13 Facts About Hampar Kelikian

Hampar Kelikian was an Armenian American orthopedic surgeon.

When Dole returned from World War II with injuries that left his right arm frozen and about to be amputated, Kelikian fixed the shattered shoulder and allowed Dole to regain some use of his arm.

Hampar Kelikian was inspired to become a surgeon by his uncle, who worked as a physician in the Ottoman army.

Hampar Kelikian finished an internship at Cook County Hospital, and in 1929, he became an assistant to Philip Kreuscher, who had been in practice with the bone specialist John Murphy.

Bob Dole was one of his many patients, and Hampar Kelikian refused to accept any fees from the young veteran, since his brother Siragan had been killed in Italy in 1943.

In total, Hampar Kelikian performed seven operations between 1947 and 1953 to restore the use of Dole's arm by transplanting leg bone and muscle to the right shoulder and hand.

Hampar Kelikian saved the left arm of a young Victor A Lundy, who would become a leading architect of the Sarasota Modern school; Kelikian never discharged his patient, who would serve as his medical artist.

Hampar Kelikian later became an emeritus associate professor of orthopedic surgery, performing ten operations a week when he was 80.

Hampar Kelikian wrote three classic monographs on hand, ankle, and foot surgery, as well as a book on Armenian poetry.

Hampar Kelikian specialized in congenital deformities, particularly gigantism and phocomelia due to thalidomide.

Hampar Kelikian had a son Armen, a surgeon, and two daughters, Alice and Virginia, by his wife Ovsanna.

Hampar Kelikian died on Sunday July 24,1983, at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago.

Hampar Kelikian received a citation from the Queen while working as a consulting orthopedic surgeon at the Ronkswood General Hospital in Worcester.