Alex Sakula

Alex Sakula (26 June 1917 - 27 December 2003) published more than 200 papers and was a British respiratory physician with a fascination in history of medicine.

Born to Polish immigrants and brought up in Whitechapel, Sakula entered medicine after achieving a number of scholarships and distinctions.

He was noted to have written many biographies of famous clinicians and wrote a book on William Osler.

Early life Sakula was the third child of Polish immigrants who came to the Jewish East End of London in about 1900. Growing up in Whitechapel, his father was a master tailor working in the attic of the house they rented. At age 13, Sakula was awarded a scholarship to Davenant Foundation School.

Medical career In 1942, he published an article in the Lancet, on how sulphapyridine was used to treat a child suffering from pneumococcal meningitis.

Publications Sakula published many articles in the Journal of Medical Biography, including those relating to John Keats, Thomas Henry Huxley, Sydney Coleman, and Lord Joseph Lister. In 1978, he wrote a book, Auenbrugger: Opus and opera. The most widely held works by Sakula include The portraiture of William Osler and Portraits, sculptures and statues.

Personal life Sakula married Rene in 1951 and lived in Reigate, Surrey, from 1956 to 1989, moving to Hove after retirement. They had three sons and a daughter.

Sakula suffered from diabetes mellitus, developing glaucoma, which led to blindness, and then a stroke.