The Inaugural Karel B. AbsolonHistory of Medicine LectureDepartment of SurgeryBrody School of MedicineEast Carolina UniversityPORTRAITKarel B. Absolon, M.D., Ph.D.Our honored guest and speaker this evening is Dr. Karel B. Absolon. A 1952 graduate of theYale University School of Medicine, Dr. Absolon has made important contributions both as a surgeon andas an historian of medicine. He worked with colleagues at the University of Minnesota including J.Bradley Aust and C. Walton Lillehei to perform pioneering coronary bypass surgery (1955) and the firsthuman liver transplant (1965). He pioneered the use of colon grafts in patients suffering fromepidermolysis bullosa (1970) and was the first to use synthetic grafts to achieve extrathoracic auxillary-iliac bypass of the descending thoracic aorta (1975). In addition, Dr. Absolon has authored over 500published articles and over twenty books.Karel Absolon's interest in history was nurtured by the rich cultural environment of Brno,Czechoslovakia where he was born on March 21, 1926 to a family that boasts five generations ofphysicians. His father was a famous explorer of caves and the founder of Brno's anthropologicalmuseum. Dr. Absolon's own first publication was about caves and underground rivers inCzechoslovakia. Although he has received numerous certificates, medals, and awards, Dr. Absolonconsiders the most important document he has ever received to be a 1948 summons from the Sovietgovernment ordering him to abandon his study of medicine and report for hard labor -an assignmentintended to improve his attitude. In his determined quest for scientific truth, young Karel had argued tohis biology teacher that Gregor Mendel's genetic theory was superior to that of T. Denisovich Lysenko,the geneticist favored by the Soviets. This summons was Karel's signal to bid his homeland farewell. Heescaped Czechoslovakia and immigrated to America.Once enrolled at Yale University, Dr. Absolon's interest in the history of medicine was re-kindledby Professor John F. Fulton. Later, in Minnesota, the prominent surgeon Owen H. Wangensteen promptedhim to investigate the life and work of Theodore Billroth. This early research led to the production of Dr.Absolon's four-volume biography of Billroth, The Surgeon's Surgeon (1979). Dr. Absolon's intensestudy of Billroth has provided him numerous adventures. One of these led to his discovery of animportant oil painting depicting Billroth in his surgery theater. He found the painting in a custodian'scloset covered in dust. It is now prominently displayed in the library of the surgery clinic in Vienna.In addition to his historical pursuit, Dr. Absolon is owner and editor of Kabel Publishers, aprivate publishing company in Rockville, Maryland.Dr. Absolon's own library includes over 2,000 items relevant to medical history withconcentrations in the areas of anatomy, surgery, genetics, microbiology, and military medicine. We aredelighted that he has indicated his intention to donate this library, The Karel B. Absolon History ofMedicine Library, to the History Collections of the William E. Laupus Health Sciences Library.Dr. Absolon's current research is focused on Gregor Mendel and the history of genetics. Tonighthe will present to us, "Jn the Footpath of Gregor Mendel-The Founder of Genetics". This lecture is theinaugural lecture of the annual Karel B. Absolon History of Medicine Lecture Series sponsored by theECU Department of Surgery. It is a special privilege to begin this series today on March 21, 2001, theday of Dr. Absolon's seventy-fifth birthday.