Jacob Bolotin

Jacob Bolotin ( born January 3, 1888 in Chicago, † April 1, 1924 ) was an American physician and blind champion of social equality of the blind.

Life

Bolotin was born in Chicago, the seventh child of a Polish immigrant family. Two of his siblings were born blind. Bolotin studied medicine at Chicago College of Medicine, from which he graduated at the age of 24 years with distinction. He became the first totally blind physician licensed in the USA. He was particularly known for his expertise in the field of heart and lung diseases. He used his many public lectures, to advocate for the employment of the blind and their full integration into society.

Bolotin founded and directed the first Boy Scout troop, which consisted solely of blind boy.

Jacob Bolotin died at the age of only thirty-six years. Five thousand people attended his funeral.

The National Federation of the Blind (NFB ) awarded the 2008 Dr. Jacob Bolotin Award prize for the Blind, which was worth 100,000 U.S. dollars.