Abstract

25 medical historians born between 1800 and 1900 have been selected, mainly by citation frequency, for a study in comparative biography. They originated in Germany, U.S.A., U.K. France, Switzerland, Italy, and Austria. A number of them were active in two countries due to emigration from fascist Europe in the 1930s. All were MDs except for one historian. Most of them showed an interest in the history of medicine early in life, some only between age 40–50. Their motivations were quite varied. Most of them made their living with clinical practice, at least initially. Those ten who attained a chair in the history of medicine did so usually between age 41 and 56. Our selection of medical historians active between 1825 and 1975 is very heterogeneous, much more so than in the final decades of the 20th century