Dr James Barry, the first doctor to perform a successful C section wherein both mother and child survived, was a huge champion of handwashing at a time when most doctors didn’t wash their hands. For this reason, many of the chilldbirths he delivered resulted in healthier babies and mothers. He was also a gay trans man, who specifically wrote that upon his death he wished for his body to be taken in its nightshirt, wrapped in his sheets as a shroud, and placed into the coffin so that nobody would see his body. His wishes were not respected, and as a result he was outed at his death.
i’ve also been informed he had a poodle. He named his poodle Psyche. I’d just like to congratulate him on being an excellent human being, who not only pioneered modern medicine but also had good taste in dogs. that is all.
types of responses to this post
- i thought this was fake but it’s not
- here’s the sawbones episode about him
- cis people
He was also reportedly quite the ladies’ man, and he’d apparently carried a child to term and gave birth.
he’s one of my favorite historical figures and ive read a lot on him including the biography Scanty Particulars by Rachel Holmes. a lot of the details of his life are difficult to figure out, partly cause he was very private and partly cause he had so many rumors surrounding him. here are some of my fave facts about him:
-he was very concerned with protecting poor people, women and people of color, aka all the people most of upper class british society at the time cared the least about. he worked to reform prisons and hospitals in south africa at risk to his own career, and also improved the conditions under which poor enlisted british soldiers and their families lived
-he was kind of a known hothead. he was rumored to have fought at least one duel (probably not true though). florence nightingale hated him even though they had similar ideas about medicine because they had such a clash of personalities in the brief time they worked together
-he was a vegetarian and took a goat with him on sea voyages so he could always have fresh milk
-even though he had an abrasive personality and made a lot of enemies, his patients, especially the women, really loved him because they felt like he knew what he was doing and actually cared about their health
-he died poor because the british army ripped him off >:/
edit i almost forgot the best thing. he didn’t just have one poodle named psyche. he had a bunch. when one died he would get a new poodle and name that one psyche too
“i thought your poodle died?”
“psyche!” [poodle comes trotting in]
this is the best response
eclanja liked this
ch-andlers liked this
theproclaimersarelesbians reblogged this from breakfastwithlucien
peachyygogh reblogged this from smaahaender
foreverthefaithfulfan97 reblogged this from breakfastwithlucien
smaahaender reblogged this from breakfastwithlucien
somewhatveggie reblogged this from cats-sarcasm-and-fandoms
bitchbubble liked this breakfastwithlucien reblogged this from gaysuggestions
cats-sarcasm-and-fandoms reblogged this from goodluckandwelldone
goodluckandwelldone reblogged this from linmanuelappreciationsociety
- kesron liked this
cybercleric reblogged this from skeletonmurder
alexander-thegay reblogged this from megsmerizing-allurement
imadethisblogcuzmymomfollowed reblogged this from badykebook
hunter-journal reblogged this from pheobehalliwell
depresseddepot liked this
sarcastic-fandomtastic-dragon reblogged this from snarklordofthesith
mm-mendell liked this
blood-and-foam reblogged this from silvermastermind
author-at-heart reblogged this from imetamanwhowasatree
snarklordofthesith reblogged this from pigeon-boi
imetamanwhowasatree reblogged this from captainlordauditor
fullmetal-fabulous liked this
bugsupport liked this
evilcatv liked this
marinatethedangernoodle liked this
colorintome reblogged this from i-explore-in-my-dreams
i-explore-in-my-dreams reblogged this from love-is-a-chemical
koramberlynne reblogged this from pandafleur
hihiyorin reblogged this from themachineinspace
arsenik225 reblogged this from kaijuu-baby lesbartemis liked this
dykedottir reblogged this from themachineinspace
themachineinspace reblogged this from dwaladin and added:
I’m glad you shared your perspective- I’d like to add some more information about Barry, since you seem interested....
semper-fortis-ae2 liked this dwaladin reblogged this from themachineinspace and added:
I agree with that sentiment 100% but I also am aware that James spent every waking hour as a man. Not a single person...
letsgolesbian liked this
kaijuu-baby reblogged this from ihavehitmypeak
bunnybabbit reblogged this from tetraterezi
ratoonstown liked this
thiccfries liked this
ihavehitmypeak reblogged this from jezi-baba
tetraterezi reblogged this from the-radical-buzzard-of-discourse and added:
Jesus isnt there enough men for yall crow aboit, ypu gotta take the few women who lucked into a less shit spot in life...
- Show more notes