Puliyur Krishnaswamy Duraiswami

Puliyur Krishnaswamy Duraiswami (1912–1974) was an Indian orthopedic surgeon, medical writer and the Director General of Health Services under the Government of India. Besides being a Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of England and a founder Fellow of the National Academy of Medical Sciences, he published several articles on orthopedics and was a recipient of Robert Jones Medal and the Presidential Merit Award of the British Orthopaedic Association. The Government of India awarded him the third highest civilian honour of the Padma Bhushan, in 1966, for his contributions to the Medical Science.

Biography Duraiswami was born on 23 April 1912 at Puliyur, in the south Indian state of Tamil Nadu and secured his graduate (MBBS) and post graduate (MS) degrees in medicine from the University of Madras, Chennai in 1936 and 1942 respectively. and stayed there at the Department of Surgery of the university from where he secured MCh, and later, FRCS in 1949. Continuing his researches, he obtained a doctoral degree from the university in 1951, reportedly the first time the University of Liverpool awarding a doctorate in orthopedics for an original research. He also held the post of the Director General of Health Services of the Government of India, advising on orthopaedics and rehabilitation related matters, during which time he is reported to have proposed and implemented the concept of mobile medical units as an outreach programme to cater to the rural areas. When the National Academy of Medical Sciences was established in 1961, he was among the founder fellows of the Academy. and a historical account, 5000 years of Orthopaedics in India. The Government awarded him the third highest civilian honour of the Padma Bhushan in 1966. Duraiswami, a Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of England, died on 11 March 1974, succumbing to the complexities following a cerebral haemorrhage.