FISHBERG, MAURICE

FISHBERG, MAURICE (1872–1934), U.S. physician and physical anthropologist. Born in Russia, Fishberg emigrated to the U.S. in 1889. He became clinical professor of medicine at the New York University and Bellevue Hospital Medical College. He served as chief physician and director of the tuberculosis service of the Montefiore Hospital and other institutions, and as medical examiner of the United Hebrew Charities of New York City. Fishberg became a recognized authority on pulmonary tuberculosis, and wrote a standard textbook on this subject, Pulmonary Tuberculosis (1916; 2 vols., 1932⁴). He was a pioneer in the use of pneumothorax treatment for this disease, and helped to stimulate a campaign for the prevention of the malady by his demonstration of its high incidence among New York City schoolchildren. The other focus of his intellectual concern was the scientific study of the anthropology and pathology of Jews, in which field he made extensive investigations not only in the United States but also in Europe and North Africa. His various investigations culminated in the summary volume The Jews; A Study of Race and Environment (1911), in which he maintained the heterogeneity in racial composition of modern Jews. As anthropological consultant to the Bureau of Immigration and on behalf of a U.S. Congressional Committee, he visited Europe in 1905 and 1907 to study aspects of the immigration problem. His report was published by the U.S. government at the direction of President Theodore Roosevelt. He also served as chairman of the anthropology and psychology section of New York Academy of Science and as vice president of the Academy (1909–11).

[Ephraim Fischoff]