Harold N. Nathan Segall (1897-1990) played a prominent role in introducing the medical specialty of cardiology not only into Montreal and Quebec, but into Canada. He was instrumental in establishing the Canadian Heart Association, now the Canadian Cardiovascular Society, and several other related organizations. He was in the forefront of clinical cardiology for most of his long career in practice, and he was a founder of the Jewish General Hospital in Montreal.

In addition to his career in cardiology, he was active in many aspects of the history of medicine, particularly as it relates to cardiology in Canada. His last book, published at the age of 89, was Pioneers of Cardiology in Canada, 1820-1970 (Willowdale: Hounslow Press, 1988).

This biography sets down the major events of his career, as well as some details of his personal life, including the long and incapacitating illness of his wife and his successful struggle to come to terms with the all-too-prevalent anti-Semitism he faced in the Montreal of his adoption. The acceptance by Segall of an honourary degree from McGill was a gesture of reconciliation as much as it was the university's recognition of his qualities.

Charles G. Roland practised general medicine, was senior editor of the Journal of the American Medical Association, and served as chair of the Department of Biomedical Communication at the Mayo Clinic and Mayo Medical School in Rochester, Minnesota. He was Hannah Professor Emeritus of the History of Medicine at McMaster University and author of Courage under Siege: Disease, Starvation, and Death in the Warsaw Ghetto.

Jacques Bernier is professor of Canadian economics and social history, particularly of Quebec, at Laval University, Quebec City. Author of La médecine au Québec: Naissance et évolution d’une profession, he was president of the Canadian Society for the History of Medicine from 1995 to 1997.

Charles G. Roland's profile page