Lieutenant Colonel Henry Smith, known popularly as Harry and Henry “Jullundur” Smith, (1859-1948), was an Irish ophthalmologist who served as Civil Surgeon in Punjab's Indian Medical Service (IMS), mostly in Jullundur and Amritsar, where he was also superintendent of the local jail.

In 1905 Smith published a landmark paper titled “Extraction of cataract in the capsule”. Smith's operation, an operation for removing cataracts with the capsule intact, is named for him. A description of Smith is given in Derrick Vail's “The Man With the Cigar” (1973).

Early life and education Henry Smith, also known as Harry, was born in Clogher, County Tyrone, in 1859. He attended Queen's College, Galway, from where he graduated with first class honours.

Career

In 1890 Smith joined the Indian Medical Service, and was stationed at Amritsar and Jullundur, Punjab, where he became known as "Jullundur Smith", acting as the chief IMS officer, superintendent of the local jail, and performing both stone and eye surgery. During the cooler seasons, he could perform up to 100 cataract operations per day. He popularised the intracapsular cataract extraction.

Later life In March 1919, Smith secretly advised Sir Michael O'Dwyer, bypassing the newly appointed deputy commissioner, Miles Irving, advocating harsh measures in Amritsar and prompting O'Dwyer to escalate tensions that culminated on 10 April.Wagner, pp. 70-71 He later gave testimony to the Hunter Inquiry into the Punjab disturbances of 1919.Wagner, p. 225 Following the Punjab disturbances of 1919, he was furloughed in 1920.

In 1921 Smith retired to Clogher. In 1924 he was called by Sir Michael O'Dwyer to testify in the O'Dwyer v. Nair Libel Case. He returned to India in 1924 spending a year re-editing his ophthalmology book.

Personal and family In 1898, Smith married Hester Dil Russel, an Indian Medical Service colleague. They had two sons.

Death and legacy Smith died in 1948. The Indian Pioneer wrote: "He was big, mentally, morally and physically and he operated on thousands upon thousands for two great Indian afflictions, cataract and stone. India mourns his going, the world honours him." He is considered an ophthalmology pioneer of the IMS, along with Herbert Herbert. A description of Smith is given in Derrick Vail's “The Man With the Cigar” (1973).

Selected publications

References

Further reading

Bibliography