Dr Hans Ludwig Frankel, OBE, MB, FRCP
Guttmann Lecturer 2012
Few are more qualified to honour Sir Ludwig Guttmann than Dr Hans Ludwig Frankel, his understudy and colleague for more than 22 years, 1958-1980 (Guttmann’s death)). Dr Frankel was called on frequently over the years to pay tribute to his Mentor. On the occasion of Dr Guttmann’s 70th birthday, Dr Frankel was asked and delivered his famous paper defining the Frankel Grades (Frankel 1969), the most frequently cited outcome measure for the study of spinal cord injury in the literature today (Ditunno 2010). Dr Frankel was one of the successors to Sir Ludwig at Stoke Mandeville Hospital and continued the tradition of dedicated care, learning and research at this institution so dear to its Founder. Dr Frankel has also continued Sir Ludwig’s work at the British Paraplegic Sports Society (now WheelPower), IMSoP (now ISCoS) and the journal Paraplegia (now Spinal Cord), all founded by Guttmann.
Who other than Hans Frankel could have described his Mentor with such profound respect as on the occasion of his “100th Birthday” in 1999?
“Those who never met Guttmann wonder how he achieved so much. He was a small man of immense energy and when he became animated he seemed to grow in size and almost filled the room. He was both loved and feared and inspired great loyalty in his followers.”
John F Ditunno, Jr. MD
Professor of Rehabilitation Medicine, Jefferson Medical College
Philadelphia, USA
