Malford W. Thewlis

{{short description|American physician}}

{{infobox person

|name=Malford W. Thewlis

|birth_name=

|birth_date={{birth date|1863|10|11|mf=y}}

|birth_place=Wakefield, Rhode Island

|death_date={{death date and age|1956|6|3|1889|12|4|mf=y}}

|death_place=Rhode Island, United States

|other_names=

|parents=

|alma_mater=Bowdoin Medical School of Maine

|occupation=physician

}}

Malford Wilcox Thewlis (December 4, 1889 – June 3, 1956) was an American physician and pioneer of gerontology, who co-founded the American Geriatrics Society in 1942.[http://www.americangeriatrics.org/news/ags65.pdf Journal of the American Geriatrics Society]{{dead link|date=January 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} 55 (6) 813 "American Geriatrics Society Turns 65" He is commemorated by the annual Thewlis Lecture on Gerontology and Geriatrics, established at the University of Rhode Island.[https://web.archive.org/web/20110606231810/http://www.uri.edu/outreach/rigec/thewlislecture.html Annual Malford Thewlis Lecture in Gerontology and Geriatrics] As a neuropsychiatrist, he attended US President Woodrow Wilson, following a stroke in 1919.Journal of the American Medical Association vol 272 (1994) p 1694-7 "Presidential Disability and the Twenty-fifth Amendment"

Thewlis was born on December 4, 1889, in Wakefield, Rhode Island, the son of James E. Thewlis and Viola (née Wilcox),Institute for Research in Biography, Inc. (1952) American Men of Medicine and received his MD from the Bowdoin Medical School of Maine in 1911.Journal of the American Medical Association vol 166 (Sep 1956) p 221 "Deaths"[https://archive.org/stream/americanphysicia00herr/americanphysicia00herr_djvu.txt The American Physician and Surgeon Blue Book: A Distinct Clyclopedia of 1919] He married Miss Christiane Cherfils (1895 – 1978[http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~rigenweb/cemetery/cemetery355.html Rhode Island Historical Cemeteries Transcription Project]) of Paris, France on December 10, 1919, and they had a son, Harold, who became a professor of politics at University of Rhode Island.Journal of the American Medical Association vol 74 (1920) p 263 "Marriages" Thewlis was one of the few physicians to take note of Ignatz Leo Nascher's 1914 book, Geriatrics: The Diseases of Old Age and Their Treatment, and devoted his life's work to care of the elderly and research into the diseases of old age.T. H. Howell (1988) Age and Ageing vol 17 pp 137-138 "Nascher writes about Geriatrics". He authored "The Care of the Aged: Geriatrics", first published in 1919. Thewlis was also an accomplished amateur magician,Medical Times (1956) Volume 82, Issue 2, p 484 "Malford W. Thewlis" and a member of the International Brotherhood of Magicians: he recommended the practice of conjuring tricks to keep the mind and hands supple.M. W. Thewlis (1946) Care of the Aged, p 46 "Magic is an interesting hobby. ....Practice keeps the would-be magician mentally awake, his hands and fingers supple." He died on June 3, 1956, and was cremated.