Isaac Baker Brown

author

Isaac Baker Brown

1812–1873

A controversial Victorian gynecologist and surgeon, he became well known in his day for his work in women’s medicine and is now remembered for promoting harmful procedures that have since been condemned. His life offers a striking look at the ambitions and blind spots of 19th-century medicine.

1 Audiobook

On the Curability of Certain Forms of Insanity, Epilepsy, Catalepsy, and Hysteria in Females

by Isaac Baker Brown

About the author

Born in 1811 and dying on February 3, 1873, Isaac Baker Brown was an English gynecologist and obstetrical surgeon who built a prominent career in Victorian medicine. He helped found the London Surgical Home for Diseases of Women and became known for his specialist work in gynecology.

Brown is now most often discussed because he argued that clitoridectomy could treat conditions such as epilepsy, hysteria, and other disorders in women. His advocacy of that operation brought heavy criticism from other doctors, and his reputation collapsed after he was expelled from the Obstetrical Society of London.

Today, his story is usually presented as both a chapter in the history of gynecology and a warning about how medical authority can be used to justify deeply unethical treatment.