Bertrand Zadoc-Kahn (20 November 1901 – 17 June 1940) was a French
cardiologist. He committed suicide when
French forces were defeated by
Nazi Germany in 1940.
He became an intern at Paris hospitals in 1926.[6] Around this time, he and his family had professional, educational and social connexions with well-known and to-be-famous people, such as physicists
Paul Langevin and
Satyendra Nath Bose, the latter who was on a two-year visit to Europe (and whose knowledge of Hebrew impressed his family), socialite
Philippe de Rothschild, racing driver
fr:Guy Bouriat, industrialist and racing driver
André Dubonnet and film maker
fr:Pierre Schwab. Zadoc-Kahn completed his doctoral thesis in 1931.[7][8][9]
When
World War II began, he was an established
cardiologist and the chief doctor of the
American Hospital of Paris, the focus of which had changed because of the war. His sister volunteered to work in an
air ministry laboratory. When the
French forces were defeated by
Nazi Germany in 1940, Zadoc-Kahn was in such despair that he took his own life by shooting himself. It was reported that he was being lined up to take over his father's role at the
fr:Hôpital Rothschild in Paris. In a note to his father, he said that he was unable to accept the disastrous situation for France which he'd experienced as an army physician.
Eugene Meyer, the
U.S. financier and a second-cousin to him, had offered sanctuary to his father; however, the Zadoc-Kahns were so devastated by their son's death that they declined: they went into hiding in France, as did their daughter and her family. His parents were discovered three years later by
gendarmes and murdered at
Auschwitz concentration camp in 1943. His sister survived the war.[10][11][12][8][13] Zadoc-Kahn and his father are listed amongst the victims of World War II by the Amicale des Anciens Internes des Hôpitaux de Paris.[14][15]
Published papers
Les Anomalies électro-cardiographiques au cours de la diphtérie, signification clinique et valeur pronostique [
Electrocardiographic abnormalities during
diphtheria, its clinical significance and value in
prognosis ] [thesis]; les Presses universitaires de France, Thèses de médecine. Paris. 1931. N° 526[7]
Astrocytome kystique du cervelet, ablation de la tumeur murale, guérison par M. Clovis Vincent, Mlle Fanny Rappoport, M. Bertrand Zadoc-Kahn; Cystic [
Astrocytoma of the
cerebellum, removal of the
tumour wall and healing]; Revue neurologique [Neurological Review] January 1932, société française d'imprimerie, Poitiers, 1932[16]
Valeur pratique de l'électro-cardiographie au cours de la diphtérie [Practical value of electrocardiography during diphtheria]; E. Lesné et B. Zadoc-Kahn; "Revue française de pédiatrie" [French Pediatric Review] Vol. 9, N° 4, Gaston Doin et Cie, editors, Paris, 1933[17]
^Nicaut, Catherine (1992). La France et le sionisme 1897–1948: Une rencontre manquée?. Paris: Calman-Lévy. pp. vii.
^Poussu, Jean-Pierre; Robin-Romero, Isabelle (2007). Histoire des familles, de la démographie et des comportements: en hommage à Jean-Pierre Bardet. Presse de l'Université Paris-Sorbonne. p. 536.
^Nicaut, Catherine (1992). La France et le sionisme 1897–1948: Une rencontre manquée ?. Paris: Calman-Lévy. p. 47.