Edward Loughborough Keyes: an early twentieth century leader in urology

Edward Loughborough Keyes was a renowned urologist, decorated war hero, prolific writer and beloved professor. Having served as president of the American Association of Genitourinary Surgeons, the American Urological Association, the International Urological Society and the Clinical Urological Association, Keyes in large part steered the course of urology during the early twentieth century.

We reviewed letters, original publications and historical records pertaining to Doctor Keyes found in the New York Hospital archives, the American Urological Association historical record, the medical literature and the popular press.

Edward Loughborough Keyes, Jr. received his M.D. from Columbia in 1895, and went on to hold academic positions in urology at Georgetown, the New York Polyclinic Medical School, St. Vincent's Hospital, Memorial Hospital, New York University and at the Cornell University Medical College, where he spent most of his career. He authored the premier urology textbook of his day, Urology, and published prolifically on a myriad of urological conditions. Doctor Keyes served in World War I as consultant in urology to General John J. Pershing, commander of the American Expeditionary Force. During the war he and Hugh Hampton Young led modern history's first public campaign against sexually transmitted disease, and in America he was one of the leaders of the American social hygiene movement from which contemporary sexual education evolved. He spoke Spanish and French fluently, wrote poetry and prose prolifically, and was beloved for his good humor. He died at the age of 75 in New York.

Edward Loughborough Keyes is remembered as one of the great urologists of the early twentieth century.