ABSTRACT
John Collins Warren (1778-1856) embodied the essence of Bos ton surgery during the first half of the nineteenth century.1'9 His father, John Warren (1753-1815), was a leading medical educator, surgeon, and patriot of eighteenth century Boston. Warrens father had the foresight to participate in founding Harvard Medical School in 1782, at the time the third such school in the English American colonies, after Pennsylvania and King s College (Columbia) in New York. In spite of John Warrens clear commitment to medicine, he did not recommend that his son follow in his footsteps. He consid ered a career in business to be more conducive to a successful and financially stable life.
