Hektoen International

A Journal of Medical Humanities

Tag: roman

  • Tattoos in the twentieth century

    Howard FischerUppsala, Sweden “It was in 1972 and you didn’t really go around showing tattoos or talking about them…And now all of a sudden it has become the thing to do.”1– Cher, American singer, actor Placing dyes or pigments into the dermis to form a design dates back at least 12,000 years. Tattooing was seen…

  • Ada English: The forgotten fighter

    Laura KingAtlanta, GA, United States A reformer of psychiatric care, a fighter for Irish independence, and a forgotten figure in Irish history—that was Dr. Adeline (Ada) English. As a female physician working in Ireland from the beginning to the middle of the 1900s, English faced obstacles because of both her sex and her politics. However,…

  • There is power in the blood

    Mark TanNorthwest Deanery, UK “Carne fa carne e vino fa sango” [Meat makes flesh and wine makes blood]—Italian proverb Laura was covered in blood when the paramedics arrived at her house. Her husband, in a state of shock, had gathered every available towel in the vicinity, but it seemed too little and too late. Blood…

  • The legacy and maladies of Jonathan Swift

    JMS PearceEngland, UK Jonathan Swift (Fig 1.) is best known for his popular Lemuel Gulliver’s: Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World published in 1726. (Fig 2.) Exciting adventures combine with satirical metaphors that parodied contemporary customs and politics. Lemuel Gulliver, the narrator, begins as a modern man but ends ironically as a mad…