In 1957, the King Umberto Prize of the Insti- tuto Rizzoli of Bologna, Italy, was awarded to Julius Hass on the basis of his book, Congenital Dislocation of the Hip. This prize is given once every 5 years for the best orthopedic work pub- lished during the period. The award and the gold medal that accompanied it were presented to Hass by the Italian Consul General on the occasion of a special meeting in Hass’s honor, which was held at the Hospital for Special Surgery. This was also an opportunity for his friends and colleagues to show their esteem and regard, which a large number of them did.
Julius Hass had other pleasant memories to look back on besides his professional ones. He had one other passion in addition to orthopedic surgery and that was hunting. In the former days in Austria, every year he made a trip to the Carpathian Mountains region, or other areas, to chase deer. He was a keen shot and an indefati- gable pursuer. His chase often led him long dis- tances over mountain slopes and through snow fields until he caught up with and bagged his prey.
Many trophies of his skill decorated the walls of his home, and he had much pleasure in showing them to his guests and in talking about his hunting trips.
The height of the worldly success was attained through connections he made with various Indian rajahs and princes, beginning in 1932 when the nephew of the Nizam of Hyderabad, and former premier of that country, came to Vienna seeking relief from a disability of the elbow. Julius Hass operated on him with a successful result. Adolph Lorenz wrote about this in his autobiography, My Life and Work, as follows: “I am afraid that my excellent pupil knew better how to perform the operation than to ask a fee worthy of the occa- sion, which would have freed him from care for the rest of his life.” At any rate, this operation established Hass as a surgeon to be seen by any Indian prince who was suffering from an ortho- pedic disability. In 1934 he was invited to make a trip to India and while there he operated on several maharajas and Indian princes. He returned to India in 1938 after leaving Austria, and at that time an offer was made to build an orthopedic hospital after his own plans if he would stay to head it. Hass did not feel able to adjust his life and that of his family to the customs and climate of India and declined the offer. It is needless to say that both trips offered Hass the opportunity of indulging his favorite pastime of hunting. He shot
tigers and other big game from elephants and from lures, and brought back to the United States skins and other trophies.
Julius took great pride in his family and was a charming host. Although he could talk about many things, his overwhelming interest was orthopedic surgery. Professor Julius Hass died on August 17, 1959.
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Who’s Who in Orthopedics
Emil D.W. HAUSER
1897–1982
Emil Hauser was born on February 22, 1897, in Freeland, Pennsylvania, the seventh of ten children, the son of Reverend Karl Hauser and Wilhelmina Volkert. He was educated at the University of Minnesota, where he received his MD degree in 1922, and then did postgraduate work in surgery at the University of Minnesota and the Mayo Clinic. He was awarded an American–Scandinavian Fellowship in Orthope- dic Surgery and spent the year of 1925–1926 vis- iting various orthopedic clinics on the continent.
The greatest influence on him was Professor Haglund of the Karolinska Institut in Stockholm, and he credited Professor Haglund for his contin- ued interest in the conservative treatment of low- back problems, scoliosis, and talipes.
He returned to the United States in 1926 and
was accepted as a first assistant and permanent
staff member of the Mayo Clinic. In 1927 he
received his MS degree in orthopedic surgery and moved to Chicago, Illinois, taking a position as Assistant Professor with the University of Illinois Medical School and Illinois Research Hospital. In 1930 he became an Attending Surgeon at Passa- vant Hospital in Chicago and an Assistant Pro- fessor of Bone and Joint Surgery at Northwestern Medical School. He maintained these affiliations for the rest of his professional life, finally retiring in 1965 as Associate Professor Emeritus in North- western’s Orthopedic Department. He maintained a busy and successful practice in Chicago and later in Winnetka, Illinois, before retiring to Sun City in 1973.
Emil Hauser was first and foremost a clinician who retained his interest in the conservative treat- ment of the foot and back. His book Diseases of the Foot went into two editions and was translated into European editions. His early interest in sco- liosis culminated in his book Curvatures of the Spine, published in 1962, and his continued interest in the conservative treatment of talipes resulted in Congenital Clubfoot, published in 1965.
He rowed against the stream of surgical inter- vention in many orthopedic problems, and his conservative approach to bone and joint disease was uniquely his own. The Hauser bar for treat- ment of pes valgo-planus, the Hauser brace for treatment of talipes equinovarus, and the treat- ment of scoliosis by progressive recasting are some of his original contributions to the treatment of bone and joint disease. He added to surgical treatment as well with an operation for correction of hallux valgus, and his procedure for total tendon transplant for the dislocated patella remains a standard procedure today.
Dr. Hauser was an active advisor for orthope- dics for the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis, and served on the medical advisory board for the Chicago chapters of both the National Multiple Sclerosis Society and the United Cerebral Palsy Association. He was an active consultant in orthopedics to the US Naval Hospital at Great Lakes from 1946 to 1953, and although he was not active politically, many honors and appointments came to him, includ- ing membership in the American College of Surgeons, the American Board of Orthopedic Surgery, and the Clinical Orthopedic Society. In 1958 he served as Chief of Staff of the Passavant Hospital.
Like most successful men, Em Hauser owed much of his success to the women in his life. He
was a devoted husband to his wife, the former Mary Frances Thomas, whom he married on July 28, 1930, and who survived him. Their marriage produced five children, two of whom are physi- cians. Three nephews are physicians as well, two of them practicing orthopedic surgeons. Besides his good fortune in choosing his wife, Dr. Hauser was lucky to have outstanding women supporting him in his practice. His sister Adele Hauser Donlin and physical therapists Mildred Elson and especially Louise Reinecke were vitally impor- tant to him.
The secret of Emil Hauser’s career is that he walked humbly and moved with the current while keeping his own counsel. “The best man is like water . . . [he] benefits all things and does not compete with them. [He] dwells in lowly places that others disdain.” This was Emil Hauser’s way.
Dr. Emil Hauser died at the age of 85 in Sun City, Arizona, on November 18, 1982, of coro- nary heart disease.
Clopton HAVERS
1657–1702
The name of Clopton Havers has been associated for 160 years with the spaces or canals that tra- verse the compact bone tissue. In view of the fact that Haversian canals are known to every student of anatomy, it is somewhat surprising that so little is known about the man who described them.
Clopton Havers’ father was called Henry, and it seems likely that he was the nonconformist cler- gyman, a native of Essex, who served as chaplain for a time to the Earl of Warwick and was vicar of Chipping Ongar about the year 1643. He was later appointed minister at Fifield (1649–1650) and rector of Stambourne in 1651. After the restoration of Charles II in 1662, he was ejected from the ministry for his nonconformist views.
Clopton Havers was born in the year 1657 and nothing is known of his early education except that Richard Morton was his tutor. Dr. Morton was also a nonconformist divine and he had served as chaplain at New College, Oxford. He was forced to give up his clerical post when the Act of Uniformity was passed in 1662 and he then entered the medical profession. In 1670 he received the degree of Doctor of Medicine at Oxford and 8 years later was elected a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians.
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