Ben Haneman
Born
Benedetto Haneman

(1923-02-13)13 February 1923
Florence, Italy
Died18 December 2001(2001-12-18) (aged 78)
Darlinghurst, New South Wales, Australia
NationalityAustralian
Occupation(s)Gastroenterologist, book collector
Spouses
  • Marion Salkow
  • Beryl Thompson
ChildrenDavid, Peter

Ben Haneman AM, FRACP (13 February 1923 – 18 December 2001) was an Australian physician and book collector.[1][2][3]

Early life and medical career

Ben Haneman was born Benedetto Haneman in Florence, Italy on 13 February 1923. His parents were Nathan and Amulka Haneman.[2]

The family migrated to Australia when he was four. He attended Canterbury Boys' High School and then the University of Sydney where he graduated in medicine. Having received his medical registration in 1944, he began working as a general practitioner in the Sydney suburb of Carlton.[3] Fifteen years later he passed the Royal Australasian College of Physicians examination and became a consultant doctor specialising in gastroenterology at St. George Hospital in Kogarah. He later became warden in clinical studies at the same hospital and was a "mentor" to generations of medical students. In 1971, he became a Fellow of the Royal Australasian College of Physicians.[3] He was a long-time member of the Doctors Reform Society of Australia.[1]

He was interested in the history of medicine and became the Australian president of the History of Medicine Society. Over the years contributed to many journals, magazines and newspapers including Australian Doctor, Medical Observer, RACP News, The Jewish News, the Australian Book Collector and Biblionews.[3][1]

Book collecting

Hanemann was a bibliophile who gathered together a "huge" and "eclectic" private library, comprising around 15,000 volumes[4] and which included collections of books on Spanish literature, history and culture, on the history of science, biography and on Jewish culture.[1]

He had a passion for Spain that dated from his early years when he had learned to speak Spanish, and over a period of 30 years he collected 1,100 copies of Miguel de Cervantes' literary masterpiece Don Quixote in 39 languages, both in the original Spanish[5] and in "every ... significant English translation",[6] as well as a number of illustrated editions[7] of the novel, together with another thousand works on Cervantes. Haneman described what Don Quixote meant to him in the following words: "Don Quixote is central to Spanish literature, to world literature, to writing, production and reading of books and, in my fevered belief, is central to living and being."[7] In 1997, he donated his Cervantes collection to the State Library of New South Wales where is it currently displayed on bookshelves lining the walls of the Library's Friends Room.[8]

Public service

Haneman was a committed member of the Jewish community in Australia and served both as the "chairman of the Social Justice Committee of the Jewish Board of Deputies"[3] and as a "member of the Great Synagogue Library Committee" in Sydney.[2]

He was a supporter of the Spanish community in Australia, and was a long-standing member of the Hispanic Society and the Spanish Cultural Society.[1] He was an honorary professor in the Faculty of Medicine in the University of Navarra in Pamplona, Spain.[2]

During his retirement he worked as a volunteer helper in the State Library of New South Wales.[9]

Awards and honours

Ben Haneman Memorial Lecture

The biennial Ben Haneman Memorial Lecture is presented jointly by the Australian and New Zealand Society of the History of Medicine and the State Library of New South Wales.[11][12][13]

The Ben Haneman Memorial Student Prize was awarded annually by the Australian and New Zealand Society of the History of Medicine (ANZSHM) for the best student research essay in the history of medicine. In 2018 the Prize was discontinued in order to bolster the Ben Haneman Memorial Postgraduate Student Conference Grants, a travel grants programme.[14]

Personal life

Haneman was married twice. His first wife was Marion Salkow,[15] with who he had two sons, David and Peter. His second wife was Beryl Thompson.[1]

He died on 18 December 2001 in Darlinghurst, New South Wales following a fall the day before in the State Library.[8] He was survived by his two sons,[3] his two daughters-in-law and his four grandchildren.[1]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Susan Tompkins and Gerard Windsor, "Ben Haneman: a chivalrous life, of work and words", The Sydney Morning Herald, 25 January 2002, p. 26; online copy, bookcollectors.org.au. Retrieved 8 September 2021.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Rabbi Raymond Apple, Funeral Address for Dr Ben Haneman AM, bookcollectors.org.au. Retrieved 25 March 2021.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 George C. Wilson, Benedetto ("Ben") Haneman AM, MB BS, FRACP, Medical Journal of Australia, 176 (6): 292 (2002), mja.com.au. Retrieved 8 September 2021.
  4. ↑ Nicole Taylor, "Confessions of a book collector", The Sydney Morning Herald, 23 October 1993, p. 132. Retrieved 8 September 2021.
  5. ↑ David Michel, "Library gets a truly quixotic gift", The Sydney Morning Herald, 8 February 1997, p. 11. Retrieved 8 September 2021.
  6. ↑ Meet A Book Addict – Dr Ben Haneman, susannahfullerton.com.au. Retrieved 6 September 2021.
  7. 1 2 400 years after Cervantes, sl.nsw.gov.au. Retrieved 6 September 2021.
  8. 1 2 Meet A Book Addict – Dr Ben Haneman, susannahfullerton.com.au. Retrieved 8 September 2021.
  9. ↑ A.P.D., "In Memoriam", Estafeta Jakobea: Boletín de la Asociación de Amigos del Camino de Santiago en Navarra, March 2002. p. 4.
  10. ↑ "Australia Day 1988 Honours List" (PDF). Governor-General of Australia. Archived from the original (PDF) on 12 February 2014. Retrieved 9 September 2021.
  11. ↑ Program Over: 14th Biennial Conference of the ANZ Society of the History of Medicine, dcconferences.com.au. Retrieved 22 September 2020.
  12. ↑ State Library of NSW Foundation Annual Report 2019-20, sl.nsw.gov.au. Retrieved 22 September 2020.
  13. ↑ Judith Godden, Vale Peter Tyler (1934–2012), Health History, Vol. 14, No. 2 (2012), p. 199. Retrieved 22 September 2020.
  14. ↑ Ben Haneman Memorial Student Prize, anzshm.org.au. Retrieved 22 September 2020.
  15. ↑ "Calendar Notes", The Sydney Jewish News⁩⁩, 3 March 1950. p. 11. Retrieved 8 September 2021.
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