John Zachariah Laurence

John Zachariah Laurence

John Zachariah Laurence (1829 – 18 July 1870) was an English ophthalmologist who practiced medicine in London. He was the founder of the South London Ophthalmic Hospital in 1857, later to become known as the Royal Eye Clinic.

He was born into a middle-class Jewish family, his great-grandfather moving from Bohemia.^[1]

In 1864 he became founder and editor of the "Ophthalmic Review", the first British journal devoted to ophthalmology. Also, he is credited for promoting usage of the ophthalmoscope in England.

In 1866 he described a syndrome of retinitis pigmentosa, loss of vision progressing to blindness, mental retardation, stunted stature and hypogonadism. This disease would become known as the Laurence-Moon syndrome, named along with his colleague Robert Charles Moon.

Selected writings

• "The Sensibility of the Eye to Colour", 1861.
• "Handbook of Ophthalmic Surgery for the Use of Practitioners"; written with Robert C. Moon. London, Robert Hardwicke, 1 January 1866.

References

• John Zachariah Laurence @ Who Named It