Brenthurst Papers

Date: 14 August, 1909

Location: back to this day in history search archive

Jack Penn, a well known plastic and reconstructive surgeon, was born on 14 August 1909 in Cape Town. Penn later moved with his family to Johannesburg, where he attended Parktown High School and studied at the University of the Witwatersrand (WITS).

After marrying Diana Malkin in 1934, Penn moved with his wife to the United Kingdom (UK), where he became a Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons in Edinburgh in 1935. Penn continued to work in various hospitals in the UK and in the United States of America (USA), before returning to South Africa to lecture Clinical Anatomy at WITS.

During WWII, he served in the 7th Field Ambulance, as part of the Union Defence Force. He went to London to help with war casualties, and on his return to South Africa founded the Brenthurst Military Hospital. Penn was also later appointed professor of Plastic Surgery at WITS.

Penn later started his own clinic, called the Brenthurst Clinic, and developed techniques such as the Brenthurst Splint, which is used for jaw fractures. He also helped to establish the Association of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, and helped initiate this kind of surgery in several countries.

Penn was also a notable artist and sculptor, and completed work such as the bust of Jan Smuts that was on show in the former Jan Smuts airport, now called O.R Tambo. A collection of Penn's books and other writings can also be found as part of the Jack Penn Collection at the University of Cape Town (UCT) library.

He died on 27 November 1996, at the age of 87.

References:

1. Jack Penn [online] Available at: www.wikipedia.org [Accessed 10 August 2010]
2. The Jack Penn Collection [online] Available at: www.lib.uct.ac.za [Accessed 10 August 2010]
3. Wallis, F. (2000) Nuusdagboek: feite en fratse oor 1000 jaar, Kaapstad: Human & Rousseau