Charles Donovan

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Charles Donovan
Donovanosis
Spouse
Mary Wren Donovan
​
​
(m. 1891; died 1940)​
Children3
Scientific career
Fields
Government General Hospital, Chennai
Madras Medical College
Government Royapettah Hospital
Notable studentsA.L. Mudaliar

Madras (now Chennai), where he spent the rest of his service. He was professor at Madras Medical College from 1898 until his retirement in 1919.[1][2]

Early life and education

Charles Donovan was the eldest of nine children of

Dehra Dun and Mussoorie. In 1879, when he was thirteen years of age, he was sent to Cork to live with his paternal grandfather, the Reverend Charles Donovan, a Church of Ireland rector. He continued his education and entered Queen's College, Cork, enrolling on the arts programme, which would have included subjects relevant to the study of medicine. He transferred to Trinity College Dublin, where he completed his BA degree, before returning to Queen's College, Cork in 1885 to begin his medical degree.[3] He received an MB BCh BAO degree in 1889 from the Royal University of Ireland.[2][4]

Medical career

After clinical training in

Government General Hospital, both of which were teaching institutions. In the college he was a professor, and in the hospital he was a Second Physician and held the Chair of the Physiology Department. In 1910 he was transferred to Government Royapettah Hospital to become its first Medical Superintendent.[6] He continued to teach at the medical college until his retirement in 1919 with the rank of Lieutenant Colonel.[1]

Discovery of Leishmania donovani

A fatal infectious disease called visceral leishmaniasis (kala-azar as it was called in

scientific name Piroplasma donovanii. It was Ross who resolved the conflict of priority in the discovery and correctly identified the species as member of the novel genus Leishmania. He gave the popular name "Leishman-Donovan bodies", and subsequently the valid binomial Leishmania donovani, thereby equally crediting the two rivals.[8][9][10] But the reconciliation was not embraced by Londoners, who still wanted to remove Donovan's name. Donovan's continued works on the biology of L. donovani however established him as the leading authority on kala-azar.[4]

Discovery of Klebsiella granulomatis

In 1881 a Scottish professor of surgery, Kenneth MacLeod described lesions of

phylogenetic relationship with the genus Klebsiella.[15][16]

Zoological works

He took an interest in the study of butterflies and birds. After retirement he wrote a Catalogue of the Macrolepidoptera of Ireland (1936). Much of the field work for this was carried out in the area of

Nilgiris.[1]

Personal life and later years

Charles Donovan married Mary Wren Donovan, his cousin and daughter of Dr. Henry Donovan, at Bombay in 1891. They had two daughters Helen and Amy, and a son Reagh. He was a dedicated doctor and inspirational leader that even the sweepers at Madras hospital were able to prepare excellent

microscopic slides. He created his self-funded Madras Medical College Athletic Association and invited all the staff to join. He took classes wearing his convocation gown
.

After his retirement in 1919, he returned to the UK and settled in a small village, Bourton-on-the-Water, Gloucestershire, at 'Camp House'. His wife died in 1940, and he lived with his two daughters; while his son studied engineering at Cambridge University. He died in 1951 in Moor Cottage Hospital in Bourton. All his children died too in their early adulthood without leaving him any grandchildren.[1]

Award and recognition

  • Charles Donovan was decorated with the Tirah Medal of the Indian Medical Service in 1897 for his service in Afghanistan.
  • In 1953 "Havelock Ward" was renamed the "Donovan Ward" in Government Royapettah Hospital.
  • Klebsiella granulomatis infection is most popularly known as "donovanosis" in medical community.
  • University College Cork (was Queen's College in donovan's days) instituted the Charles Donovan Prize for Dermatology.[19]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Tharakaram, S. "Donovan of MMC". Madras Musing. Retrieved 28 January 2014.
  2. ^
    ISBN 9780080559391
    .
  3. JSTOR 37067126
    .
  4. ^ a b Tharakaram, S. "CHARLES DONOVAN, MD, Indian Medical Service" (PDF). evolve360.co.uk. Liverpool Medical History Society. Archived from the original (PDF) on 1 February 2014. Retrieved 28 January 2014.
  5. PMID 18463075.[permanent dead link
    ]
  6. ^ Muthiah, S. (12 October 2012). "Will Donovan be remembered?". The Hindu. Retrieved 28 January 2014.
  7. ^ "1903–1917". American Society for Microbiology. Archived from the original on 2 February 2014. Retrieved 28 January 2014.
  8. ISBN 9788131732205
    .
  9. ISBN 9780203886984
    .
  10. ISBN 9780470851722
    .
  11. ISBN 978-1-4612-8142-9
    .
  12. ^ Mohan, Thappa Devinder (2006). "Evolution of venereology in India". Indian Journal of Dermatology, Venereology and Leprology. 72 (3): 187–196.
  13. ISBN 9780470035320
    .
  14. ^ Rajam, R.V.; Rangiah, P.N. (1954). Donovanosis (PDF). Geneva: World Health Organization. pp. 9–20.
  15. PMID 10555350
    .
  16. PMID 12473810
    .
  17. ^ B, E. S. A. (1 April 1952). "Lieut.-Colonel Charles Donovan. Mrs. G. E. Lucas. Miss B. Donovan". Irish Naturalists' Journal. 10 (10): 258–259.
  18. ^ BEIRNE, BRYAN P.; O'Riordan, C. E. (1985). "IRISH ENTOMOLOGY: THE FIRST HUNDRED YEARS". Irish Naturalists' Journal. 21: 1–40.
  19. ^ "THE CHARLES DONOVAN PRIZE IN DERMATOLOGY". UCC Medical Society. Retrieved 29 January 2014.

External links

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Charles_Donovan&oldid=1215211871"