The Influence of Hipólito Unanue on Peruvian Medical Science, 1789-1820: A Reappraisal
S HORTLY before General Jose San Martin thrust independence upon Peru, the leading doctors of Lima were congratulating themselves for having just effected a revolution of their own in Peruvian medical science. Their boundless optimism rested mainly on the remarkable achievements of Hip6olito Unanue during the years from 1789 to 1813. Unanue shocked Peruvian medicine out of its routine existence and gave it new, exciting goals, many of which were realized through his persistent and extraordinary labor. By publicizing developments in nearly all fields of contemporary science, he gave his colleagues more assurance about their capacity in an age of great change. His own wide-ranging essays in the Mercurio Peruuano (1791-1794) and his ambitious Observations on the Climate of Lima (1806, and revised 1815) set an example for them and won among foreigners a reputation respectable enough to help Peruvians forget their previous lack of accomplishment. His teaching attracted enough students to give the impression that, for the first time, medicine might begin to compete with law and theology for professional popularity. Finally, Unanue freely designed and brought into operation a reformed college of medicine that seemed to guarantee a brilliant future. But instead of progressing in the orderly fashion that Unanue had indicated and reaching the rarefied heights that his studenlts expected, Peruvian medical science fell into a decline for some thirty years. Because the falling off came so soon after Unanue's retirement in 1813, and because the previous gains had owed so much to his work, anyone studying the progress of medicine in Lima and its subsequent stagnation must understand the complex career of Hip6lito Unanue. At first glance that career presents a paradox, for letters, not medicine, brought Unanue 's rapid advancement to the rank of savant.