J. Hartwell Harrison
John Hartwell Harrison (1909-1984) was an American urologic surgeon, professor, and author. He performed the first human organ removal for transplant to another. This was a pivotal undertaking as a member of the medical team that accomplished the world’s first successful kidney transplant. The team conducted its landmark transplant between identical twins in 1954. Harrison was a descendant of the Harrison family of Virginia. He was educated there and in Ohio prior to completing his medical training and taking up practice in Boston, Massachusetts; he specialized in urology at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital. Harrison taught surgery at nearby Harvard University, where he also contributed as a textbook editor and produced urological monologues. He died at age 74 of bladder cancer. Family, education, and practice Harrison was born in Clarksville, Virginia, the son of I. Carrington Harrison, MD and Rosalie Smith. He grew up in Danville, Virginia, and graduated from the University of Virginia, with a Bachelor of Science degree in 1929, and an MD in 1932. After an internship in internal medicine at Lakeside Hospital in Cleveland, Ohio, he pursued postgraduate training in surgery at the Peter Bent Brigham (now Brigham and Women's) Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts. He joined