Bertrand Dawson, 1st Viscount Dawson Penn ( Eng. Bertrand Dawson, 1st Viscount Dawson of Penn , March 9, 1864, Croydon , South London - March 7, 1945) is a doctor of the British royal family. Euthanasia was carried out on King George V with an injection of morphine and cocaine , which was only known from the diaries of Dr. Dawson 50 years later.
| Bertrand dawson | |||||
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| English Bertrand Dawson, 1st Viscount Dawson of Penn | |||||
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| Date of Birth | March 9, 1864 | ||||
| Place of Birth | London | ||||
| Date of death | March 7, 1945 (80 years) | ||||
| Place of death | |||||
| Allegiance |  Great Britain | ||||
| Occupation | doctor | ||||
| Awards and prizes |
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Content
Biography
The son of an architect, graduated from University College London (1888, Bachelor of Science) and residency at the Royal Hospital in London (1893, MD). In 1900, Dawson married Minnie Yerrow, the daughter of a wealthy shipbuilder, who received the title of baronet ; the couple had three daughters, Sibil (1904), Ursula (1907) and Rosemary (1913). All three Dawson's son-in-law were also titled nobles: Sybil married the Vicomtesse Eccles, Ursula Lady Bauater, wife of the baronet and Lord Mayor of London, and Rosemary Lady Wightson, also the wife of the baronet.
Since 1907, the Life Medic Edward VII , and after his death in 1910, George V. In 1911 he was awarded the Royal Victorian Order (Knight Commander).
Member of the First World War (in France in 1915-1919), Major General of the British Army. He studied the Volyn fever , fought with the poor physical condition of the soldiers, was noted in the orders. During the war he was repeatedly awarded: the Order of St. John of Jerusalem and the Order of the Bath (1916), the Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order (1918, New Year's Award), the knight commander of the Order of St. Michael and St. George (1919).
In 1920, he prepared an influential Report on the state of medical services in the country, later, after Dawson's death, used to create the National Health Service (1948).
On February 9, 1920, George V rewarded his life-doctor with a peerage, bestowing upon him the title of Baron Dawson from Penn, in Buckinghamshire county. Dawson became an active member of the House of Lords . In April 1926, his rank was upgraded to the Knight Commander in the Order of the Bath. In 1928, Dawson saved the king from a lung disease, after which in 1929 he became a member of the Privy Council . In 1931–37, the chairman of the Royal College of Physicians .
Death of George V
Lord Dawson was constantly at the bedside of the most august patient during the deathbed illness of George V in January 1936. The king, who suffered from lung diseases for the last twenty years of his life, fell ill with bronchitis and constantly fell into oblivion. It was obvious that the end was near. The royals arrived at Sandringham, newspapers printed medical reports about the king’s health. At 21:30 on January 20, 1936, Dawson published a bulletin: "His Majesty’s life is peacefully nearing its end." After an hour and a half, at about 23 hours, he asked Miss Black’s nurse to introduce a lethal dose of morphine and cocaine to the monarch in a coma. When she refused, Baron Dawson personally injected George V into the jugular vein of George V 3/4 grain of morphine, and a little later 1 gran of cocaine, which stopped the heart.
In his diary he made the following euthanasia entry:
“It was obvious that the last stage could last for many hours, which was unknown to the patient, but did not meet the dignity and greatness that he so deserved and which required a quick final. The hours of waiting for the mechanical end at a time when all real life has already left the body, only tires the witnesses and keeps them in such tension that they cannot take advantage of the comfort of thought, sympathy or prayer ... "
Dawson also admitted in his diary that he wanted the news of the king’s death to hit the newspaper pages in the morning issue; evening newspapers were considered less prestigious for royal dignity.
Subsequently, in the same year, Dawson opposed the legalization of euthanasia in the House of Lords.
The author of the article in the British Medical Journal (1994) J. H. R. Ramsey admits that Dawson didn’t euthanasia out of considerations of sympathy for the king and his family, but for his own benefit (to make his last bulletin more spectacular, to return to practice in London) [1] .
The circumstances of the death of George V remained unknown until the posthumous publication of Dawson's diaries. Sister Black also hid them.
Further career
Dawson treated both subsequent kings, the sons of George Edward VIII (who, during his brief reign, assigned the title of Viscount to Dawson on October 30, 1936) and George VI . Among his patients, in addition to the kings of Britain and their relatives, are also foreign monarchs - sister of George V, Queen of Norway, Maud, and King of Belgium Leopold III .
On March 7, 1945, Dawson died two days before his 81st birthday. Since he had no sons, with his death both titles (Viscount and Baron) were cut short.