Harry Medovy
Dates: 1904-1995
Education: M.D. (Manitoba, 1928); Postgrad: Pennsylvania (Pediatrics, 1930); DSc.(Manitoba, 1976).
Positions: Lecturer 1946; Assistant Professor 1950; Associate Professor 1952; Professor & Head 1954-70; Professor Emeritus 1975; Consultant to the City of Winnipeg Health Department, 1973; All Pediatrics.
Individual History: Harry Medovy was born in Russia in 1904 and his family moved to Winnipeg when he was 10 months old. He received his early education at St. John’s High School and the University of Manitoba where he graduated with a BA in 1923. He then entered Medical School where he came in contact with teachers and scientists such as William Boyd, J.C.B. Grant, Bruce Chown, Charles Hunter, and D.A. Stewart. He graduated as a Doctor of Medicine in 1928 and did postgraduate training at the Winnipeg General and the Children’s Hospital as well as the University of Pennsylvania.
Dr. Medovy retured to Winnipeg in 1930 to practice paediatrics and he soon established one of the biggest practices in the city. In 1933 he was awarded the Prowse Prize for work on juvenile diabetes. His affectionate name, “Hurricane Harry,” is said to date from this time.
On his retirement as chief of the Children’s Hospital and Chairman of the Department of Pediatrics, it was announced that the the new interns’ residence would be named Harry Medovy House.
As per Nathan Wiseman: “He was my pediatrician, my teacher,and my colleague when I was a Young practicing pediatric surgeon. He was a lover of musicand a wonderful story teller. The hospital Residence across from the Children’s Hospital onWilliam Avenue has been named the harry Medovy house and it was in that apartment buildingwhere I lived during part of my surgical training. The building opened in 1971 and my wife and Iwere one of the rst occupants of the building. Harry told me one day that his mail was nowbeing addressed to dr. Harry Medovy House. He thought it odd that his last name seemed tohave changed at a rather senior age.”
Awards:
Order of Canada, 1990.
University of Manitoba, Professor Emeritus, 1970.
University of Manitoba, Honorary Doctor of Science degree, 1975.
Publications: “A Vision Fulfilled: The Story of the Children’s Hospital of Winnipeg. 1909.” 1979.
Submitted by Nancy Medovy Wright, relative of Dr. Harry Medovy.
Dr. Nathan Wiseman, colleague, friend and patient of Dr. Harry Medovy.