Botterell, Edmund Henry

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Botterell, Edmund Henry

1906-1997

Edmund (Henry) Harry Botterell (1906-1997) was born in Vancouver in 1906. The family moved to Winnipeg shortly after his birth and after finishing his early schooling in Winnipeg he attended Ridley College in St. Catherines. He entered the University of Manitoba in 1926 and graduated with his M.D. in 1930. He then undertook extensive postgraduate residency and fellowship training in Winnipeg, Montreal, Toronto, New Haven, and London. During this period he studied under such notables as Campbell Howard, W.E. Gallie, K.G. Mackenzie, John Fulton, Frederick Banting, and Geoffrey Jefferson. In 1936, he joined K.G. Mackenzie as a junior in neurosurgery at Toronto General Hospital.

From 1940 to 1945 he served in the Canadian Armed Forces as Lieutenant-Colonel in charge of neurosurgery in Basingstoke, England and was awarded the OBE for distinguished service in treating soldiers with spinal cord injuries. After the war he took a leading role in the rehabilitation of paraplegic patients. During the 1950's he turned his attention to neurosurgery and was a pioneer in the use of hypothermia in cerebral vascular surgery as well as using surgery to treat cerebral aneurysms. In 1952 he was made Head of Neurosurgery at Toronto General Hospital and instituted a residency program in neurosurgery. At an invitation from the Principal in 1962 Botterell accepted the position of Dean of Medicine at Queen's University at Kingston, a poition he held until 1970. He also held the position of Vice-Principal (Health Sciences) from 1968-1971. In 1979 the newly completed Medical Sciences Building at Queen's University was named Botterell Hall in recognition of Harry Botterell's service and achievements.

Over the years Harry Botterell received numerous awards and honours including the F.N.G. Award from the Canadian Medical Association (1977). He held honorary degrees at McGill (1972), Queen's (1973) and Dalhousie (1979) Universities, University of Toronto (1979) and University of Manitoba (1983) and in 1974 was made Emeritus Professor in Surgical Neurology and Clinical Anatomy at Queen's University. He also was made the recipient of a number of honorary memberships in associations and was an Honorary Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons (Edinburgh).

In 1972, after retirement, he investigated the state of health care in Canada's prisons and in 1974, on behalf of the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, he enquired into animal health care services and Chaired the National Health Services Advisory Committee, reporting to the Commissioner of the Canadian Penitentiary Services. In the early 1980's he authored a report on the findings of a study team investigating seven suicides for Correctional Services. Harry Botterell died in 1997.

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