Oliver Wendell Holmes
1809–1894 (age 85)
physician/poet
Biography
Oliver Wendell Holmes balanced a rigorous medical practice with a lyrical devotion to poetry, earning admiration as both physician and man of letters. His essays and poems combined wit, wisdom, and compassion, inviting readers to consider both the comforts and challenges of the human condition.
Throughout his life he championed intellectual curiosity and civic responsibility, leaving a heritage of eloquent observations that live on in classrooms, families, and the peaceful slopes of Mount Auburn Cemetery.