Widely recognised as "the father of urology in Glasgow"
Arthur Henry Jacobs was born on 16 June 1899. He studied at St Mungo’s College, Glasgow and took the Scottish triple qualification in 1920 (the Licentiate of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh, Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh and Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow).
He was appointed to the staff of Glasgow Royal Infirmary as a general surgeon and developed an interest in urology. He spent some time in London with Sir John Thomson-Walker and also studied in Paris and Vienna. He was appointed as a urologist in Glasgow in 1930, becoming head of the urology department there in 1936.
His urological interests included genito-urinary tuberculosis and ureterosigmoidostomy, urinary diversion and bladder augmentation, and he was one of the first to report hyperchloraemic acidosis in patients with urinary diversion. He was an expert in retropubic prostatectomy and was a pioneer in early imaging techniques.
He was president of the Royal Medico-Chirurgical Society of Glasgow in 1955, president of the British Association of Urological Surgeons from 1957-1959, and was awarded the St. Peter’s medal in 1965.
Arthur Jacobs died at home in 1974 aged 75. He is widely recognised as the father of urology in Glasgow.
Papers and articles about Arthur Jacobs
Biographical article
Genitourinary surgery and Arthur Jacobs: father of urology in Glasgow. A biography of Arthur Jacobs.
Robson WLM & Bloom DA. Urology, 53: 858-861, 1999
View an abstract of this article
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