Soranus of Ephesus

flourished 2nd century AD, Alexandria and Rome

Greek gynecologist, obstetrician, and pediatrician.

A keen observer and unusually competent practitioner, he wrote works that influenced medical opinion for 1,500 years. His On Midwifery and the Diseases of Women describes contraceptive methods, obstetric techniques that were thought to be new in the 15th century, and what is now recognized as rickets. His suggested treatments for nervous disorders resemble aspects of modern psychotherapy. Soranus also wrote the first known biography of Hippocrates.

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▪ Greek physician

      (near modern Selçuk, Turkey; fl. 2nd century AD, Alexandria and Rome), Greek gynecologist, obstetrician (obstetrics and gynecology), and pediatrician, chief representative of the methodist school of medicine (emphasizing simple rules of practice, based on a theory that attributed all disease to an adverse state of “internal pores”). His writings set medical opinion concerning women's diseases, pregnancy, and infant care for nearly 1,500 years.

      Soranus' remarkable work, On Midwifery and the Diseases of Women, includes numerous descriptions of contraceptive measures; he also describes the obstetric chair and podalic version (delivery of the fetus feet first)—hailed as new discoveries during the 15th century—and renders a recognizable account of rickets. His On Acute and Chronic Diseases contains an excellent chapter on nervous disorders, with suggested treatments resembling aspects of modern psychotherapy. A keen observer and a practitioner of unusual competence, Soranus also wrote the oldest known biography of Hippocrates and a treatise on fractures.

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