Abraham Colles
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Image:Colles.jpgAbraham Colles (July 23, 1773 – 1843) was professor of anatomy and surgery in Dublin. He was born into a wealthy family near Kilkenny, Ireland. While he was in grammar school, there was a flood in which a local physician's house was destroyed. Abraham found an anatomy book belonging to the doctor in a field and returned it to him. Sensing the young man's interest in medicine, the physician let Abraham keep the book. He went on to enroll in the University in Dublin in 1790 and received the diploma of the Irish College of Surgeons in 1795. Abraham went on to study medicine at Edinburgh, receiving his M.D. degree in 1797. Afterwards, he lived in London for a short period, working with the famous surgeon Ashley Cooper in his dissections of the inguinal region.
Before long, Abraham returned to Dublin to start his own practice. His dedication to surgery led him to be elected President of the Irish College of Surgeons at age twenty eight.
In 1811 he wrote an important treatise on surgical anatomy and some terms he introduced have survived in surgical nomenclature until today. He is remembered as a skillful surgeon and for his 1814 paper On the Fracture of the Carpal Extremity of the Radius; this injury continues to be known as Colles' fracture. This paper, describing distal radial fractures, was far ahead of its time, being published decades before x-rays came into use.
He also described the membraneous layer of subcutaneous tissue of the perineum, which came to be known as Colle's fascia. He also extensively studied the inguinal ligament, which is sometimes called Colle's ligament.
He retired in 1841 and died two years later from gout.