Chassar Moir

Chassar Moir at his graduation in 1922. Credit: Wellcome Library

(John) Chassar Moir CBE (21 March 1900 – 24 November 1977) was Professor of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at The University of Oxford.

"One whose contributions were so outstanding as to make Chassar Moir’s an immortal name in the history of Obstetrics and Gynaecology".[1] Sir Norman Jeffcoate

Surgeon, researcher and discoverer who defined the characteristics and medical benefits of the ergot alkaloids of ‘Ergometrine’,[2] the drug credited with saving hundreds of thousands of women’s lives, worldwide;[3] who improved self-delivered nitrous oxide anaesthesia for women in labour, developed the use of x-rays in pelvimetry[3] for pregnant women to aid safe delivery and developed advanced repair techniques for fistula injuries in women around the world,[3] writing the standard textbook.

"A great and a gentle man; a man who did more than anyone living today to save the lives and relieve the miseries of women."[3] British Medical Journal, 1977.

  1. ^ Wellcome Institute Archive. "Professor Chassar Moir" (Contemporary Medical Archive Centre Acc. No. 340 PP/JCM). {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  2. ^ Moir, J. Chassar (15 September 1974). "From 'St. Anthony's Fire' to the Isolation of its Active Principle, Ergometrine". American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, St. Louis. 120 (2): 290–296.
  3. ^ a b c d Obituary (10 December 1977). "OBITUARY". British Medical Journal. 2 (6101): 1551–1553. doi:10.1136/bmj.2.6101.1551. S2CID 220217354.