Edward Archibald

"'To gather knowledge is the noblest occupation of the physician; to apply it with understanding and sympathy to the relief of human suffering is the loveliest occupation.'" Major Edward William Archibald M.D. (5 August 1872 - 17 December 1945) was a Canadian educator, physician, surgeon and soldier. He was a veteran of the First World War & Second World War. During his career, he served as, Chief Surgeon & Professor of Pathology for the Royal Hospital of Montreal and Chief Surgeon of the Pediatric Hospital of Montreal.

Archibald's laboratory developed neurocellular electrotherapy for the treatment of individuals afflicted with epilepsy and the extrapleural thoracoplasty and sphincteronomy procedures for pneumonia and pancreatitis, respectively. His team completed the first successful revascularising, coronary transplantation surgery for the treatment of coronary ischemia, the most fruitful therapy for the greatest cause of death globally. He and his colleagues are accredited with the inception of the most effective treatments for heart disease, epilepsy, pneumonia and tuberculosis refined contemporaneously.

Personally, Edward authored Surgical Affection, a monograph elucidating the practical application of neurosurgical theory; the most comprehensive explication of neurosurgery, it became an educational standard throughout Europe & North America. He fought alongside imperial forces during the conquest of Flanders & Picardy and managed General Hospital No. 3 of the Canadian Armed Forces which provided indiscriminate medical assistance to injured civilians and soldiers on either side of the conflict.