Edward Lorenzo Holmes

Edward Lorenzo Holmes
Born	(1828-01-28)January 28, 1828 Dedham, Massachusetts
Died	February 12, 1900(1900-02-12) (aged 72) Chicago, Illinois
Burial place	Rosehill Cemetery
Education	Harvard Medical School
Occupation	Ophthalmologist
Spouse	Paula von Wieser ​ (m. 1862)​
Children	5

Edward Lorenzo Holmes (1828–1900) was an American ophthalmologist who founded The University of Illinois Eye and Ear Infirmary.

Biography

Holmes was born in Dedham, Massachusetts on January 28, 1828. He received instruction from the historian John Lathrop Motley, and learned German from Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. He summered at Brook Farm, an experimental, utopian, literary community, based on the principles of transcendentalism and shared manual labor. Holmes received undergraduate and medical school training at Harvard, followed by postgraduate training at Massachusetts General Hospital. He then studied ophthalmology and otology in Paris and Vienna.

Holmes's grave at Rosehill Cemetery

He married Paula von Wieser in 1862, and they had five children.

At age 29, Holmes moved to Chicago, where, in May 1858 he founded the Chicago Eye and Ear Infirmary, the first hospital of its kind west of the Alleghenies. Holmes served as head of the institution until 1885, when he moved to Rush Medical College, subsequently becoming staff president there.

He died from pneumonia in Chicago on February 12, 1900. He was buried at Rosehill Cemetery.

References

• Ward PS: "Ophthalmology at Illinois". Proc Inst Med Chgo, 39:24-30, 1986.
• Pearlman, MD: "The Illinois Eye and Ear Infirmary Rededication Evokes and Historical Sketch". Am J Ophthalmol 63:124-132, 1967.