Freeman, Walter Jackson

Freeman, Walter Jackson

(1895–1972) neurosurgeon; born in Philadelphia. For most of his career he was affiliated with George Washington University, St. Louis (1927–54). He introduced psychosurgery in the United States (1936) and took part in more than 2,800 lobotomies. Performed well into the 1960s, the procedure was largely discredited because of its severe side effects and because it was replaced by drug therapy.

The Cambridge Dictionary of American Biography, by John S. Bowman. Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1995. Reproduced with permission.