Harry Benjamin (January 12, 1885 – August 24, 1986) was a German endocrinologist, widely known for his clinical work with transsexualism.
Benjamin was born in Berlin, received his doctorate in medicine in 1912 in Tübingen for a dissertation on tuberculosis. Sexual medicine interested him, but was not part of his medical studies. In an interview conducted in 1985 he recalled:
Following an ill-fated professional visit to the United States, the line...
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Harry Benjamin (January 12, 1885 – August 24, 1986) was a German endocrinologist, widely known for his clinical work with transsexualism.
Benjamin was born in Berlin, received his doctorate in medicine in 1912 in Tübingen for a dissertation on tuberculosis. Sexual medicine interested him, but was not part of his medical studies. In an interview conducted in 1985 he recalled:
Following an ill-fated professional visit to the United States, the liner in which Benjamin was returning to Germany was caught mid-Atlantic both by the outbreak of the First World War in 1914, and the Royal Navy. Given the choice of a British internment camp, as an "enemy alien", or returning to New York, he used his last dollars to travel back to America, where he made his home for the rest of his life, although he maintained and built many international professional connections and visited Europe frequently when wars allowed.
After several failed attempts to start a medical career in New York, in 1915 Benjamin...
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