Max Thorek

{{Infobox person

| name = Max Thorek

| image = Max Thorek (1880–1960).png

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| birth_date = {{Birth date|1880|3|10|df=yes}}

| birth_place = Budapest, 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 =

| spouse = {{Marriage|Fannie Unger|16 April 1905}}

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Max Thorek (10 March 1880 – 25 January 1960) was a Hungarian-American surgeon, best known for founding the International College of Surgeons in 1935 and writing his autobiography entitled A Surgeon's World in 1943.{{Cite journal|last=Group|first=British Medical Journal Publishing|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|volume=1|issue=5170|pages=431|doi=10.1136/bmj.1.5170.431-b|s2cid=220212178|issn=0007-1447|url-access=subscription}}[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).

Early life and education

Max Thorek was born in Budapest, where his father was a physician in a small town.{{Cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/historyofmedicin00biog/page/860/mode/1up |title=History of Medicine and Surgery, and Physicians and Surgeons of Chicago |publisher=The Biographical Publishing Corporation |place=Chicago |page=860 |date=1922 |access-date=2024-04-30 |via=Internet Archive}} Thorek's preparation for university training began in Budapest but was interrupted when his younger brother was killed in a pogrom and the family emigrated to Chicago, where he attended the University of Chicago.{{Cite web|url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Max-Thorek|title=Max Thorek {{!}} American surgeon|last=|first=|date=|website=Encyclopedia Britannica|language=en|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=18 February 2019}} He completed his medical degree at Rush Medical College in 1904. Thorek later worked in obstetrics, general, and reconstructive surgery.

File:Thorek Mausoleum Rosehill Cemetery 2020-2424.jpg

He married Fannie Unger in Chicago on 16 April 1905.

In 1954, he founded the International Museum of Surgical Science in a Chicago Gold Coast mansion, and was the founder of Thorek Memorial Hospital, as of 2019 still in operation in Chicago's Uptown neighborhood.{{Cite web|url=https://www.thorek.org/about-us|title=About Us|last=Hospital|first=Thorek Memorial|date=|website=www.thorek.org|language=en|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=11 November 2019}}

He 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).