Henry Behrend
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- Liverpool Dispensary
- Jews' Hospital and Orphan Asylum
Henry Behrend | |
|---|---|
 Photograph of Behrend | |
| Born | 1828 Liverpool, England |
| Died | (aged 65) London, England |
| Occupation | Physician |
| Medical career | |
| Institutions |
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| Sub-specialties | Public health |
Henry Behrend (1828 – 28 November 1893) was a British physician, public health advocate and Jewish communal leader active in Liverpool and London during the nineteenth century.
Behrend was born into a Jewish family in Liverpool in 1828. He pursued medical studies at University College Hospital in London and later continued his studies at Manchester.
Medical career
In 1850 Behrend was elected a member of the Royal College of Surgeons of England. He became a licentiate of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh in 1859 and was elected a member of the same institution in 1868.
He began his professional practice in Liverpool, where he served as honorary physician to the Liverpool Dispensary and other local institutions. He also held the post of surgeon in a Lancashire militia regiment. Later he established a successful practice in London.
Behrend contributed extensively to medical literature. In 1852 he published a series of articles in The Lancet on the recent cholera epidemic. His studies on zoonotic transmission were translated into several European languages. He published writings defending sheḥitah and other Jewish dietary regulations. His article "Diseases Caught from Butchers' Meat" appeared in The Nineteenth Century and was later reprinted along with related contributions in book form.
In his writings on tuberculosis, Behrend argued that human and bovine forms of the disease were closely related and transmissible between species, and criticized the inadequacy of contemporary meat inspection practices in England. He observed the rarity of tuberculosis among Jewish patients, and pointed to the high rate of animal rejections during slaughter under Jewish dietary regulations as a possible factor in reducing exposure.[1][2]
He also lectured on both medical and archaeological topics before scholarly societies.
Communal work
Behrend played a central role in the administration of the Jews' Hospital and Orphan Asylum at Norwood. He was elected chairman of the committee in 1868, vice-president in 1869, and president in 1871. His leadership was credited with strengthening the institution and establishing its reputation as one of the best-managed orphan asylums in the United Kingdom at that time.
