He was born on August 18, 1844 in Boston, Massachussets, United States, the son of George Cheyne and Anne Henrietta (Brune) Shattuck. His father, George Cheyne Shattuck, 1813-1893, his grandfather, George Cheyne Shattuck, and his brother, Frederick Cheever Shattuck, were all physicians of note in Boston.
He was graduated in the first class of the St. Paul's School along with his brother and Horatio R. Bigelow, and then entered St. James College, Maryland, transferring to Harvard College in 1861, where he received the B. A. degree in 1863, the M. A. in 1867, and the M. D. in 1869.
Before beginning practice in Boston Shattuck traveled in Italy and voyaged around Cape Horn in a sailing ship. On his return, he established a connection with the Boston City Hospital. Later made visiting physician, he served with distinction up to the time of his death.
Particularly interested in typhoid fever, he wrote a number of papers on the subject. Teaching did not appeal to him and he served the Harvard Medical School for only a short time. Shattuck was never vitally interested in the actual practice of medicine. He served as overseer of Harvard College for twenty-one years, president of the board of managers of the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, president of the Boston Medical Library, director of the Boston Athenaeum, trustee of the Massachusetts Humane Society, and charter member of the Association of American Physicians.
Becoming a member of the board of editors of the Boston Medical and Surgical Journal in 1879, and editor-in-chief in 1881, he gave the greater part of his time to this publication until his resignation in 1912. He was an able editor, not always appreciated by his contemporaries.
He died in 1923.
George Brune Shattuck was influential in establishing the Massachusetts State Board of Health, the first in the United States, and through the Massachusetts Medical Society rendered valuable service in influencing state and national legislation on public health measures. His most important paper was "Influenza in Massachusetts".
(Lang:- English, Pages 220. Reprinted in 2015 with the hel...)
Judicious, conservative and unusually formal on his wardrounds, his common sense never deserted him; his comments, trenchant and discriminating, were tempered by a pervasive humor.
Quotes from others about the person
According to Taylor, he was "rare capacity for literary expression, through which ran a vein of subtle humor, rendering his writings as it did his conversation, altogether charming".
He was married to Mrs. Amalia (Schutte) de La Valle, the daughter of William Schutte of Paris, on June 6, 1872. Two daughters survived him.
