Joseph Lister, 1st Baron Lister

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Joseph Lister, 1st Baron Lister bigraphy, stories - Surgeon

Joseph Lister, 1st Baron Lister : biography

5 April 1827 – 10 February 1912

Joseph Lister, 1st Baron Lister, Bt., OM, FRS, PC (5 April 182710 February 1912), known as Sir Joseph Lister, Bt., between 1883 and 1897, was a British surgeon and a pioneer of antiseptic surgery. By applying Louis Pasteur’s advances in microbiology, he promoted the idea of sterile surgery while working at the Glasgow Royal Infirmary. Lister successfully introduced carbolic acid (now known as phenol) to sterilise surgical instruments and to clean wounds, which led to a reduction in post-operative infections and made surgery safer for patients.

Later life

Lister retired from practice after his wife, who had long helped him in research, died in 1892 in Italy, during one of the few holidays they allowed themselves. Studying and writing lost appeal for him and he sank into religious melancholy. Despite suffering a stroke, he still came into the public light from time to time. Edward VII came down with appendicitis two days before his coronation. Like all internal surgery at the time, the appendectomy needed by the King still posed an extremely high risk of death by post-operational infection, and surgeons did not dare operate without consulting Britain’s leading surgical authority. Lister obligingly advised them in the latest antiseptic surgical methods (which they followed to the letter), and the King survived, later telling Lister, "I know that if it had not been for you and your work, I wouldn’t be sitting here today."

Lister died on 10 February 1912 at his country home in Walmer, Kent at the age of 84. After a funeral service at Westminster Abbey, he was buried at Hampstead Cemetery, Fortune Green, London in a plot to the south-west of central chapel. Both the baronetcy and barony became extinct on his death.

Early life and education

Lister came from a prosperous Quaker home in Upton, Essex, a son of Joseph Jackson Lister, a pioneer of achromatic object lenses for the compound microscope.

At Quaker schools, he became a fluent reader of French and German, which were also the leading languages of medical research.Doctors – The History of Medicine through Biography by Sherwin B. Nuland As a teenager, Lister attended Grove House School Tottenham, studying mathematics, natural science, and languages.

He attended University College London, one of only a few institutions which accepted Quakers at that time. He initially studied botany and obtained a bachelor of Arts degree in 1847. He registered as a medical student and graduated with honours as Bachelor of Medicine, subsequently entering the Royal College of Surgeons at the age of 26. In 1854, Lister became both first assistant to and friend of surgeon James Syme at the University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh Royal Infirmary in Scotland.

In 1867, Lister championed the use of carbolic acid as an antiseptic, such that it became the first widely used antiseptic in surgery. He first suspected it would prove an adequate disinfectant because it was used to ease the stench from fields irrigated with sewage waste. He presumed it was safe because carbolic acid treated fields produced no apparent ill-effects on the livestock that later grazed upon them. He subsequently left the Quakers, joined the Scottish Episcopal Church, and eventually married Syme’s daughter, Agnes. On their honeymoon, they spent 3 months visiting leading medical institutes (hospitals and universities) in France and Germany. By this time, Agnes was enamoured of medical research and was Lister’s partner in the laboratory for the rest of her life.

Legacy and honours

Lister was president of the Royal Society between 1895 and 1900. Following his death, a Memorial Fund led to the founding of the Lister Medal, seen as the most prestigious prize that could be awarded to a surgeon.

A British Institution of Preventive Medicine, previously named after Edward Jenner was renamed in 1899 in honour of Lister.

Two postage stamps were issued in September 1965 to honour Lister for his contributions to antiseptic surgery.