{{Short description|American surgeon}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2024}} {{Infobox person | name = Max Thorek | image = Max Thorek (1880–1960).png | alt = | caption = | birth_date = {{Birth date|1880|3|10|df=yes}} | birth_place = Hungary | death_date = {{Death date and age|1960|1|25|1880|3|10|df=yes}} | death_place = Chicago, Illinois, US | burial_place = Rosehill Cemetery | occupation = Surgeon | awards = | honours = Chevalier, Legion of Honour | spouse = {{Marriage|Fannie "Fim" Unger|16 April 1905}} | children = Phillip Thorek | education = {{Plainlist| * University of Chicago * Rush Medical College }} | signature = | party = }} '''Max Thorek''' (10 March 1880 – 25 January 1960) was a Hungarian-American surgeon best known for founding Thorek Memorial Hospital, the International College of Surgeons, and the International Museum of Surgical Science.
==Biography== Max Thorek was born to a Jewish family in rural Hungary. Both his parents were doctors: his father was a physician and his mother was a mid-wife with a degree in obstetrics.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |last= |date=2022-06-15 |title=Dr. Max Thorek: A Remarkable Chicagoan |url=https://imss.org/2022/06/dr-max-thorek-a-remarkable-chicagoan/ |access-date=2025-07-04 |website=International Museum of Surgical Science |language=en-US}}</ref> While Thorek was a student in Budapest, his brother was murdered in an antisemitic pogrom.<ref name=":1" /><ref name="Britannica" /> Thorek's family fled to the United States to escape antisemitism, choosing to settle in Chicago because they had a relative there.<ref name=":1" />
Although Thorek wished to become a doctor, his parents could not afford the cost of tuition. In response, Thorek learned how to play the snare drum to qualify for a scholarship from the University of Chicago Band.
After graduating from the University of Chicago,<ref name="Britannica">{{Cite web |last= |first= |date= |title=Max Thorek |url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Max-Thorek |archive-url= |archive-date= |access-date=18 February 2019 |website=Encyclopedia Britannica |language=en}}</ref> Thorek completed his medical degree at Rush Medical College in 1904.<ref name="Surgeons">{{Cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/historyofmedicin00biog/page/860/mode/1up |title=History of Medicine and Surgery, and Physicians and Surgeons of Chicago |date=1922 |publisher=The Biographical Publishing Corporation |place=Chicago |page=860 |access-date=2024-04-30 |via=Internet Archive}}</ref> He later worked in obstetrics, gynecology, general, and reconstructive surgery, including at Cook County Hospital.<ref name="BMJObit1960">{{Cite journal |last= |first= |date=6 February 1960 |title=Obituary: Max Thorek, M.D |url=https://www.bmj.com/content/1/5170/431.3 |journal=British Medical Journal |language=en |publisher=British Medical Journal Publishing Group |volume=1 |issue=5170 |pages=431 |doi=10.1136/bmj.1.5170.431-b |issn=0007-1447 |s2cid=220212178 |url-access=subscription}}</ref><ref name=":2">{{Cite web |date=1935-05-14 |title=News in Brief |url=https://www.jta.org/archive/news-in-brief-84 |access-date=2025-07-04 |website=Jewish Telegraphic Agency |language=en-US}}</ref>
On April 16, 1905, Thorek married Fannie "Fim" Unger.<ref name="Surgeons" /> Together with Dr. Solomon Greenspahn, they founded the American Hospital in 1911 at 2058 W. Monroe Street.<ref name=":1" /> Their goal was to serve patients based on need, regardless of their ability to pay.<ref name=":1" /> Thorek had a passion for the theater, and was concerned that many performers had nowhere to turn when they fell ill or were hurt. Therefore, in its early years, they devoted the 25-bed hospital specifically to serving the performing arts community.<ref name=":1" /> In 1916, Thorek and Greenspahn moved the hospital to Irving Park Road in Uptown, where it still operates as of 2025, now known as Thorek Memorial Hospital.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last= |first= |date= |title=A History of Caring |url=https://www.thorek.org/about-us/history |archive-url= |archive-date= |access-date=3 July 2025 |website=Thorek Memorial Hospital |language=en}}</ref> The hospital has cared for famous performers such as Mae West, Harry Houdini, Buffalo Bill, the Marx Brothers, Sarah Bernhardt, and Al Jolson.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" />
In the 1930s, Thorek introduced a surgical technique that significantly reduced the mortality rate in gallbladder operations.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Our Founder |url=https://icsglobal.org/our-founder/ |access-date=2025-07-04 |website=International College of Surgeons |language=en}}</ref> In 1935, he founded the International College of Surgeons<ref name="BMJObit1960" /><ref name=":1" /> and was awarded the Legion of Honour by the French government in recognition of his contribution to science and his humanitarian work.<ref name=":2" />
Thorek 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). In 1943, he published his autobiography entitled ''A Surgeon's World''.<ref name="BMJObit1960" /><ref name="ICS1995">[http://www.ics-japan.org/topimg/International%20College%20of%20Surgeons%20Past,Present,and%20Future%2016.pdf ''International College of Surgeons: Past, Present, and Future'']. Henry Ling Ltd, The Dorsct Press, Dorchester (1995).</ref>
In 1954, Thorek founded the International Museum of Surgical Science in a Gold Coast mansion.<ref name="Britannica" />
Unfortunately, despite his many contributions to society, Thorek continued to endure antisemitic discrimination even after moving to the United States. In 1930, for instance, Thorek was forced to file a lawsuit against the 3920 Lake Shore Drive Building Corporation for refusing to allow his family to move into an apartment they owned because they were Jewish.<ref name=":1" />
Thorek died in Chicago on 25 January 1960. He is buried at Rosehill Cemetery.<ref name="BMJObit1960" />
[[File:Thorek Mausoleum Rosehill Cemetery 2020-2424.jpg|thumb|Thorek Mausoleum at Rosehill Cemetery]]
==References== {{Reflist|30em}}
==Further reading== *[https://www.facs.org/~/media/files/archives/fellowshipsurgeonsdavis.ashx ''Fellowship of Surgeons: A History of the American College of Surgeons'']. Loyal Davis
==External links== * {{Internet Archive author |sname=Max Thorek}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Thorek, Max}} Category:1880 births Category:1960 deaths Category:Hungarian surgeons Category:Emigrants from Austria-Hungary to the United States Category:Physicians from Chicago Category:20th-century American surgeons Category:University of Chicago alumni Category:Rush Medical College alumni Category:Burials at Rosehill Cemetery Category:20th-century American Jews Category:Hungarian Jews