“Bloomsbury, Belsen, Oxford: Janet Vaughan – Medical Pioneer” by Sheena Evans shares the story of Janet Vaughan, a promising doctor, researcher and reformer whose influence extended across medical, scientific, educational and social justice realms.
The book was published by University of Chester Press.
Janet Vaughan had a tremendous impact in various fields, navigating her career towards the alleviation of suffering and empowerment of individuals, especially women.
Her influence on female literary icon Virginia Woolf has been well documented, even inspiring Woolf’s famous works “A Room of One’s Own” and “Three Guineas”.
Ms Vaughan’s affiliations with Spanish Medical Aid and the Communist Party propelled her onto the Nazi ‘black list’ during the World War II era, marking her for execution should a successful invasion of Britain occur.
During the war, her remarkable vigour found channels in diverse roles, including establishing and managing London’s busiest emergency blood transfusion depots.
Concurrently, she contributed to the Royal Commission on Equal Pay and participated in pre-NHS medical education reforms.
She visited the Belsen concentration camp during the period to trial a treatment for starvation.
Post-war, she relocated to Oxford, as principal of Somerville College.
Her work expanded her authority to involve researching radiation effects on bone and contributing to the Royal College of Physicians, Nuffield Foundation and the University Grants Committee.
Sir Raymond Hoffenberg, previous head of the Royal College of Physicians and president of Oxford’s Wolfson College, hailed her posthumously in 1993 as: “unquestionably one of the great figures of medicine of this century.”
In the biography, Ms Evans recounted her two-decade-long investigation into Ms Vaughan’s extraordinary life.
She explained: “The biography is a rounded one, which tries to cover at least the central fields of her activity and convey her character, including its flaws.
“She taught her children ‘people come first’ and lived out her own precept with all her formidable energy and talents.
“The result is, I believe, an engrossing story, which deserves to be properly and accurately told.”
Ms Evans will be making a free presentation about the book and Ms Vaughan’s life at the university’s Festival of Ideas on Thursday, July 4 at 3pm.
All interested parties are welcome to attend.
For those who prefer digital reading, an E-book version of the biography will also be available soon via the likes of Google Play, EBSCO, Ebook Central and Gardners.
The book can also be bought directly from the publishers by visiting the Chester University website.
