Article

Paul H.T. Thorlakson

Published Online December 13, 2007

Last Edited December 15, 2013

Paul H.T. Thorlakson, surgeon (b at Park River, N Dak 5 Oct 1895; d at Winnipeg, Man 19 Oct 1989). In 1900 the Thorlakson family moved to Selkirk, Man, and in 1919 Thorlakson graduated in medicine from Manitoba Medical College.

Thorlakson, Paul H.T.

Paul H.T. Thorlakson, surgeon (b at Park River, N Dak 5 Oct 1895; d at Winnipeg, Man 19 Oct 1989). In 1900 the Thorlakson family moved to Selkirk, Man, and in 1919 Thorlakson graduated in medicine from Manitoba Medical College. After postgraduate study in Europe, he and Dr Neil John Maclean formed the Maclean-Thorlakson Surgical Clinic in 1926, and in 1938 he founded the Winnipeg Clinic.

A pioneer in encouraging the development of medical research, Thorlakson was responsible for the formation of the Winnipeg Clinic Research Institute to advance medical education and research. Thorlakson served on innumerable committees and as chancellor of U of Winnipeg 1969-78. He has been honoured by U Man and the universities of Winnipeg, Brandon and Iceland. On the medical faculty for many years, in 1957 he was appointed professor emeritus of surgery at U Man.

He was appointed a Companion of the Order of Canada in 1970 and was first president of the Canadian Association of Medical Clinics 1969-70. In his honour, his friends and colleagues established the Paul H.T. Thorlakson Research Foundation in 1978. His biography, The Saga of Dr Thor (1986) was written by T.A.J. Cummings.