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Ludwig Guttmann | |
|---|---|
 Guttmann in 1976 | |
| Born | (1899-07-03)3 July 1899 |
| Died | 18 March 1980(1980-03-18) (aged 80) Aylesbury,Buckinghamshire, United Kingdom |
| Citizenship | Germany, United Kingdom |
| Known for | Founding theParalympic Games |
| Medical career | |
| Profession | Neurologist |
| Awards | Fellow of the Royal Society |
SirLudwig GuttmannCBE FRS[1] (3 July 1899 – 18 March 1980) was a German-British[2]neurologist who established theStoke Mandeville Games, the sporting event for people with disabilities (PWD) that evolved in England into theParalympic Games. AJewish doctor who fledNazi Germany just before the start of theSecond World War, Guttmann was a founding father of organized physical activities for people withdisabilities.[3][4][5][6]
Ludwig Guttmann was born on 3 July 1899 to aGerman Jewish family, in the town of Tost,Upper Silesia, in the formerGerman Empire (nowToszek in southern Poland), the son of Dorothy (née Weissenberg) and Bernard Guttmann, a distiller.[7][8][9] When Guttmann was three years old, the family moved to theSilesian city ofKönigshütte (today Chorzów, Poland).
In 1917, while volunteering at an accident hospital in Königshütte, he encountered his firstparaplegic patient, acoal miner with aspinal fracture who later died ofsepsis.[7] That same year, Guttmann passed hisAbitur at thehumanistic grammar school in Königshütte before being called up formilitary service.
Guttmann started his medical studies in April 1918 at theUniversity of Breslau. He transferred to theUniversity of Freiburg in 1919 and received hisDoctorate of Medicine in 1924.
By 1933, Guttmann was working in Breslau (nowWrocław, Poland) as aneurosurgeon and lecturing at the university.[10] He learned from the pioneer of neurosurgery,Otfrid Foerster, at his research institute. Despite having worked successfully as first assistant to Foerster, Guttmann was expelled from his university appointment and his job in 1933 under theNuremberg Laws, and his title was changed toKrankenbehandler (one who treats the sick).[11] With the arrival of theNazis in power,Jews were banned from practising medicine professionally; Guttmann was assigned to work at the Breslau Jewish Hospital, where he became medical director in 1937.[10] Following the violent attacks on Jewish people and properties duringKristallnacht on 9 November 1938, Guttmann ordered his staff to admit any patients without question. The following day, he justified his decision on a case-by-case basis with theGestapo. Out of 64 admissions, 60 patients were saved from arrest anddeportation toconcentration camps.[12]
In early 1939, Guttmann and his family left Germany because of the Nazi persecution of the Jews. An opportunity for escape had come when the Nazis provided him with a visa and ordered him to travel toPortugal to treat a friend of the Portuguese dictatorAntónio de Oliveira Salazar.[13] Guttmann was scheduled to return to Germany via London, when theCouncil for Assisting Refugee Academics (CARA) arranged for him to remain in the United Kingdom. He arrived inOxford, England, on 14 March 1939 with his wife, Else Samuel Guttmann, and their two children: a son, Dennis, and a daughter, Eva, aged six.[7] CARA negotiated with the BritishHome Office on their behalf, and gave Guttmann and his family £250 (equivalent to £20,000 in 2023) to help settle in Oxford.
Guttmann continued his spinal injury research at the Nuffield Department of Neurosurgery in theRadcliffe Infirmary. For the first few weeks after arrival the family resided in the Master's Lodge ofBalliol College (with the MasterSandie Lindsay) until they moved into a small semi-detached house inLonsdale Road.[14] Both children were offered free places by the headmistress ofGreycotes School. The family were members of the Oxford Jewish community, and Eva remembers becoming friendly withMiriam Margolyes, now a famous actress.[15] The Jewish community in Oxford was growing rapidly as a result of the influx of displaced academic Jews from Europe.
With the outbreak of theSecond World War, Guttmann and his family stayed in the home ofLord Lindsay, CARA Councillor and Master of Balliol College.[16]
In September 1943, the British government asked Guttmann to establish the National Spinal Injuries Centre atStoke Mandeville Hospital in Buckinghamshire.[7] The initiative came from the Royal Air Force to improve the treatment and rehabilitation of pilots with spine injuries, "who often crashed on approach with their bombers damaged".[17] When the centre opened on 1 February 1944, the United Kingdom's first specialist unit for treating spinal injuries, Guttmann was appointed its director (a position he held until 1966). He believed that sport was an important method of therapy for the rehabilitation of injured military personnel, helping them build up physical strength and self-respect.[18]
Guttmann became a naturalised British citizen in 1945.[19] He organised the firstStoke Mandeville Games for disabled war veterans, which was held at the hospital on 29 July 1948, the same day as the opening of theLondon Olympics. All participants had spinal cord injuries and competed in wheelchairs.[18] In an effort to encourage his patients to take part in national events, Guttmann used the termParaplegic Games. These came to be known as the "Paralympic Games", which grew to include other disabilities.
By 1952, more than 130 international competitors had entered the Stoke Mandeville Games. As the annual event continued to grow, the ethos and efforts by all those involved started to impress the organisers of theOlympic Games and members of the international community. At the 1956 Stoke Mandeville Games, Guttmann was awarded theSir Thomas Fearnley Cup by theInternational Olympic Committee (IOC) for his meritorious achievement in service to the Olympic movement through the social and human value derived from wheelchair sports.
His vision of an international games, the equivalent of the Olympic Games themselves, was realised in 1960 when the International Stoke Mandeville Games were held alongside the official1960 Summer Olympics in Rome. Known at the time as the 9th Annual International Stoke Mandeville Games, and organised with the support of the World Federation of Ex-servicemen (an International Working Group on Sport for the Disabled), they are now recognised as the first Paralympic Games. (The term "Paralympic Games" was retroactively applied by the IOC in 1984.)[20]
In 1961, Guttmann founded the British Sports Association for the Disabled, which would later become known as theEnglish Federation of Disability Sport.
Guttmann was appointedOfficer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the1950 King's Birthday Honours, as "Neurological Surgeon in charge of the Spinal Injuries Centre at the Ministry of Pensions Hospital, Stoke Mandeville".[21] On 28 June 1957, he was made an Associate Officer of theVenerable Order of Saint John.[22]
He was promoted toCommander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 1960, and he wasknighted byQueen Elizabeth II in 1966.[10]
In 1961, Guttmann founded the International Medical Society of Paraplegia, now theInternational Spinal Cord Society (ISCoS); he was the inaugural president of the society, a position that he held until 1970.[23] He became the first editor of the journalParaplegia (now namedSpinal Cord).[24] He retired from clinical work in 1966 but continued his involvement with sport.[24]
Guttmann had a heart attack in October 1979, and died on 18 March 1980 at the age of 80.[7][failed verification][8][25] He is buried at the Bushey Jewish Cemetery outside of London.[2]
Stoke Mandeville Stadium, the National Centre for Disability Sport in the United Kingdom, was developed by him alongside the hospital.[26]
A specialist neurorehabilitation hospital inBarcelona, theInstitut Guttmann, is named in his honour.[27] The founder of this, the first rehabilitation clinic for paraplegics in Spain, was Guillermo González Gilbey, who himself had paraplegia and made great progress in England with Ludwig Guttmann.
In June 2012, a life-sized cast-bronze statue of Guttmann was unveiled at Stoke Mandeville Stadium as part of the run-up to the London2012 Summer Paralympics andOlympic Games. After the Games, it was moved to its permanent home at the National Spinal Injuries Centre.[28] Guttmann's daughter, Eva Loeffler, was appointed the mayor of the London 2012 Paralympic Games athletes' village.[29]
In August 2012, the BBC broadcastThe Best of Men, a TV film about Guttmann's work at Stoke Mandeville during and after the Second World War. The film, written byLucy Gannon, starredEddie Marsan as Dr. Guttmann andRob Brydon as one of the seriously injured patients, who were given a purpose in life by the doctor.
The Sir Ludwig Guttmann Centre is an NHS facility providing GP,Orthopaedic and Sports and Exercise Medicine outpatient services as well as imaging on the site of the 2012 Olympic village.
The Sir Ludwig Guttmann Lectureship was established by the International Medical Society of Paraplegia (now ISCoS) to recognize Guttmann's pioneering work and lifelong contribution to spinal cord care.[24]
The Ludwig Guttmann Prize of the German Medical Society for Paraplegia is awarded for "excellent scientific work in the field of clinical research on spinal cord injury".[30]
On 24 October 2013, acommemorative plaque was unveiled by the Association of Jewish Refugees (AJR) at theNational Spinal Injuries Centre to celebrate Guttmann's life and work. As an active member of the AJR, he had served on the board for more than 25 years.[10]
In 2019 the National Paralympic Heritage Centre, a small accessible museum, was opened at Stoke Mandeville Stadium celebrating the birthplace of the Paralympics, sharing the collections of the early Paralympic Movement and the central role played by Professor Sir Ludwig Guttmann.
On 3 July 2021, aGoogle Doodle of Guttmann was featured on the Google homepage for Guttmann's 122nd birthday.[31][32]
