Skip to main content

Sir Robert Jones: orthopaedic surgeon and war hero

International Orthopaedics volume 39, pages 1021–1025 (2015)Cite this article

Abstract

The First World War was a very harsh conflict and statistics recorded a great number of victims, both soldiers and civilians. One hundred years later, the whole world is commemorating the Great War by celebrating people and events that contributed to shaping the XX century. Beyond remembering political figures, war heroes or even famous battles, it is also important to underline the contribution of those who devoted their efforts to improve the living conditions during war campaigns. This is the case of Sir Robert Jones, one of the fathers of XX century orthopaedics, who contributed to re-organize the military medical assistance during war times and whose teachings, coming directly from his “on the field” experience, inspired an entire generation of European surgeons.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution.

Access options

Buy single article

Instant access to the full article PDF.

43,34 €

Price includes VAT (Finland)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Fig. 1
Fig. 2

References

  1. Hobsbawn E (1994) The age of extremes: a history of the world, 1914–1991. Michael Joseph, London

    Google Scholar 

  2. Clodfelter M (2002) Warfare and armed conflicts—a statistical reference to casualty and other figures, 1500–2000, 2nd edn. University of Michigan, Ann Arbor

    Google Scholar 

  3. Cope R (1995) Robert Jones: father of modern orthopaedic surgery. Bull Hosp Jt Dis 54:115–123

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  4. Hagy M (2004) “Keeping Up with the Joneses”—the story of Sir Robert Jones and Sir Reginald Watson-Jones. Iowa Orthop J 24:133–137

    PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  5. Cope R (1995) Hugh Owen Thomas: bone-setter and pioneer orthopaedist. Bull Hosp Jt Dis 54:54–60

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  6. Galasko C (1988) Sir Harry Platt and the evolution of othopaedic surgery in North-West England. In: Noble J (ed) Current trends in orthopedic surgery. Macmillan, London, pp 1–11

    Google Scholar 

  7. Batchelor JS (1969) Robert Jones, his life and our to-day. Ann R Coll Surg Engl 44:342–355

    PubMed Central  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  8. Mostofi SB (2004) Robert Jones. In: Mostofi SB (ed) Who’s who in orthopedics. Springer, London, pp 164–167

    Google Scholar 

  9. Fatović-Ferenčić S, Pećina M (2014) The Balkan beam—Florschütz frame and its use during the Great War. Int Orthop 38(10):2209–2213. doi:10.1007/s00264-014-2371-5

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  10. Jones R (1917) Notes of military orthopaedics. Cassell, London

    Google Scholar 

  11. Di Matteo B, Tarabella V, Filardo G, Viganò A, Tomba P, Marcacci M (2013) The traumatologist and the battlefield: the book that changed the history of traumatology. J Trauma Acute Care Surg 74:339–343. doi:10.1097/TA.0b013e31827d0c9b

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  12. Unknown author (1993) Sir Robert Jones. Br Med J 1:123–125

    Google Scholar 

  13. Ross A (2013) A very brief history of orthopaedic surgery in the United Kingdom. SICOT Newsl 136:8–10

    Google Scholar 

  14. Morrey BF (2005) The influence of Sir Robert Jones on the founding and development of orthopaedic surgery at the Mayo Clinic. J Bone Joint Surg (Br) 1:106–107. doi:10.1302/0301-620X.87B1.15806

    Google Scholar 

  15. Di Matteo B, Tarabella V, Filardo G, Viganò A, Tomba P, Marcacci M (2014) Art and science in the Renaissance: the case of Walther Hermann Ryff. Clin Orthop Relat Res 472:1689–1696. doi:10.1007/s11999-014-3605-y

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  16. Di Matteo B, Tarabella V, Filardo G, Viganò A, Tomba P, Marcacci M (2013) The Renaissance and the universal surgeon: Giovanni Andrea Della Croce, a master of traumatology. Int Orthop 37:2523–2528. doi:10.1007/s00264-013-2111-2

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank Liliana Draghetti (Donazione Putti, Biblioteche Scientifiche, Rizzoli Orthopaedic Institute), Keith Smith (Task Force, Rizzoli Orthopaedic Institute), Davide Puppini and Linda Accorsi for their help.

All the images reproduced in the present paper are property of “Donazione Putti, Biblioteche Scientifiche” (Rizzoli Orthopaedic Institute, Bologna, Italy) who kindly gave their consent for the use of the images in the present manuscript.

The present paper was supported by the following funds granted to Rizzoli Orthopaedic Institute: “5‰ (5 per mille), anno 2010”.

Author information

Affiliations

  1. II Orthopaedic and Traumatologic Clinic – Biomechanics and Technology Innovation Laboratory, Rizzoli Orthopaedic Institute, Via Di Barbiano, 1/10, 40136, Bologna, Italy

    Berardo Di Matteo, Vittorio Tarabella, Giuseppe Filardo, Patrizia Tomba, Anna Viganò, Elizaveta Kon & Maurilio Marcacci

  2. Biblioteche Scientifiche IOR, Donazione Putti, Rizzoli Orthopaedic Institute, Bologna, Italy

    Vittorio Tarabella, Patrizia Tomba & Anna Viganò

Authors
  1. Berardo Di Matteo
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Vittorio Tarabella
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Giuseppe Filardo
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Patrizia Tomba
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Anna Viganò
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Elizaveta Kon
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. Maurilio Marcacci
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Berardo Di Matteo.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and Permissions

About this article

Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Di Matteo, B., Tarabella, V., Filardo, G. et al. Sir Robert Jones: orthopaedic surgeon and war hero. International Orthopaedics (SICOT) 39, 1021–1025 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00264-014-2603-8

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00264-014-2603-8

Keywords

  • History of orthopaedics
  • World War I
  • Military medicine
  • Robert Jones