Jacob Snowman

Born on November 24, 1871, Jacob Snowman was a British physician who also worked as a mohel, bringing together clinical training and Jewish ritual practice. Available biographical sources describe him as the son of Abraham Snowman, a picture dealer, and the older brother of painter Isaac Snowman and jeweller Emanuel Snowman.

Snowman wrote several specialist works, including Jewish Law and Sanitary Science, Clinical Surgical Diagnosis, A Short History of Talmudic Medicine, and The Surgery of Ritual Circumcision. That last book is especially notable for its effort to apply antiseptic and surgical standards to a traditional religious procedure, reflecting his interest in connecting modern medical knowledge with established practice.

He died on February 28, 1959. He is often noted today for reports that he circumcised the infant Prince Charles in December 1948, a detail that has kept his name in public discussion long after his medical and religious writings first appeared.