author
Abraham Flexner
1866–1959
A forceful critic of outdated schooling, he helped reshape medical education in the United States and Canada and later led the creation of one of the world’s great research institutes. His writing is direct, questioning, and still strikingly modern.
1 Audiobook
Prostitution in Europe
by Abraham Flexner
About the author
Born in Louisville, Kentucky, in 1866, Abraham Flexner was an American educator and writer best known for pushing major reforms in education. After studying at Johns Hopkins and in Europe, he founded a college-preparatory school in Louisville, where he experimented with more flexible and student-centered teaching.
Flexner became nationally influential through his 1910 study of medical schools in the United States and Canada, often called the Flexner Report. Its impact was enormous: it criticized weak and poorly equipped schools and argued for rigorous scientific training, helping set new standards for modern medical education.
He later wrote widely on schools, universities, and the purpose of learning, and from 1930 to 1939 he served as the founding director of the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton. He died in 1959, leaving behind a legacy that shaped both professional education and the way people think about intellectual life.