Owsei Temkin (October 6, 1902 – July 18, 2002) was William H. Welch Professor Emeritus of the History of Medicine at Johns Hopkins University. He was a Russian-born, German-educated, American medical historian. After receiving his M.D. from the University of Leipzig in 1927, he moved to the United States in 1932 and became director of the Institute of the History of Medicine at Johns Hopkins in 1958. He became known as one of the world's foremost experts on the interaction of medicine and culture throughout history. During his academic career and retirement, he published hundreds of articles and a dozen books on the history of medicine. His last book was published in the year of his death at age 99. Temkin received the Welch Medal and the Sarton Medal and was elected to the American Philosophical Society, the National Academy of Sciences, and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

Biography

Early life

Owsei Temkin was born in Minsk, Belarus (then part of Russia), on October 6, 1902, the son of Samuel and Anna(Raskin) Temkin. In 1905 his Jewish family moved to Leipzig, Germany, to avoid pogroms. There he had his elementary schooling and attended the Real-Gymnasium. After the Russian revolution of 1917, his family lost its Russian citizenship.

Selected publications