Silas Weir Mitchell
Silas Weir Mitchell (* February 15, 1829 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, † January 4, 1914 ) was an American physician and author.
Life and work
Mitchell was the doctor's son John Kearsley Mitchell (1798-1858) and his wife Sarah. At his father's request Mitchell studied at the University of Pennsylvania and, after reaching its "MD" at the Jefferson Medical College ( Thomas Jefferson University).
1858 married Mitchell in his hometown of Mary Middleton Elwyn and had with her two sons: John Kearsley ( 1859-1917 ) and Alfred Langdon ( 1862-1935 ). Wife died in 1862 and 1875, he married his second wife Mary Cadwalader and had a daughter with her: Mary governor ( 1876-1898 ). With this second marriage he came into the family of federal judge John Cadwalader and thus belonged to the Haute- Volée of Philadelphia.
During the Civil War (1861 /65) Mitchell worked as a doctor in Turner's Lane Hospital in his hometown. During this time he founded then his work and research focus in neurology. He conducted research among other things in the field of neurasthenia and hysteria, and was soon - after a Ondit - " known as Dr. Diet and Dr. Quiet".
His debut as an author he experienced in 1863 with his short story The case of George Dedlow that he was able to publish in the magazine The Atlantic Monthly. As a practitioner of Charlotte Perkins Gilman, he advised them also literary and was partly responsible for the success of some of their stories; inter alia, "The yellow wallpaper " ( The yellow wallpaper).
Silas Weir Mitchell died six weeks before his 85th birthday on January 4, 1914 in his home in Philadelphia. His final resting place he found on the Woodland Cemetery ( Section E).
Honors
- The Speckled Rattlesnake ( Crotalus mitchellii ) was named in his honor.
- Erythromelalgia has long been called the English-speaking Mitchell 's Disease.
Writings (selection )
As a doctor
- Fat and Blood. New York, 1909.
- Injuries of Nerves and Their Consequences. Philadelphia 1872.
As author
- The autobiography of a quack and the case of George Delow ( Muckrackers, Vol 31). London 1900.
- A Madeira Party. New York 1895.
- A little more burgundy. New York 1895.
- Far in the forest. New York, 1909.
- The Youth of Washington. New York 1904.