the laboratory as

well as the clinic. He studied the biology of frac-

ture healing and demonstrated that primary union

(soudure autogene) of fractures could occur

without callus formation when the fracture frag-

ments were reduced accurately and held in

position with compression. To obtain these

conditions, he designed a complete armamen-

tarium of compression plates (coapteurs) and

screws. The results of his clinical and laboratory

experience were embodied in his book Theorie et

Who’s Who in Orthopedics

and Surgeons. After his retirement as Dean, fol- lowing the completion of the great Columbia–

Presbyterian Medical Center, which towers over Washington Heights, his colleagues attested in formal resolution that he, above all others, had been responsible for the successful alliance between the Presbyterian Hospital and other hos- pitals and the School of Medicine, resulting in the Medical Center.

Dr. Darrach then returned from administration to his real abiding interest—surgery—and estab- lished the fracture service. To the mending of broken bones, he brought his keen analytical mind, his mature judgment, and rare skill. His interest in his younger colleagues and pupils was boundless. Many of them caught some of the fire of his inspiration, and, through those who did, his influence will continue.

Dr. Darrach was distinguished in every stage of his career, and his pre-eminence was recognized by countless honors. He served as President of the Association of the American Medical Colleges, of the American Surgical Association, and of the Society of Clinical Surgery. He was a Regent of the American College of Surgeons. He was an honorary member of the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons. He was a trustee of Vassar College. He received many honorary degrees from universities at home and abroad. He wrote numerous articles, and always spoke clearly, intelligently, and with a delightful sense of humor.

He was a devoted, radiant, and generous person, loved by countless friends, among whom were his many patients and associates.

Dr. William Darrach died on May 21, 1948, after a brief illness.

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Robert Merle D’AUBIGNÉ

1900–1989

Robert Merle d’Aubigné was born in 1900 at Neuilly, just upstream from Paris, into a family with a long Huguenot tradition; his father was the local pastor. Holidays in the countryside gave him practice at skiing and boating, while many family contacts across the Channel led to a mastery of spoken English. Some remarkable wartime tutors ensured a sound classical education. Robert just missed active service in 1918 but soon turned to adventurous mountaineering, which eventually made him an accomplished alpinist. The personal experience of a fractured femur treated by trac- tion probably accounted for his enthusiasm for Küntscher nailing when that technique duly arrived in France.

Early on in the rigorous training in general surgery of that period, Robert found that his pro- fessors paid scant personal attention to fractures and other lesions of the limbs. It was only in his fourth year as a junior resident aged 27 that he came under the influence of a surgeon, Paul Lecène, with a deep interest in skeletal disorders.

Two years later Lecène proposed coauthorship of

a work on elective orthopedic surgery but almost

at once died tragically from typhoid fever. The

next year Robert made a long pilgrimage to

Böhler in Vienna and then another to Putti in

Bologna. These visits were the main source of a

recurrent dream of such treatment equally well

organized all over France. Meanwhile he had to

concentrate hard on general surgery in order to