Treves, Frederick (1853–1923)

English surgeon and author. He was professor of anatomy and pathology at the Royal College of Surgeons (1881–86), and later acted as Edward VII's personal surgeon, but is best-remembered as the person who cared for the ‘Elephant Man’, Joseph Merrick. Treves rescued Merrick, who was horribly deformed from an early age by a condition known as multiple neurofibromatosis, from destitution and life as a freak-show exhibit, and housed him a the London Hospital from 1886 until his death in 1890. He gave an account of their friendship in The Elephant Man and other Reminiscences (1923).

Treves was born in Dorchester, Dorset, and educated at Merchant Taylors' school in London. He qualified as a surgeon in 1875 and worked for a time in Derbyshire before returning to hospital practice in London. During the Second Boer War (1899–1902), he was consulting surgeon to the British forces in South Africa in 1900. He was knighted in 1902. Treves's works include System of Surgery (1895) German–English Dictionary of Medical Terms (1890), and Highways and Byways in Dorset (1906).