The greatest oral surgeon of the antebellum South. The story of Benjamin A. Rodrigues.
The family of Benjamin A. Rodrigues fled Spain in the late 18th century to escape persecution of Jews by the Inquisition. They settled in Charleston, South Carolina, where young Rodrigues was born. Showing great interest in medicine, he studied with one of the South's leading physicians and then went on to study dentistry with an equally famous dentist. Feeling the need for a more thorough education, he enrolled in the Medical College of South Carolina, from which he was graduated in 1834 with the M.D. degree. But his interests lay in dentistry, and upon his mentor's emigrating to Europe, he took over the practice and became one of the leading dentists not only in South Carolina but in the entire South. He was active in his local and national dental societies and was a participant in their lively discussions. He soon earned a reputation as the leading oral surgeon of the southern states, and in 1850, the Baltimore College of Dental Surgery awarded him an honorary D.D.S.
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D049672:History, 19th Century; D006801:Humans; D013022:South Carolina; D013515:Surgery, Oral / Q000266:history*