George Hatem: The Lebanese American Doctor Who Became a Son of China
Dr. George S. Hatem was born in 1910 in Buffalo, New York, to an immigrant family whose roots traced back to the Lebanese town of Hammana. He studied medicine at the American University of Beirut and the University of Geneva before traveling to China in 1933, where he adopted the Chinese name by which he would become widely known: Ma Haide.
In 1936, he accompanied the American journalist Edgar Snow to areas controlled by the Chinese Communist movement. He later chose to remain there, working as a physician and public-health adviser alongside the revolutionary leadership, including Mao Zedong. In 1937, he joined the Chinese Communist Party and devoted himself to treating soldiers and civilians under the harsh conditions of war.
After the establishment of the People’s Republic of China in 1949, Hatem became the first foreigner to receive Chinese citizenship and served as an adviser to the Ministry of Health. He led major national campaigns against leprosy and sexually transmitted diseases, contributing significantly to the development of China’s public-health system and improving the lives of countless patients.
China’s appreciation for his work was so great that schools and public buildings were reportedly named in his honour, while his portrait appeared in several institutions as a symbol of medical service and international solidarity. He also received the Albert Lasker Public Service Award and Lebanon’s National Order of the Cedar.
George Hatem died in Beijing on 3 October 1988 and was buried at the Babaoshan Revolutionary Cemetery. His legacy was not merely political. Above all, it was the legacy of a Lebanese-born doctor who made the fight against disease his life’s mission and entered Chinese history as Ma Haide “virtue from across the seas.”
TONIGHT at @CarolinaDurham@retrofilmseries is showing a double feature of JAWS/JAWS 2! There's no better way to kick off July 4th weekend.
Grab your tickets if you're in NC's Triangle area, y'all, and check out this month's retro movie roundup https://t.co/2qjqBmQSJV
Really happy to pub this story by Brian Howe on NC artist Minnie Evans: “Her art seems to plumb a level deeper than influence, a universal intuition. When humanity peers into the infinite, in any era, these interlocking shapes are what it sees.” https://t.co/RR3Zh55ktx