1924-1988 Biography
Professor Leo Schamroth, a leading authority on electrocardiography and cardiac arrhythmias, died on May 24, 1988, in Johannesburg, South Africa. He was born in Belgium on June 2, 1924, and migrated to South Africa in infancy. Leo Schamroth graduated in 1948 from the University of Witwatersrand Medical School in Johannesburg, South Africa, and in 1956 he joined the staff of the University and remained based at Baragwanath Hospital for the rest of his career. In 1972 he was appointed to a Chair of Medicine at the University of Witwatersrand and as Chief Physician at Baragwanath, positions he held until his retirement on October 31, 1987.
Leo Schamroth did not have a "cardiology unit" and did not think of himself primarily a cardiologist. He described himself as a general physician with an intense, but aberrant interest in electrocardiology. Yet he made many important original contributions in the field and wrote over 300 scientific articles and eight textbooks. In 1957, he wrote An Introduction to Electrocardiography which ran into seven editions. This popular book has been translated into Spanish, Italian, Greek, Turkish, and Japanese, and has the strange distinction of being the most often stolen book from any medical library in the world. His other best known textbooks include The Disorders of Cardiac Rhythm, and The Electrocardiology of Coronary Artery Disease, both in their second editions. These works have also been translated into Italian and Spanish. Leo Schamroth's last magnum opus (a four-volume tome) on Twelve Lead Electrocardiography is to be published posthumously by Blackwell Scientific Publications of Oxford, England, in early 1989. He was happily able to complete checking the galley proofs himself shortly before he died.
Leo Schamroth was a genius of electrocardiography. He knew and loved the subject and knew how to impart his knowledge. His greatest gift was clarity of thought and exposition. He made the profound simple, the impossible basic, and the confusing logical, and he did it with style and fun. He was an articulate, dynamic, captivating, and enthusiastic speaker who presented his material lucidly. In recent years, despite several bouts with illness, his impressive skills as an orator were steadfast and unwavering.
Electrocardiography was a passion of his life, and his enthusiasm was boundless. He taught at any time or any place. He knew that the best way to teach was to involve and entertain as illustrated in the notable quotations appearing below.
"Denying me a look at this ECG is like with holding insulin from a diabetic."
"First find the P wave. What is the basic rhythm? Now we start."
"This ECG is for you. Be careful - it's a brown belt. Take your time...
"Electrocardiography is relentlessly logical. It's all there in black and white."
When one of his books was being praised, he would often respond by saying "Buy two books - one for revision".
In ECG diagnosis, Leo Schamroth had the approach of Sherlock Holmes, of whom he was a great fan. He gave the same attention to minute details of apparent irrelevance, often leading to the lucid unraveling of the mystery. He could spot a potential article in a ward case, a clinical presentation, or an ECG, and would stimulate, cajole, and compel junior physicians or even colleagues to write it up. Countless numbers of physicians have benefited from his original ideas, his logical method, and his command of the English language. He instilled in his students a lasting interest in electrocardiography.
Leo Schamroth's unrivaled excellence as a teacher and lecturer was legendary and he was in great demand as a lecturer all over the world. Many honors were bestowed upon him including the Master Teacher Award by the American College of Cardiology in 1972. In 1985, he gave an unforgettable address at a symposium in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, honoring Richard Langendorf (Schamroth L. Richard Langendorf in Perspective. Int J Cardiol 1986; 12:117). Much of what Leo Schamroth said about Richard Langendorf applies just as much to Leo himself.
Leo Schamroth will be remembered by his friends and his students with warm affection and admiration. He is survived by his wife, Renee, and four sons, all of whom are physicians, but only one a cardiologist.
Acknowledgments: The help of Susan J. Quaal, H. David Friedberg, and Peter A. Barrett is very much appreciated.
- S. Serge Barold
Division of Cardiology
Department of Medicine
The Genesee Hospital
Rochester, New York
