O'Malley, Charles Donald

Biography

Charles Donald O'Malley was often referred to as the leading authority on Renaissance anatomy, especially on the life and work of Andreas Vesalius. But beyond his interest in Vesalius, which dated to before his career officially began, the breadth of subjects in his numerous publications marked him as one of the leading medical historians of his time. He was internationally rewarded with a long list of honorary appointments, awards, prizes, invitational lectureships and offices, and was sincerely mourned in the many obituaries and tributes included in these papers. (Obituary and complete bibliography in: "Medicine in Seventeenth Century England," ed. by Allen G. Debus, Univ. of California Press, 1974. Also see: "Bull. Hist. Med.", 44(5): 477-481, 1970; "Times (London)", April 28, 1970 and many others.)

C.D. O'Malley was born in Alameda, California (1907). He gained his B. A. at Stanford University in slightly over three years and his M. A. in only three additional quarters. His Ph. D. studies at Stanford were interrupted for a number of years, but the degree was granted in 1945; by 1951 he was a full professor in the Stanford University Department of History. Although his dissertation had nothing to do with medical history, the field drew him through various influences: first, his wife, Frances Keddie, was a research-oriented physician working with John B. de C. M. Saunders, a professor of both anatomy and medical history, who became O'Malley's mentor and early co-author; second, in the interval between his split doctoral studies O'Malley had browsed through the rich materials in San Francisco's Sutro Library and had been especially drawn to various medical topics; and lastly, the character of the early anatomist Vesalius attracted and fascinated him. O'Malley was an excellent Latinist and a graceful and fluent writer in English, and his translations and other publications were well received by scholars.

After a year as visiting professor at the University of California, Los Angeles he began his permanent tenure at UCLA in 1960 as Professor of Medical History. He headed the Division, and later the Department, of Medical History until his sudden death in 1970. During those ten years he published a definitive and widely heralded biography of Vesalius, traveled and lectured widely, received many prestigious prizes, held office in the major professional societies in his field, and mentored a remarkable number of graduate and postdoctoral students in medical history. He corresponded widely with many of the major medical historians in Europe and the United States.