MAURICE VICTOR, M.D.

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MAURICE VICTOR, M.D. Maurice Victor, M.D., died on June 21, 2001 at his home in Hanover, NH. He was a figure of considerable importance in the field of clinical neurology. He was born in Canora, SK on May 5, 1920 and moved to Winnipeg with his family in 1963. He was predeceased by his parents, Benjamin and Rose Victor; and by a niece Rebecca Ruth Victor; and is survived by his wife Betty Banker-Victor of Hanover; son Ben in Montreal; brother David I. (Itzi) Victor; and sister-in-law Iola Victor. He obtained his medical degree at the Manitoba Medical School in 1943 and was the recipient of three gold medals in medicine as well as several more medals and awards. Immediately upon graduation, he enlisted in the Royal Canadian Army Medical Corps and served with distinction for three years. While overseas with the Medical Corps he received the France and Germany Star, and was awarded the distinction of Knight-Officer of the Order of Orange-Nassau (with Swords) by the Netherlands government for bravery under fire. Upon returning to Winnipeg in 1946, he took his senior internship at the Winnipeg General Hospital, and upon completion moved to the United States, where he obtained residencies at the best American centres in haematology and neurology, settling upon the latter as his specialty. He was for 11 years a staff member of the Department of Neurology at Harvard Medical School and the Massachusetts General Hospital before accepting, in 1962, a professorship at Case Western Reserve University, with the directorship of a department at Cleveland Metropolitan General Hospital. He remained in these capacities until his retirement in 1986. He was then awarded the position of "distinguished physician," which he held for six years, at the Veterans Administration Hospital in White River Junction, VT, together with the position of Emeritus Professor of Medicine and Neurology at Dartmouth College. Dr. Victor was the author of several books and over two hundred articles in specialized journals, and his research earned him numerous distinctions. He is best known as the co-author (with Raymond Adams) of the textbook, Principles of Neurology, a summary of knowledge on diseases of the nervous system, first published in 1977, updated at regular intervals since, and now in its seventh edition. Dr. Victor is remembered as an untiring teacher of students and young doctors. It is a measure of his devotion that he undertook unpaid teaching duties at the Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Centre after his retirement, and continued to teach until illness confined him to his home.

As published in Winnipeg Free Press on Jun 30, 2001