Tag: George Dunea
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The death of Cicero
The death of Marcus Tullius Cicero marked the end of one of the most brilliant careers in the history of the Roman Republic. Cicero was not only a statesman and lawyer but also a philosopher, writer, and defender of republican government. His assassination in 43 BCE symbolized the collapse of the Roman Republic and the…
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Sahara, the desert that once was green
The Sahara is the largest desert in the world, stretching across North Africa and covering nine million square kilometers from the Atlantic to the Red Sea. It has a population of some 2.5 million people, many of whom are nomadic. Although the term “Sahara” conveys an image of emptiness, just as when H.L Mencken wrote…
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Damascus, the oldest capital city in the world
Damascus, capital of Syria, was settled as early as 9000 BCE. It stands on the eastern slopes of the Anti-Lebanon Mountains, nourished by the Barada River. The city was never abandoned or swallowed by desert sands; it always served as a center for trade, culture, religion, and medicine. Throughout its rich history, Damascus was conquered…
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Peter the Great and his reforms
Peter the Great ruled Russia from 1682 to 1725 and is remembered for his reforms that modernized the Russian state. Born in 1672, he became tsar at a young age, though he initially ruled jointly with his half-brother Ivan V under the regency of his sister Sophia. During his reign, he transformed Russia from a…
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The Count of Monte Cristo: Medical
Alexandre Dumas père was inspired to write The Count of Monte Cristo by the experiences of his father, Thomas-Alexandre Dumas, son of a minor French nobleman and an enslaved Caribbean woman. Thomas-Alexandre was the first black general in the French army and accompanied Napoleon on his campaign to Egypt. On his return, his ship was…
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Sir Walter Scott (1771–1832): Medical aspects
Sir Walter Scott (1771–1832) is widely credited with inventing and popularizing the modern historical novel. Born in Edinburgh in 1771, he grew up during the intellectual ferment of the Scottish Enlightenment. At eighteen months, he developed a fever followed by permanent lameness in his right leg—consistent with paralytic poliomyelitis. In the hope that the country…
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Virginity now and then
Virginity is sometimes regarded as an indelicate subject. It is also one of history’s most cultural artifacts, less a biological fact than a social fiction refined over millennia. At its most literal, it means to have never engaged in sexual intercourse. Over time, however, it has become tied to ideas of purity, honor, and social…
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Medicine in the Austro-Hungarian Empire
The Austro-Hungarian Empire, which existed from 1867 until its dissolution in 1918, was one of the most scientifically vibrant states in the world. Its medical culture, centered primarily in Vienna but extending across a sprawling, multiethnic realm, produced some of the most consequential advances in modern medicine. From pathology and psychiatry to immunology and public…
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The violent death of Alexander Pushkin, Russia’s tragic poet
Alexander Pushkin, the “Sun of Russian Poetry,” is credited with transforming old-fashioned Russian into a rich, modern, and vibrant language. According to Dostoevsky, “Pushkin came to Russia as a new guiding light, a brilliant illumination of our dark ways.” Nikolai Gogol wrote that “To move from Pushkin to anything else is like moving from a…
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Ernest Hemingway: A medical portrait
From a medical point of view, the life of Ernest Hemingway (1899–1961) was shaped by repeated physical trauma, chronic disease, hereditary factors, and profound psychological influences. In the world of literature, he is remembered for his minimalist prose—spare, direct, “bare-bones”, and stripped of ornamentation. But behind the muscular sentences and the mythology of masculine bravado…