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Max Thorek (10 March 1880 – 25 January 1960) was a Hungarian-American surgeon, best known for founding the International College of Surgeons in 1935 and writing his autobiography entitled A Surgeon's World in 1943.[1][2]
Max Thorek was born in Hungary where his father was a physician in a small town. Thorek’s preparation for university training began in Budapest but was interrupted when his younger brother was killed in a pogrom and the family emigrated to Chicago, where he attended the University of Chicago.[3] He completed his medical degree at Rush Medical College in 1904. Thorek later worked in obstetrics, general, and reconstructive surgery.[1]
In 1954, he founded the International Museum of Surgical Science in a Chicago Gold Coast mansion,[3] and was the founder of Thorek Memorial Hospital, as of 2019 still in operation in Chicago's Uptown neighborhood.[4]
He became an internationally acclaimed amateur photographer during the pictorialist movement, and author of several books on the subject, including Camera Art as a Means of Self-Expression (1947) and Creative Camera Art (1937).
He died in Chicago on 25 January 1960.[1]
