Ludwig Guttmann | Professor Sir Ludwig "Poppa" Guttmann's 122nd Birthday

Professor Sir Ludwig "Poppa" Guttmann

Ever heard of him? 

He was a Jewish, German-born British neurologist, and the founder of the Paralympic movement. He had fled Nazi Germany, just before the start of the Second World War, and is considered to be one of the founding fathers of organised physical activities, for people with a disability. 

Today (3 July, 2021), is his 122nd birthday.

Ludwig Guttmann, was born on 3 July, 1899, to a German-Jewish family in Tost, (now Toszek in Poland). His family moved to Silesian city of Königshütte (today Chorzów, Poland) when he was three years old. 

He went on, to receive his M.D., in 1924. He began research on spinal cord injuries and performed several neurosurgical procedures, rising to prominence, as one of Germany’s top neurosurgeons by his early thirties. 

However, with the rise of the Nazi party, and the passing of the Nuremberg Laws in 1933, Guttmann was prevented from practising medicine professionally. Following Kristallnacht in 1938, and the increasing persecution of Jews in Germany, Guttmann, was forced to leave Germany with his family, and was able to escape to England in 1939. 

An opportunity for escape had come, when the Nazis provided him with a visa, and ordered him to travel to Portugal, to treat a friend of the Portuguese dictator, António de Oliveira Salazar. 

Guttmann was scheduled to return to Germany, via London, where the Council for Assisting Refugee Academics (CARA), arranged for him to remain in the UK (united kingdom) . 

In England, Guttmann advanced his research in paraplegia. In 1944, he put his innovative approach into practice, as the director of the National Spinal Injuries Center, at Stoke Mandeville Hospital. In 1948, he organized a 16-person archery contest, one of the first official competitive sporting events, for wheelchair users. 

Later called the “Stoke Mandeville Games”, or the “Olympics for the Disabled,” the competition demonstrated the power of elite sport, to break down barriers for disability, and garnered the attention of global medical and sporting communities.   

In 1960, Guttmann, facilitated the International Stoke Mandeville Games, following the 1960 Summer Olympics, the first of many Paralympic Games. His passion for patient care never faltered. He also founded the International Medical Society of Paraplegia (the International Spinal Cord Society), and the British Sports Association for the Disabled (Activity Alliance), in 1961. 

He received numerous accolades for his contributions, the highest among which, was being knighted by Her Majesty the Queen, in 1966. 

He retired from clinical work in 1966, but continued his involvement with sport. 

Guttmann suffered a heart attack in October 1979, and died on 18 March, 1980, at the age of 80.