George Martin Kober

Background

George Martin Kober was born on March 28, 1850 in Alsfeld, Hesse-Darmstadt, Germany. He was the son of Johann Jacob and Johanna Dorothea (Bär) Kober.

Education

Kober received his early education at the Realschule of his native town. Ordered to Frankford Arsenal, he began study under a preceptor, Dr. Robert Bruce Burns, an Edinburgh graduate. In 1871 Kober was ordered to Washington for duty and he entered the medical school of Georgetown University, taking an evening course. He received his degree in 1873 and the following year was appointed an acting assistant surgeon in the army and ordered to California.

Career

His father was one of those whose souls were stirred by the ferment of liberty in the fifth decade of the nineteenth century, and he resolved that no son of his should serve under any German prince or potentate. George therefore emigrated to the United States in 1866. He found that his brother Charles, who had preceded him, was a soldier at Carlisle Barracks and there he enlisted also. Assigned to duty at the hospital in August 1867, he excited the interest and received the help of the surgeon, Dr. Joseph J. B. Wright, and by January 1870 he was appointed a hospital steward and had fixed his mind upon medicine as a career.

His career as an army doctor continued until November 1886, when he left the service, for which he always cherished a warm friendship. Frugal habits, civil practice, and wise investments made him financially comfortable, and by 1893 he had given up private practice and was devoting his time to teaching, public health work, and philanthropy.

In 1901 he was made dean of the medical department of Georgetown University, which position he held until 1928.

He was a prolific writer, his published articles numbering about two hundred. They deal principally with hygiene, disease prevention, and philanthropy, among the more important being Urinology and Its Practical Application (1874), Milk in Relation to Public Health (1902), Industrial Hygiene and Social Betterment (1908). The medical corps of the army and Georgetown University were special objects of his regard. At the latter institution in 1923 he created an endowment fund of $16, 000, the income of which was to be used for the creation of a scholarship in the medical school, a gold medal for the best student in hygiene, a gold medal to be awarded annually to a member of the Association of American Physicians who had contributed to the progress and achievement of the medical sciences or preventive medicine, and an annual course of lectures by men who had contributed to the progress and achievement of the medical sciences or preventive medicine. He was a fellow of the American Medical Association and of the Association for the Advancement of Science, secretary of the Association of American Physicians (1909 - 16), president of the Association of American Medical Colleges (1906), of the National Association for the Study and Prevention of Tuberculosis (1915), of the National Housing Association (1889), and an active member of numerous other societies.

At the time of his death, he was engaged in writing his Reminiscences, one volume of which had appeared in 1930. It deals more with his friends and his manifold interests than with himself. His seventieth, eightieth, and eighty-first birthdays were honored by testimonials by Georgetown University and various medical and scientific societies. On the occasion of the eightieth birthday he was presented with a bronze plaque bearing his portrait in relief and inscribed "George Martin Kober, Physician, Patriot, Philanthropist. "

Achievements

• Kober was a pioneer in the crusade against tuberculosis and designed the Tuberculosis Hospital in Washington; he called attention to the pollution of the Potomac River as a cause of typhoid in Washington, and was instrumental in securing the means of purification adopted; and he is credited with the first published report on the use of iodine as an antiseptic.

Works

More photos

• book

  • Industrial and Personal Hygiene

    (This book was originally published prior to 1923, and rep...)

  • Report of Committee On Social Betterment

    (This book was originally published prior to 1923, and rep...)

  • The History And Development Of The Housing Movement In The City Of Washington, Part 3

    ( This work has been selected by scholars as being cultur...)

  • The fiftieth anniversary of the graduation in medicine of Samuel Clagett Busey, M.D. LL.D

    (This is a pre-1923 historical reproduction that was curat...)

  • Diseases of Occupation and Vocational Hygiene - Primary Source Edition

    (This is a reproduction of a book published before 1923. T...)

Personality

Kober was a man of pleasing personality and gracious manners. His acquaintance with men of prominence was large. Despite his learning, he always spoke English with a marked German accent.

Connections

Kober never married: his great love was for mankind, particularly the poor and afflicted.

Father:

Johann Jacob Kober

Mother:

Johanna Dorothea (Bär) Kober

Brother:

Charles