Jack Penn
Encyclopedia
Jack Penn M.B., Ch.B., F.R.C.S.(E.)., Mil. Dec. M.B.E., S.M., was a plastic and reconstructive surgeon, sculptor and author, who was also for a time a Member of the President's Council in South Africa.
in 1909, the youngest of 7 children. After World War I, the family moved to Johannesburg
, where he was educated at Parktown Boys' High School
and the University of the Witwatersrand
.
at the University of the Witwatersrand
.
, being called up in 1939 as a major attached to the 7th Field Ambulance. In this capacity he went to London to help with war casualties in need of plastic and reconstructive surgery, notably during the Battle of Britain
. Here, Penn trained in military plastic surgery under Sir Harold Gillies
and Sir Archibald Mclndoe. Returning to South Africa, he founded and was commander in charge of the Brenthurst Military Hospital, which he founded. Severely damaged by fire in 1944, Brenthurst was restored and returned to its owner, Sir Ernest Oppenheimer
.
Oppenheimer made possible a new Chair of Plastic, Maxillo Facial and Oral Surgery, and Dr Penn, at the age of 35, was appointed first professor of Plastic Surgery at the University of the Witwatersrand
. His academic positions included visiting professorships at Oxford, Harvard, Pennsylvania, Ann Arbor, UCLA, New York, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Hiroshima, Tokyo, and the Taiwan Army Medical Centre.
In 1956 Penn was the moving force behind the establishment of the Association of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, and he was elected unanimously as its first president. He helped to initiate plastic and reconstructive surgery in other countries, including Israel
(during the 1948 war), Zimbabwe
(then Rhodesia), Kenya
, Gabon
(then French Equatorial Africa, at the invitation of Albert Schweitzer
at Lambarene
), Japan
(assisting Hiroshima
and Nagasaki
victims) and Taiwan
.
Penn was also responsible for the first academic journal of plastic surgery in the English language, the Brenthurst Papers, and he authored many professional papers, editorials and book chapters in this field.
Penn’s sculptures are to be seen in various places in South Africa and elsewhere. A bust of General Jan Christian Smuts was commissioned for the Jan Smuts Airport (now O.R. Tambo
Airport), and a statue of Henrietta Stockdale
, the nursing pioneer, is in the grounds of St Cyprian’s Cathedral
in Kimberley
. His bust of Albert Schweitzer
was presented to Strasbourg, while those of Ben Gurion
and General Moshe Dayan
are in Israel. He produced a bust of Joseph Lister
, in England. He also made sketches and paintings.
Jack Penn wrote a number of books, mainly of a philosophical nature, which include his Letters to my Son (1975) – letters that were addressed to his son John who, like himself, became a plastic and reconstructive surgeon, living in the USA; The Right to Look Human: an autobiography (1976); Reflections on Life (1980); and To think is to live (nd).
Penn died on 27 November 1996, aged 87 years.
Early years
Penn was born in Cape TownCape Town
Cape Town is the second-most populous city in South Africa, and the provincial capital and primate city of the Western Cape. As the seat of the National Parliament, it is also the legislative capital of the country. It forms part of the City of Cape Town metropolitan municipality...
in 1909, the youngest of 7 children. After World War I, the family moved to Johannesburg
Johannesburg
Johannesburg also known as Jozi, Jo'burg or Egoli, is the largest city in South Africa, by population. Johannesburg is the provincial capital of Gauteng, the wealthiest province in South Africa, having the largest economy of any metropolitan region in Sub-Saharan Africa...
, where he was educated at Parktown Boys' High School
Parktown Boys' High School
Parktown Boys' High School is a public high school for boys in Parktown, a suburb of Johannesburg, South Africa. Parktown Boys' is well known for its emphasis on holistic education and in 2009 was rated as one of the top performing state schools in South Africa, and in the top ten schools in...
and the University of the Witwatersrand
University of the Witwatersrand
The University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg is a South African university situated in the northern areas of central Johannesburg. It is more commonly known as Wits University...
.
Training
Married in 1934 Diana Malkin, Penn and his wife went to the United Kingdom, where he became a Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh in 1935. He worked successively at the Orthopaedic Centre in Liverpool, at the then new British Postgraduate School in London, as acting Senior Surgeon at a County Council hospital in London, and as Resident Surgical Officer at the Royal Salop Infirmary in Shrewsbury. He also spent part of 1937 at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, in the United States of America, then returning, with a short spell in London, to Johannesburg, where he was offered a part-time appointment as lecturer in Clinical Anatomy by Prof. Raymond DartRaymond Dart
Raymond Arthur Dart was an Australian anatomist and anthropologist, best known for his involvement in the 1924 discovery of the first fossil ever found of Australopithecus africanus, an extinct hominid closely related to humans, at Taung in the North of South Africa in the province...
at the University of the Witwatersrand
University of the Witwatersrand
The University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg is a South African university situated in the northern areas of central Johannesburg. It is more commonly known as Wits University...
.
The military context: plastic and reconstructive surgery
Penn enlisted as a part-time officer with the rank of major in the Union Defence ForceUnion Defence Force
The Union Defence Force may refer to a former or current military organization:* the South African Army from 1912 to 1957* the military of the United Arab Emirates...
, being called up in 1939 as a major attached to the 7th Field Ambulance. In this capacity he went to London to help with war casualties in need of plastic and reconstructive surgery, notably during the Battle of Britain
Battle of Britain
The Battle of Britain is the name given to the World War II air campaign waged by the German Air Force against the United Kingdom during the summer and autumn of 1940...
. Here, Penn trained in military plastic surgery under Sir Harold Gillies
Harold Gillies
Sir Harold Delf Gillies was a New Zealand-born, and later London based, otolaryngologist who is widely considered as the father of plastic surgery.-Personal life:Gillies was born in Dunedin, New Zealand...
and Sir Archibald Mclndoe. Returning to South Africa, he founded and was commander in charge of the Brenthurst Military Hospital, which he founded. Severely damaged by fire in 1944, Brenthurst was restored and returned to its owner, Sir Ernest Oppenheimer
Ernest Oppenheimer
Sir Ernest Oppenheimer was a diamond and gold mining entrepreneur, financier and philanthropist, who controlled De Beers and founded the Anglo American Corporation of South Africa.-Career:...
.
Oppenheimer made possible a new Chair of Plastic, Maxillo Facial and Oral Surgery, and Dr Penn, at the age of 35, was appointed first professor of Plastic Surgery at the University of the Witwatersrand
University of the Witwatersrand
The University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg is a South African university situated in the northern areas of central Johannesburg. It is more commonly known as Wits University...
. His academic positions included visiting professorships at Oxford, Harvard, Pennsylvania, Ann Arbor, UCLA, New York, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Hiroshima, Tokyo, and the Taiwan Army Medical Centre.
Brenthurst Clinic
Penn resigned from the University in 1950 in order to found his own clinic, which he named the Brenthurst Clinic. Penn originated innovative techniques in plastic surgery, notably the Brenthurst Splint which was standard for many years for jaw fractures.In 1956 Penn was the moving force behind the establishment of the Association of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, and he was elected unanimously as its first president. He helped to initiate plastic and reconstructive surgery in other countries, including Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
(during the 1948 war), Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe is a landlocked country located in the southern part of the African continent, between the Zambezi and Limpopo rivers. It is bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the southwest, Zambia and a tip of Namibia to the northwest and Mozambique to the east. Zimbabwe has three...
(then Rhodesia), Kenya
Kenya
Kenya , officially known as the Republic of Kenya, is a country in East Africa that lies on the equator, with the Indian Ocean to its south-east...
, Gabon
Gabon
Gabon , officially the Gabonese Republic is a state in west central Africa sharing borders with Equatorial Guinea to the northwest, Cameroon to the north, and with the Republic of the Congo curving around the east and south. The Gulf of Guinea, an arm of the Atlantic Ocean is to the west...
(then French Equatorial Africa, at the invitation of Albert Schweitzer
Albert Schweitzer
Albert Schweitzer OM was a German theologian, organist, philosopher, physician, and medical missionary. He was born in Kaysersberg in the province of Alsace-Lorraine, at that time part of the German Empire...
at Lambarene
Lambaréné
Lambaréné is the capital of the political district Moyen-Ogooué in Gabon. The city counts 24,000 inhabitants and is located 75 kilometres south of the equator....
), Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
(assisting Hiroshima
Hiroshima
is the capital of Hiroshima Prefecture, and the largest city in the Chūgoku region of western Honshu, the largest island of Japan. It became best known as the first city in history to be destroyed by a nuclear weapon when the United States Army Air Forces dropped an atomic bomb on it at 8:15 A.M...
and Nagasaki
Nagasaki
is the capital and the largest city of Nagasaki Prefecture on the island of Kyushu in Japan. Nagasaki was founded by the Portuguese in the second half of the 16th century on the site of a small fishing village, formerly part of Nishisonogi District...
victims) and Taiwan
Taiwan
Taiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...
.
Penn was also responsible for the first academic journal of plastic surgery in the English language, the Brenthurst Papers, and he authored many professional papers, editorials and book chapters in this field.
Author and Sculptor
It has been said that Penn was as well known for his sculpture and his writings as for his plastic surgery.Penn’s sculptures are to be seen in various places in South Africa and elsewhere. A bust of General Jan Christian Smuts was commissioned for the Jan Smuts Airport (now O.R. Tambo
Oliver Tambo
Oliver Reginald Tambo was a South African anti-apartheid politician and a central figure in the African National Congress .-Biography:Oliver Tambo was born in Bizana in eastern Pondoland in what is now Eastern Cape...
Airport), and a statue of Henrietta Stockdale
Henrietta Stockdale
Henrietta Stockdale was a nursing pioneer. Through her influence and pressure the first state registration of nurses and midwives in the world was brought about when the Cape of Good Hope Medical and Pharmacy Act of 1891 passed into law...
, the nursing pioneer, is in the grounds of St Cyprian’s Cathedral
St Cyprian's Cathedral, Kimberley
The Cathedral Church of St Cyprian the Martyr, Kimberley, is the seat of the Bishop of the Anglican Diocese of Kimberley and Kuruman, Anglican Church of Southern Africa. It became a Cathedral when the Synod of Bishops gave a mandate for the formation of the new Diocese of Kimberley and Kuruman in...
in Kimberley
Kimberley, Northern Cape
Kimberley is a city in South Africa, and the capital of the Northern Cape. It is located near the confluence of the Vaal and Orange Rivers. The town has considerable historical significance due its diamond mining past and siege during the Second Boer War...
. His bust of Albert Schweitzer
Albert Schweitzer
Albert Schweitzer OM was a German theologian, organist, philosopher, physician, and medical missionary. He was born in Kaysersberg in the province of Alsace-Lorraine, at that time part of the German Empire...
was presented to Strasbourg, while those of Ben Gurion
Ben Gurion
Ben Gurion can refer to the following persons:* Nicodemus ben Gurion, a Biblical figure, probably a rich Jewish member of the Sanhedrin that felt sympathetic to Jesus Christ...
and General Moshe Dayan
Moshe Dayan
Moshe Dayan was an Israeli military leader and politician. The fourth Chief of Staff of the Israel Defense Forces , he became a fighting symbol to the world of the new State of Israel...
are in Israel. He produced a bust of Joseph Lister
Joseph Lister, 1st Baron Lister
Joseph Lister, 1st Baron Lister OM, FRS, PC , known as Sir Joseph Lister, Bt., between 1883 and 1897, was a British surgeon and a pioneer of antiseptic surgery, who promoted the idea of sterile surgery while working at the Glasgow Royal Infirmary...
, in England. He also made sketches and paintings.
Jack Penn wrote a number of books, mainly of a philosophical nature, which include his Letters to my Son (1975) – letters that were addressed to his son John who, like himself, became a plastic and reconstructive surgeon, living in the USA; The Right to Look Human: an autobiography (1976); Reflections on Life (1980); and To think is to live (nd).
Penn died on 27 November 1996, aged 87 years.