Dr. Victor Grima : a Maltese-American eye specialist of the 19th century

Abstract

Dr. Victor Grima is an American medical practitioner of Maltese descent who was an early “specialist” in ophthalmology in the United States and who, with others that studied in France, played his part, in shaping the "French period" in American medicine. Biographical material about Dr. Victor Grima is extremely scanty. The date of his birth has not been traced but the evidence available shows that he must have been born between 1836 and 1844. It is certain that after qualifying he studied for some time in Paris where in 1868 he presented a thesis on Traumatic Cataract for the M.D. of the Medical Faculty of Paris. The title-page of this work states that he was born in New Orleans, Louisiana. On his return to the United States, he was appointed surgeon to the Eye Wards of the Charity Hospital of New Orleans and Lecturer on Eye Diseases in the Medical Department of the University of Louisiana.