Henri Johan Flieringa

Vocation

Notable

Traits

Dutch ophthalmologist. He born as the seventh child of a Frisian pastor in the medieval "terp" village Marrum . A terp is an artificial dwelling hill, that protects the village, typically consisting of a church and some farms, against the North Sea floods during storms. He followed the Higher Civil School (HBS) and studied medicine in Utrecht. He became a physician in 1915. After his military service he became in 1919 an assistant of the ophthalmologist Prof. Jan van der Hoeve (13 April 1878, Santpoort – 26 April 1952, Leiden) in Leiden. In 1923 he dissertated with the thesis "Onderzoekingen op het gebied van de relatieve accommodatiebreedte". On 19 July 1923 he married Johanna Maria Cornelia Vlielander (21 Sept 1898, Numansdorp) in Numansdorp. He decided not to choose for a scientific career, but for the practice. Especially eye surgery interested him. But when he settled in Rotterdam, he was not permitted to operate in the two competing eye clinics. When he took over a large practice and could make use of nursing the facilities of the Diaconessenhuis, it became clear that he was a skill-full surgeon. Today ophthalmologist still use the Flieringa fixation ring sutured to the sclera to prevent collapse of the globe during difficult intracapsular cataract surgery. In 1928 Flieringa became director of the "Inrichting voor Ooglijders", erected in 1874 by Dr. J.H. de Haas. The competing Eye hospital was leaded by Dr. H.K. de Haas, the son of Dr. J.H. de Haas. Flieringa's hospital at the Oostmolenwerf was destroyed on Sunday 12 May 1940 at 11 AM by six German bombs. For a while he worked in a emergency hospital, but in 1948 the famous Rotterdam Eye Hospital was opened. In 1950 it became a teaching hospital, cooperating with the Erasmus university. He was dean of the teachers of the medical faculty. Very late in his career, from 2 December 1958 till his retirement on 1 September 1961, Flieringa was extraordinary professor in Opthalmology in Utrecht. On 12 June 1963 the Stichting Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek Oogziekenhuis Rotterdam was named after him. He died 3 January 1988 in Zwolle at age 96.