Nathan, Helmuth

Helmuth Nathan, physician, teacher, and historian of medicine was born on October 26, 1901 in Hamburg, Germany.

He studied medicine and philosophy at the Universities of Freiburg and Hamburg and received his medical degree in 1925.

During the period between 1925 and his emigration in 1936, Helmuth Nathan had worked at a number of hospitals in Hamburg and wrote extensively on medical topics.

Dr. Nathan settled in New York in 1936 and became a successful physician.

He also had a life-long association with Albert Einstein College of Medicine, where he taught for many years.

In addition to being a successful physician, Helmuth Nathan was a well established artist, creating drawings, graphics, glass windows, and sculptures. He tried, and succeeded in bringing both of his passions - art and medicine - closer together. He brought precision and clarity of the medical world into his art and his love of arts into his writings on the history of medicine.

Dr Nathan wrote extensively on various medical topics, such as general surgery, surgical infections, pathology, and history of arts and medicine.

Helmuth Nathan died in New York in 1979.

From the guide to the Helmuth Nathan Collection, 1918-1988, (Leo Baeck Institute)