Hektoen International

A Journal of Medical Humanities

Tag: Geneva

  • Jorge Luis Borges: Brilliant blindness

    Nicolas Roberto Robles Badajoz, Spain   Penumbra de la paloma llamaron los hebreos a la iniciación de la tarde cuando la sombra no entorpece los pasos y la venida de la noche se advierte como una música esperada y antigua, como un grato declive. Twilight of the dove the Hebrews called the initiation of the…

  • The Valsalva maneuver

    JMS Pearce Hull, England, UK   Fig 1. Valsalva’s maneuver. Source It is a paradox that the discovery of the Valsalva maneuver did not relate to cardiovascular physiology but to the treatment of discharges from the ear. Valsalva’s maneuver is now used physiologically1 to test cardiac and autonomic function, and in several other diagnostic and…

  • Dr. Sabina Spielrein: consequences of feminism and love

    Irving Rosen Toronto, Ontario, Canada   Sabina Spielrein (1885-1942) as a young woman. She had a hectic existence and can be considered an early contributor to the psychoanalytic literature. Image via Wikimedia  While all our lives are eventful, some people tend to experience situations that set them apart. Born in 1885 in Rostov, Czarist Russia,…

  • Humanitarian for all: The life of Henry Dunant

    Stephen Kosnar Lima, Peru   Henry Dunant 1855. ICRC on Flickr. CC BY-SA 2.0. In his late thirties and bankrupt, Henry Dunant lived in abject poverty, on occasion being forced to eat bread crusts and sleep outdoors in Paris. It is a bitter slice of one man’s history, particularly given that only a few years…

  • Vampires and blood trafficking: The International Red Cross campaign against third-world plasma collection in the 1970s

    William Schneider Indianapolis, Indiana, United States   1986 photo of Hantchef and successors as head of IFRC Blood program (Cropped) left to right: Evelyn von Steffens (technical adviser), Juhani Leikola (Hantchef’s successor), Polly Dussan (secretary to Leikola), Tony Britten (Leikola’s successor) and Zarco Hantchef. Source: Juhani Leikola One of the cornerstones of the WHO Blood…