Burrill Bernard Crohn

Early life Crohn was born on June 13, 1884, in East Harlem in New York City to Theodore and Leah Crohn, who were Jewish emigrants from Europe. He was one of 12 children.

Education and work Crohn received his bachelor's degree from City College of New York in 1902. It was the British delegation to an international congress of gastroenterology who named the condition Crohn's disease of the colon, despite Dr. Crohn's requests to the contrary. He said that all doctors will occasionally mistake diseases of the organs for neuroses or vice versa. He received numerous awards and professional honors, wrote extensively for doctors and the general public, and was asked to consult on high-profile patients from all over the U.S. and abroad. When President Dwight D. Eisenhower had surgery for ileitis in 1956, journalists called him for three days straight to ask him about the condition; Crohn told the journalists, who then reassured American newspaper readers, that the President's surgery was simple and that the President would heal quickly.

Personal life Crohn married Lucile Pels in 1912, and had two children, Edward Crohn (1917–2013), a physician, and Ruth Crohn Dickler (1914–2016) a New York City resident, known for her philanthropy. They divorced in 1927. He later married Rose Blumenthal in 1948.

The Burrill B. Crohn Research Foundation was established at Mount Sinai in 1983 with initial funding from Rose Crohn and later his daughter, Ruth Crohn Dickler.

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