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Bertha De Vriese (1877–1958), the first female neurovascular anatomist
revue neurologique 165 (2009) 999–1001
Editorial
Bertha De Vriese (1877–1958), the first female neurovascular anatomist Bertha De Vriese (1877–1958), la premie`re femme anatomiste neurovasculaire
Bertha De Vriese (1877–1958) issued from a wealthy Ghent family and the first woman to study medicine at the State University of Ghent (Fig. 1). At the age of 16, she had successfully obtained the approved testimonial of the Central Jury in Brussels, after taking private lessons, because at that time secondary studies were not available for girls. When the Ghent University was founded in 1817, courses were taught in Latin. French became the only official language when Belgium became independent in 1830. Only French was used until 1930, when Flemish was finally accepted as a national language and used in the northern part of Belgium. Bertha De Vriese graduated as a medical doctor on the 20th of July 1900 receiving her degree ‘‘maxima cum laude’’. In 1901, she won the interuniversity competition for young researchers in the category of anatomical, physiological and biological sciences with the topic ‘‘E´tudier les modifications que la distribution des vaisseaux sanguins des extre´mite´s subit chez l’homme au cours du de´veloppement’’. At the opening ceremony of the new academic year 1901– 1902 of the Ghent State University, she was honored by the citizen father of Ghent, Emiel Braun, who awarded her the golden medal of the city of Ghent. He expressed at that time his personal view about the future of women, practicing medicine: ‘‘S’il s’agit de grandes ope´rations ou de maladies tre`s graves, sans doute la femme-docteur ne vaudra pas son colle`gue du sexe masculin qui a plus de hardiesse, plus de vigueur, plus d’initiative et plus d’autorite´ morale sur le patient; mais s’il s’agit de cas moins dangereux – et ce sont les plus fre´quents – ne deviendra-t-elle pas une rivale redoutable pour le docteur et spe´cialement chez les femmes et les enfants ?’’. With her fellowship from the city of Ghent, Bertha De Vriese traveled to a few foreign laboratories and hospitals in France, Germany, Austria, Switzerland and England (Fig. 2). As she aspired to start an academic career, she postulated and
obtained at the end of 1903 the temporary mandate of assistant for two years at the Laboratory of Human Anatomy, directed by Pr Hector Leboucq. This mandate could be only renewed one time (Van der Meersch, 2007). She performed remarkable and time-consuming anatomical work by dissecting the arteries of the circle of Willis of hundreds of postmortem brains. After drying the vessels, she pricked them on a booklet paper, noting carefully in French the variations of the circle of Willis that she had observed (De Reuck, 1994). She described various rare anomalies of arteries such as the occurrence of a single anterior cerebral artery, supplying the inner surface of both cerebral hemispheres and the lack of fusion of both vertebral arteries to form the basilar artery. The frequent variations of the circle of Willis were compared. This allowed her to define a primitive arterial formation of the brain, that is only represented by the carotid system, supplying completely both cerebral hemispheres, while in the most developed vascularization type the posterior part of the cerebral hemispheres is supplied, together with the brain stem and the cerebellum, by the vertebral-basilar system (De Vriese, 1904). In 1905, Bertha De Vriese obtained the scientific title of ‘‘Special Doctor in Human Anatomy’’ with her thesis entitled ‘‘Recherches sur la morphologie de l’arte`re basilaire’’ (De Vriese, 1905). Despite the fact that the exceptional value of her scientific work was already universally recognized at that time, her mandate of assistant was not renewed and she could not obtain a permanent academic position as professor at the Ghent University. She then started a private practice mainly focused on pediatrics. She became head of the Children’s Department of ‘‘l’hoˆpital de la Biloque’’. She married at the age of 37 years with Joseph Vercouillie, who was already a well-known dermatologist in Ghent at that time. The marriage remained childless. Bertha De Vriese died in 1958 at the age of 80 years.
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revue neurologique 165 (2009) 999–1001
Fig. 1 – Portrait of Bertha De Vriese at the age of 26 years. Le portrait de Bertha De Vriese a` l’aˆge de 26 ans.
The present author was already fascinated by the collections of the anatomical preparations of Bertha De Vriese, which were initially exposed in the dissection room of the Anatomical Institute of the Ghent University when he was a student and research resident. When he became in charge of the teaching chair of neuroanatomy and neurology, the major part of this collection had to be moved to a more adequate display room (Fig. 3). The collection is now partly exposed in the Out-Clinic of the Department of Neurology of the Ghent University Hospital and partly in the ‘‘Museum voor de Geschiedenis van Geneeskunde’’ in the Faculty Club ‘‘Het Pand’’ of the Ghent University. The University of Ghent has finally recognized the scientific merits of this extraordinary woman. In 2001, a new student residency near the University Hospital received the name of the ‘‘Bertha De Vriese’’ home.
Fig. 3 – An original board of the anatomical preparations of different types of the circulus of Willis from Bertha De Vriese, as preserved in the Department of Neurology of the Ghent University Hospital. Planche anatomique originale des diffe´rents types du cercle de Willis, pre´pare´ par Bertha De Vriese et pre´serve´ au de´partement de neurologie de l’hoˆpital universitaire de Gand.
More than 100 years later her publications are still quoted in scientific journals. The legacy of Bertha De Vriese has inspired further research on the vascular anatomy of the brain at the Institute of Human Anatomy of the University of Ghent with a thesis on the origin of the leptomeningeal arteries (Vander Eecken, 1955) and one on the periventricular arterial border zones (De Reuck, 1974).
Fig. 2 – Bertha De Vriese, sitting in the front row with her cap on her knees, during the meeting of the Anatomical Association, held at Heidelberg in 1903. Bertha De Vriese, assise au premier rang avec son chapeau sur les genoux, pendant le congre`s de l’Association des anatomistes, tenu a` Heidelberg en 1903.
revue neurologique 165 (2009) 999–1001
references
De Reuck J. De periventriculaire arteriele grensgebieden van het menselijk encephalon. Morphologische, pathologische en klinische betekenis. Erasmus. Gent. 1974. De Reuck J. Historical anatomical aspects of stroke. J Hist Neurosci 1994;3:103–7. De Vriese B. Sur la recherche morphologique des arte`res ce´re´brales. Arch Biol 1904;21:357–457. De Vriese B. Recherches sur la morphologie de l’arte`re basilaire. The`se. Universite´ Gand. 1905. Vander Eecken H. De anastomosen van de leptomeningeale slagaders van het encephalon. Thesis. Universiteit Gent. 1955. Van der Meersch AM. Een universitaire loopbaan voor vrouwen aan de Universiteit Gent (1901–1965). Een glazen plafond? Academia Press. Gent. 2007. p. 5–22.
1001
J. De Reuck Department of Neurology, University Hospital, De Pintelaan 185, 9000 Ghent, Belgium E-mail address: [email protected] Received 31 May Received in revised form 9 July Accepted 16 September Published on line 15 October
2009 2009 2009 2009
0035-3787/$ – see front matter # 2009 Elsevier Masson SAS. Tous droits re´serve´s. doi:10.1016/j.neurol.2009.09.002
Editorial
Bertha De Vriese (1877–1958), the first female neurovascular anatomist Bertha De Vriese (1877–1958), la premie`re femme anatomiste neurovasculaire
Bertha De Vriese (1877–1958) issued from a wealthy Ghent family and the first woman to study medicine at the State University of Ghent (Fig. 1). At the age of 16, she had successfully obtained the approved testimonial of the Central Jury in Brussels, after taking private lessons, because at that time secondary studies were not available for girls. When the Ghent University was founded in 1817, courses were taught in Latin. French became the only official language when Belgium became independent in 1830. Only French was used until 1930, when Flemish was finally accepted as a national language and used in the northern part of Belgium. Bertha De Vriese graduated as a medical doctor on the 20th of July 1900 receiving her degree ‘‘maxima cum laude’’. In 1901, she won the interuniversity competition for young researchers in the category of anatomical, physiological and biological sciences with the topic ‘‘E´tudier les modifications que la distribution des vaisseaux sanguins des extre´mite´s subit chez l’homme au cours du de´veloppement’’. At the opening ceremony of the new academic year 1901– 1902 of the Ghent State University, she was honored by the citizen father of Ghent, Emiel Braun, who awarded her the golden medal of the city of Ghent. He expressed at that time his personal view about the future of women, practicing medicine: ‘‘S’il s’agit de grandes ope´rations ou de maladies tre`s graves, sans doute la femme-docteur ne vaudra pas son colle`gue du sexe masculin qui a plus de hardiesse, plus de vigueur, plus d’initiative et plus d’autorite´ morale sur le patient; mais s’il s’agit de cas moins dangereux – et ce sont les plus fre´quents – ne deviendra-t-elle pas une rivale redoutable pour le docteur et spe´cialement chez les femmes et les enfants ?’’. With her fellowship from the city of Ghent, Bertha De Vriese traveled to a few foreign laboratories and hospitals in France, Germany, Austria, Switzerland and England (Fig. 2). As she aspired to start an academic career, she postulated and
obtained at the end of 1903 the temporary mandate of assistant for two years at the Laboratory of Human Anatomy, directed by Pr Hector Leboucq. This mandate could be only renewed one time (Van der Meersch, 2007). She performed remarkable and time-consuming anatomical work by dissecting the arteries of the circle of Willis of hundreds of postmortem brains. After drying the vessels, she pricked them on a booklet paper, noting carefully in French the variations of the circle of Willis that she had observed (De Reuck, 1994). She described various rare anomalies of arteries such as the occurrence of a single anterior cerebral artery, supplying the inner surface of both cerebral hemispheres and the lack of fusion of both vertebral arteries to form the basilar artery. The frequent variations of the circle of Willis were compared. This allowed her to define a primitive arterial formation of the brain, that is only represented by the carotid system, supplying completely both cerebral hemispheres, while in the most developed vascularization type the posterior part of the cerebral hemispheres is supplied, together with the brain stem and the cerebellum, by the vertebral-basilar system (De Vriese, 1904). In 1905, Bertha De Vriese obtained the scientific title of ‘‘Special Doctor in Human Anatomy’’ with her thesis entitled ‘‘Recherches sur la morphologie de l’arte`re basilaire’’ (De Vriese, 1905). Despite the fact that the exceptional value of her scientific work was already universally recognized at that time, her mandate of assistant was not renewed and she could not obtain a permanent academic position as professor at the Ghent University. She then started a private practice mainly focused on pediatrics. She became head of the Children’s Department of ‘‘l’hoˆpital de la Biloque’’. She married at the age of 37 years with Joseph Vercouillie, who was already a well-known dermatologist in Ghent at that time. The marriage remained childless. Bertha De Vriese died in 1958 at the age of 80 years.
1000
revue neurologique 165 (2009) 999–1001
Fig. 1 – Portrait of Bertha De Vriese at the age of 26 years. Le portrait de Bertha De Vriese a` l’aˆge de 26 ans.
The present author was already fascinated by the collections of the anatomical preparations of Bertha De Vriese, which were initially exposed in the dissection room of the Anatomical Institute of the Ghent University when he was a student and research resident. When he became in charge of the teaching chair of neuroanatomy and neurology, the major part of this collection had to be moved to a more adequate display room (Fig. 3). The collection is now partly exposed in the Out-Clinic of the Department of Neurology of the Ghent University Hospital and partly in the ‘‘Museum voor de Geschiedenis van Geneeskunde’’ in the Faculty Club ‘‘Het Pand’’ of the Ghent University. The University of Ghent has finally recognized the scientific merits of this extraordinary woman. In 2001, a new student residency near the University Hospital received the name of the ‘‘Bertha De Vriese’’ home.
Fig. 3 – An original board of the anatomical preparations of different types of the circulus of Willis from Bertha De Vriese, as preserved in the Department of Neurology of the Ghent University Hospital. Planche anatomique originale des diffe´rents types du cercle de Willis, pre´pare´ par Bertha De Vriese et pre´serve´ au de´partement de neurologie de l’hoˆpital universitaire de Gand.
More than 100 years later her publications are still quoted in scientific journals. The legacy of Bertha De Vriese has inspired further research on the vascular anatomy of the brain at the Institute of Human Anatomy of the University of Ghent with a thesis on the origin of the leptomeningeal arteries (Vander Eecken, 1955) and one on the periventricular arterial border zones (De Reuck, 1974).
Fig. 2 – Bertha De Vriese, sitting in the front row with her cap on her knees, during the meeting of the Anatomical Association, held at Heidelberg in 1903. Bertha De Vriese, assise au premier rang avec son chapeau sur les genoux, pendant le congre`s de l’Association des anatomistes, tenu a` Heidelberg en 1903.
revue neurologique 165 (2009) 999–1001
references
De Reuck J. De periventriculaire arteriele grensgebieden van het menselijk encephalon. Morphologische, pathologische en klinische betekenis. Erasmus. Gent. 1974. De Reuck J. Historical anatomical aspects of stroke. J Hist Neurosci 1994;3:103–7. De Vriese B. Sur la recherche morphologique des arte`res ce´re´brales. Arch Biol 1904;21:357–457. De Vriese B. Recherches sur la morphologie de l’arte`re basilaire. The`se. Universite´ Gand. 1905. Vander Eecken H. De anastomosen van de leptomeningeale slagaders van het encephalon. Thesis. Universiteit Gent. 1955. Van der Meersch AM. Een universitaire loopbaan voor vrouwen aan de Universiteit Gent (1901–1965). Een glazen plafond? Academia Press. Gent. 2007. p. 5–22.
1001
J. De Reuck Department of Neurology, University Hospital, De Pintelaan 185, 9000 Ghent, Belgium E-mail address: [email protected] Received 31 May Received in revised form 9 July Accepted 16 September Published on line 15 October
2009 2009 2009 2009
0035-3787/$ – see front matter # 2009 Elsevier Masson SAS. Tous droits re´serve´s. doi:10.1016/j.neurol.2009.09.002