Charles E. de M. Sajous

Charles Eucharist de Medicis Sajous (December 13, 1852 – April 27, 1929) was an American endocrinologist, laryngologist, and writer based in Philadelphia. He held professorships at the Medico-Chirurgical College of Philadelphia, Temple University, the University of Pennsylvania, and the Wagner Free Institute of Science. He was a prolific writer and editor of medical textbooks and encyclopedias, and was the first president of the organization now known as the Endocrine Society.

Early life and education Sajous was born on December 13, 1852, on board an American ship that was en route to France. His father, Count Charles Ronstan de Medicis-Jodoigne House of Medici, the head of French-Flemish branch of the Italian House of Medici, died when Charles Eucharist was 2 years old; his mother, Marie Pierette Cort,

Career Sajous completed two years of residency at Philadelphia's Howard Hospital before establishing a local practice in laryngology.

Sajous closed his Philadelphia practice in 1891 and moved to Paris to study endocrinology. He returned to Philadelphia in 1897 because he had been made a professor of laryngology and the dean of the Medico-Chirurgical College of Philadelphia, and re-opened his practice, now focusing on endocrinology. After The Annual of the Universal Medical Sciences ceased publication in 1896, Sajous and the F. A. Davis Company published a textbook for general practitioners titled Analytic Cyclopedia of Practical Medicine, which had ten editions from 1898 to 1927. His book The Internal Secretions and the Principles of Medicine, one of the first textbooks on endocrinology, was published in two volumes in 1903 and 1907, and summarized the existing literature on normal endocrine function and endocrine pathophysiology. and was appointed professor of applied endocrinology at the University of Pennsylvania in 1921. and was interred at Laurel Hill Cemetery.

Recognition Sajous has been called the "father of American endocrinology" for his contributions to the field. He received numerous international honors: Officier d'Académie of France, Commander of the Order of the Liberator of Venezuela, Commander of the Order of Saint John of Jerusalem of Spain, and Knight and Officer of the Legion of Honour of France.

Publications Lectures on the Diseases of the Nose and Throat Delivered During the Spring Session of Jefferson Medical College, Philadelphia: F.A. Davis Att'y, Publisher, 1885 The Internal Secretions and the Principles of Medicine, Philadelphia: F.A. Davis Company, Publishers, 1921 Sajous's Analytic Cyclopedia of Practice Medicine, Philadelphia: F.A. Davis Company Publishers, 1925 Strength of Religion as Shown by Science - Facilitating Also Harmony Within, and Unity Among, Various Faiths, Philadelphia: F.A. Davis Company, Publishers, 1926