Eustace Chesser | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | 22 March 1902 Edinburgh, Scotland |
| Died | 1973 (aged 70–71) |
| Occupation(s) | Psychiatrist, writer |
Eustace Chesser (formerly Isaac Chesarkie) (22 March 1902 – 1973) was a Scottishpsychiatrist,social reformer and writer.[1]
Eustace Chesser was born inEdinburgh on 22 March 1902, to Russian immigrants. He educated atGeorge Watson's College and received his medical degree from theUniversity of Edinburgh, in 1926.[1]
Chesser worked for some years as a GP inCinderford,Manchester and spent part of theSecond World War as a clinical assistant at theTavistock Clinic.[2]
In 1940 he published a sex manual entitledLove Without Fear.[1] It sold 5,000 copies but it was withdrawn, and Chesser was arrested for obscenity.[1][3] Rather than pleading guilty and accepting a fine, Chesser chose to be tried by jury.[4] Chesser, who pleaded not guilty, was later acquitted. During the course of the trial, three doctors expressed the opinion that the book served a very useful purpose.[5]
In 1959 Chesser resigned from theBritish Medical Association after the BMA decided that no further copies of a booklet to which he had contributed, entitled 'Getting Married', should be issued. The BMA defended its decision on the grounds that the booklet had been criticised by other doctors who were members of the BMA.[6]
Chesser authored the bookSlimming for the Million in 1939. He advocated alow-carbohydrate high-protein diet.[7] He recommendedbacon,eggs, lean meats and fresh vegetables. He argued that "all sugars should be avoided like the devil", especiallychocolate which he described as "one of obesity's biggest allies."[7] His low-carb dieting ideas are a predecessor to theAtkins diet.[7]
A review in theBritish Medical Journal noted that Chesser's meat or protein diet may be deficient in essential vitamins and concluded that the book "does not seem practical enough for a patient or detailed enough for a doctor."[8]
In 1926 Chesser married Rose Morris, with whom he had a son, later the psychiatristEdward Stewart Chesser, and a daughter, Shirley. Chesser later married Sheila Blayney-Jones, who survived him.[2]
In 1968 Chesser suffered a serious illness which left him physically incapacitated for the remainder of his life.
Following his death, in 1973, a meeting in memory of Chesser was held at theRoyal Society of Medicine.[9]
