Wilder Graves Penfield, 26 January 1891 - 5 April 1976

Abstract

The death of Wilder Penfield on 5 April 1976, at the age of 85, marked the end of an era for Canadian neurology and, in many ways, for world neurology. During his long and active career, he had represented a direct link with some of the great medical and neurological figures of the earlier part of the century such as Osier, Sherrington, Holmes and Cajal, and with surgical leaders that included Horsley, Sargent, Leriche, Halsted, Whipple, Cushing and Dandy. Penfield can be called the founder of Canadian neurology. And in a broader sense he can be credited with the development of physiological neurosurgery. He brought to the operating room the meticulous techniques of Sherrington and the stimulation methods of Foerster, combining these with his expert knowledge of the cytology of nervous tissue and the tumours and scars that affect it. The founding in 1934 of the Montreal Neurological Institute, with its then almost unique combination of well planned hospital facilities integrated with scientific laboratories, became his major contribution to neurology at large. His work on cerebral localization and epilepsy assured his scientific distinction. At the time of his retirement in 1960 from surgical practice and from the directorship of the Institute, he was regarded throughout the medical world as one of the outstanding leaders in neurology and neurosurgery.