Felix Semon

{{Short description|Laryngologist and neurobiologist}}

File:Sir Felix Semon. Colour lithograph by Sir L. Ward (Spy), 190 Wellcome V0005368.jpg

Sir Felix Semon {{post-nominals|country=GBR|KCVO|FRCP}} (8 December 1849{{Spaced en dash}}1 March 1921) was a German-British pioneer in neurobiology and a prominent laryngologist in the United Kingdom.{{cite news |title=Death of Sr. F. Semon |work=The Times }} He is responsible for Semon's law.{{Cite journal|last1=Kuczkowski|first1=Jerzy|last2=Plichta|first2=Lukasz|last3=Stankiewicz|first3=Czesław|date=January 2012|title=Sir Felix Semon (1849-1921): pioneer in neurolaryngology|journal=Journal of Voice|volume=26|issue=1|pages=87–89|doi=10.1016/j.jvoice.2010.10.015|issn=1873-4588|pmid=21524563}}{{Cite journal|last=Group|first=British Medical Journal Publishing|date=1921-03-12|title=Sir FELIX SEMON, K.C.V.O., M.D., F.R.C.P.Lond|url= |journal=Br Med J|language=en|volume=1|issue=3141|pages=404–405|doi=10.1136/bmj.1.3141.404-d|pmc=2414729|issn=0007-1447}}{{Cite journal|date=March 1909|url=https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(01)37663-8/abstract|journal=The Lancet|language=en|volume=173|issue=4465|pages=931|doi=10.1016/S0140-6736(01)37663-8|issn=0140-6736|title=A Testimonial to Sir Felix Semon|url-access=subscription}}{{Cite journal|last1=Vilensky|first1=Joel A.|last2=Sinish|first2=Pandy R.|date=2004|title=Sir Felix Semon and Semon's law|journal=Clinical Anatomy|language=en|volume=17|issue=8|pages=605–606|doi=10.1002/ca.20045|pmid=15495171|s2cid=45572694|issn=0897-3806}}{{Cite journal|last=Frank|first=Ira|date=1933-09-01|title=XLIX. The Influence of Sir Felix Semon on the Development of Laryngology|journal=Annals of Otology, Rhinology & Laryngology|language=en|volume=42|issue=3|pages=641–659|doi=10.1177/000348943304200301|s2cid=76557419|issn=0003-4894}}{{Cite journal|last=Schbliegelow|first=E.|date=January 1921|title=Sir Felix Semon|journal=Acta Oto-Laryngologica|language=en|volume=3|issue=1|pages=245–249|doi=10.3109/00016482109121185|issn=0001-6489|url=https://zenodo.org/record/2401082}}{{Cite web|url=http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/13418-semon-sir-felix|title=SEMON, SIR FELIX - JewishEncyclopedia.com|website=www.jewishencyclopedia.com|access-date=2018-09-18}}

Semon was born in Danzig, Prussia, the son of S. J. Semon, a Berlin stockbroker, and Henriette Aschenheim of Elbing. In 1868, he began his medical studies in Heidelberg and served as a volunteer during the Franco-Prussian War. Following the war, he resumed his studies in Berlin and took his medical degree in 1873. He studied in Vienna and Paris, specialising in diseases of the throat and nose.

He moved to England because of the need for a laryngologist, joining the Throat Hospital in Golden Square, Westminster. He was a member of the Royal College of Physicians in 1876 and a fellow in 1885. He joined St Thomas' Hospital in 1882 and six years later the National Hospital for Epilepsy and Paralysis in Bloomsbury. In 1894, he was elected president of the Laryngological Society. He was knighted in 1897,{{London Gazette |date= 1 October 1897|issue=26896 | page=5380}} and appointed a Commander in the Royal Victorian Order in 1902.{{London Gazette |date=

22 August 1902|issue= 27467| page=5461}}

In 1901, he was appointed Physician Extraordinary to King Edward VII, and was knighted KCVO in 1905.{{London Gazette |date= 10 November 1905|issue=11776 | page= 1082|city=Edinburgh |supp=}}

He retired from his practice in 1911 and died a decade later in Great Missenden.